The Fall Of The Roman Empire

The Fall Of The Roman Empire

Rome was one of the biggest, most powerful empires in recorded

history. Such an empire could not fall due to one factor alone in a

short period of time. It was a slow process of decay. Many factors

would influence the toppling of this Empire, such as social gaps,

religion, economical troubles, and corruption in politics. Among all

of these factors, one of the most obvious and major causes was the

crumbling of one most powerful military forces in history, The Roman

army. It is widely believed that the fortunes of Rome were directly

linked to the prowess and stability of her military. During the later

periods of the Empire, this military would steadily deteriorate for a

number of reasons. In the end, this was one of the chief factors that

led to the toppling of what had once been the mightiest empire in the

world.

One of Rome's many mistakes was to pay soldiers to fight for them.

These soldiers are called mercenaries. Reliance on these mercenaries

gave too much of a "comfortable" feeling among the real Roman

soldiers. They did not realize that the mercenaries lacked one very

important thing. They lacked the strong patriotism and loyalty that

all the other men had. This was part of what fueled their fire in

battle. Mercenaries were in it only for the money. They aided whoever

was willing to bid top price for their services. Eventually, the Roman

soldier's began to rely wholly on these mercenaries.

A lack of incentive to enlist began to grow in potential warriors.

This was one of the most important issues, which began the decline of

the military. Because of Rome's gargantuan boundaries, they needed all...

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... strength and unity, was left unorganized and practically useless. Rome

was the constant victim of barbaric waves of attacks. From the

Visigoths, to the franks, to the Huns, they constantly overpowered the

Roman armies. This is simply because they knew no limits. Romans were

civilized with rule of law, innocent until proven guilty, etc. These

concepts were unreal to the barbarians. They detected the military

impotence, of the Romans, and exploited it to establish their own

kingdoms. "Thus the political entity knows as the Roman Empire came to

an end, and the Germanic kingdoms of Western Europe began to

flourish."

In conclusion, there were many factors which influenced the fall of

Rome. The destruction of the Roman military, however, would prove to

be an ending factor to one of the most powerful Empires in history.