Roman Empire Dbq

The United States was revolutionary in the 1780’s and 1790’s for their new ways of government, including giving the people representatives and having different heigherarcy groups all represented in lawmaking and government. Ancient Rome, however, was the first to use this “partial form of democracy.” The Romans were a group of people who settled in Mid-West Italy in 750 BCE. They steadily grew, and by 200 BCE they had turned into a powerhouse, slashing through neighboring land. While spreading their control and gaining power, the Romans spread their Democratic ideas. Although some believe that Natural disasters led to the collapse of the empire, believing that they succumbed to the elements, the primary reasons for Rome’s downfall was their

weakened military and corrupt political system.

Natural disasters could not have been stopped, but the opposition may argue that there was no precautions but should have been, but the government, not willing to care about the people, did not attempt to help them. Rome’s military could have also helped prevent disease and help recover from storms, but they were too lazy to help out others. With most of Rome’s downfall coming from within itself, it could have easily been prevented.
Rome’s military: the source of all of their power and land, as the armed forces had conquered much of Europe, North Africa, and Asia Minor. But, for some reason, it became one of the smallest and weakest. This is asked by many, but can easily be solved. One reason that illustrates the armed forces sluggishness is in Concerning Military Matters by Vegetius, stating that, “when, because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned, the… armor began to seem heavy… they asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates… and… the helmets… fought the

Goths without any protection for chest and head and were often beaten by archers.” As shown in this evidence, the Roman military had lost passion in fighting leading them to become increasingly lazy and soft over time. This had then led to them dismissing drills and armor, causing many to die in battle. Also from document A, the book The Fall of the Roman Empire: A Reappraisal, by Michael Grant, it states that, “the weakness of the late Roman army were largely due to the eventual failure… to enforce regular conscription… the exempted categories were… numerous.” The text show that the military towards Rome’s end was very limited. This was in part due to the irregular conscription(draft for military service) as many, including bakers, slaves, senators, clergymen, and cooks, leaving mainly the middle class to be forced to serve in the military. Also, they were forced to hire foreigners to protect their borders, as they had not enough soldiers. There was one downside to this buildup of forces: they had no reason to fight and were not spirited fighters. Rome’s power and land downfall was immensely in part by their military, as their laziness, lack of numbers, and unspirited fight led to them losing more soldiers and land.
A common belief is that a nation is only as good as its leader, as Rome is an exceptional example of this.

Rome was at its peak when some of its greatest leaders, such as Caesar, were in power (this time was called Pax Romana.) After this period, which had lasted from 27 BCE to 200 CE, a 50 year period of unstable leadership greatly brought along an obvious reason for decline: greed for power. The chart on document A, titled Roman Emperors 235-285 CE, shows that the emperors and higher ups only cared about power and killing to the top, as in that time span, 13 assassinations (or possible) happened to more than half of the rulers, as 13 of the 22 leaders were killed in that way. This evidence shows that Rome’s leaders did not care of their people, as the message they were sending to the people was that they cared more about hiring people to kill people higher up than their own subjects. This obviously made the people of Rome feel negative about their government, as the leader’s reason for being there is to take care of their people, which they are not doing. Therefore, Rome’s leaders were too busy bickering for power to care for their people. Additionally, many of Rome’s own people felt it was a government unfair to live under. A historical text written by Priscus described that, “[In a conversation Priscus had with a former Roman citizen whose land had been conquered] The condition of Roman subjects in time of peace [is worse than war]… taxes are very severe, … men inflict

injuries on others… A [wealthy lawbreaker] … not punished for his injustice, while a poor man… undergoes the legal penalty… pay in order to obtain justice… the laws and constitution of Rome were fair, but… the governors, possessing the spirit of former generations, were ruining the state.” This text illustrates many of Rome’s issues within its own government, including a corrupt court system, high taxes, and unspirited leadership. Wealthy lawbreakers being able to pay off people to get away clean is a prime example of the government being corrupt, as a just government does not do this. Also highlighted in this text, Rome’s leaders had very little spirit, which likely trickled down to lower officials, the military, and the people, ridding many of their prideful Roman spirit. The government of a nation is what keeps it together, and especially in Rome’s case, when the government starts to crumble so does the nation as a whole.
The opposition of my my claim would argue that natural disasters were the main reason for the downfall of Rome, including earthquakes and plagues. However Rome’s main reasons for downfall were that they had a weakened and slacking military to go with a corrupt government. These natural catastrophes would not have had as big of an impact had the government and officials been able to help and aid the people, but they were to lazy and careless to take precautions for anything. Similar to the lazy leaders, the lackluster military could have saved many lives and helped reconstruct and rebuild and also could have distributed preventions for disease and plague. So since the lazy government and military did not provide the people with any form of help, earthquakes and plagues were much worse, contrary to the opposition’s belief. Therefore, natural disasters were not as primary reason for the downfall of Rome, as the lazy military and leaders made the disasters much worse than they could have been.
As shown through the previously stated information, Rome’s biggest reasons for decline were it’s dreary military and lazy yet actively corrupt government. The Roman Armed forces had been unwilling to practice and wear armor, causing the entire empire to suffer, as they had lost land and money in the defensive battles. The entire empire’s leadership had also become lackluster and soft, causing it to trickle down and turn most of late Rome plush. But when it came to power, they were very active to kill to the top, making the citizens feel uncared for and wishing to exit the nation. Throughout much evidence showing that the two biggest parts of Rome itself, it’s military and government, the downfall of Rome was clearly an “inside job.”