The Decline and Fall of Empires

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Most of the civilizations throughout history have been taken over or replaced by other civilizations due to disunity and chaos. Although an empire might seem prosperous, the decline and fall of empires are sometimes inevitable. Even though an empire might seem invincible, there are many factors that could lead to the sudden decline or fall of an empire. Over many centuries, historians have composed many reasons, such as weak militaries, economic burdens, dynastic successions, and external enemies, which have been known to contribute to the rise and fall of many once successful empires.
One of the most common causes of the decline of an empire results from having weak military power and martial spirit. In order for an empire to be successful, that empire must present a strong will to fight or sacrifice property and life in order to defend its state. If an empire does not possess this characteristic, it often will quickly diminish. For example, the Roman Empire became successful because of the willingness of the males to defend the state. Shortly after, the males lost their willingness to defend and the empire had to recruit unreliable mercenaries to fight in war. Unlike the successful army of the past, these mercenaries did not have true loyalty to Rome. Because of constant warfare, the Romans had heavy military spending. The Roman Empire had become too large to control effortlessly. Families and soldiers in parts of the Roman Empire adopted local customs. The Roman Empire was made up not only of natives from the Italian peninsula, but it was also made up of barbarians from the conquered lands. The barbarians were very knowledgeable when it came to Roman warfare and military tactics. Corruption became widespread throughout the Em...

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...ck of money and the inability to pay off officials. Without money, an empire is unable to prosper. The rich stop paying taxes and the burden is placed upon the poor. Poor taxpayers become angered, and eventually spark revolts. Anger and inhumane acts contribute to the loss of ethics and valued traditions. The citizens of an empire begin to ignore the difference in good and bad. This will begin to cause chaos and corruption in an empire, resulting in a quick decline. Sometimes, like that mentioned in the Roman Empire, the Emperor is unable to control the amount of corruption and chaos occurring. Without an effective emperor to control such issues throughout an empire, the empire will begin to gradually weaken. The rise and fall of great empires result from many complex reasons such as moral decline and escapists, but the factors mentioned above are often inevitable.

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