In 117 AD, when Rome was at its peak, the empire controlled over 5 million kilometers of land. Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, twin brothers believed to be the sons of the Roman war god Mars. In 509 BC the seventh Roman king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was conquered and Rome became a republic. After many years of successful reign Julius Caesar came to power and turned the republic into a dictatorship. When the people rebelled and killed Julius his nephew Augustus came to power and turned Rome into an empire in 27 BC. The Roman Empire fell because of political instability, the raising of taxes, and the attacks from neighboring territories.
One of the reasons the Roman Empire fell was because political instability. When Julius Caesar was in control of Rome, he turned the republic into an empire. This decision angered the senate so they killed Julius. Now that the emperor is dead and there is no clear leader of Rome, the empire is left in a weak and vulnerable state. Another cause of instability was the lack of a smooth power transition. During the days of the Roman Empire,
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power was transferred by killing the current emperor then fighting over the position. If the people of Rome are killing each other they will not trust each other, which could lead to the empire fighting and destroying itself. However, political instability was not the only reason the Roman Empire fell. Another reason the Roman Empire fell was because of the raising of taxes.
To finance the large army of Rome, the citizens of Rome had to pay taxes. These taxes were so high that many people were driven into poverty. If the Empire is taking away all the money these people have, the people will not be happy with the Empire and will start to rebel against the Empire. Another consequence of raising the taxes in Rome was that the Plebeians were the ones paying the taxes. The Plebeians make up 95% of the roman population. By raising taxes 95% of the empire is going into poverty and all the money is spent on moving and supporting the army. The more the empire raises the taxes, the less loyal the Plebeians will be meaning there is a higher chance of riots and uprisings. Although there is one more major reason for the fall of the Roman
Empire. The final reason the Roman Empire fell was because of the attacks from the neighboring territories. The current emperor of Rome, Constantine, decided to move the capital from the western half of the empire to the eastern. However, this left the western half of the empire in a state of vulnerability. When Constantine moved the capital he took some of the soldiers with him, leaving the western half of the empire without defense. Nearby Germanic tribes took advantage of this weak spot in the defense and attacked. Germanic tribes attacked and looted Rome and after a few years the Western half of the empire dissolved. Due to the desire for more territory, majority of the empire’s strongest troops were in the eastern half of the empire, trying to push the borders farther east. This left an opening in the border patrol of the western half of the empire, allowing for the Germanic tribes to come in and attack. The Germanic attack left western Rome in ruins and over time, the empire dissolved into separate kingdoms. So, as you can see, the great Roman Empire fell due to political instability, the raising of taxes, and the attacks of neighboring territories. Even though the Roman Empire fell, we can still learn a lot of useful things from the empire. For example, we see now from the fall of the empire the significance of the structure of your territory. Even if you have the world’s biggest, strongest army like Rome had, you will eventually fall apart if your infrastructure is weak.
The Roman empire was a very large and successful empire, although like many things it had to come to an end. The three primary reasons that had most contributed to Rome's fall is foreign invasions, military weakness , and weak leadership.
Rome was once one of the world's greatest empire until around 200 BCE when Rome started to crumble. The Fall of Rome did not happen suddenly, it took about 1100 years to take place. The first two centuries as an empire were named the "Pax Romana", which meant the time of Roman peace. The Romans were living the life, without a worry in the world. So how and why did Rome start to collapse, if the empire was was doing so grand and magnificent? To answer that question, the primary reasons that Rome started to decline were that the Romans had difficulty with their government which caused social problems/decay, their military was falling behind on their duties and became indolent, and natural disasters.
From about 50 BCE to the year 200 CE, the Roman Empire was a powerful nation. Rome was the city that became the center of the Roman Empire and by 200 BCE Rome became a powerhouse. The Romans conquered Scotland to Spain, controlled the Mediterranean Sea, and established colonies in North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia Minor. By the year 44 BCE Julius Caesar became a Roman Emperor and Rome had a great military. Then around the 5th century CE the Roman Empire began to weaken. The primary reasons for the fall of Rome was because of the Roman Emperors, the Roman Army, and foreign invasion.
The year is 476 A.D. and the Roman Empire has collapsed after being overthrown by barbarians. Looking back, the causes of Rome’s decline can be separated into four categories, social, economic, military, and political. The social aspects of Rome’s fall are the rise of christianity and civil wars. The rise of christianity displaced Rome’s polytheistic roots which viewed the emperor as having a godly status. Pope and church leaders took an increased role in political affairs which further complicated governance. Civil wars also deteriorated the empire. More than 20 men took the throne in only 75 years and the empire was thrust into chaos. The economic aspects of Rome’s fall were high taxes from the government and labor deficit. The roman empire
The fall of Rome occurred over many centuries and was caused by several factors including military decay, barbarian invasions, and the failure of the government to respond to these problems.
The economics of the Roman Empire soon hit rock bottom due to the high taxation to support the army. Gold was also eroding since Rome was no longer bringing new resources through the expansion. Emperors then tried to mint coins out of silver and copper instead and the end result was inflation and dramatic rises in Noochintra 2 prices on goods. There were many things that brought Rome to its downfall, but the biggest one was the violence and the ruthless ambition of men such as Marius, Sulla, and of course Julius Caesar. That ultimately destroyed the Roman republic.
Rome was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. The early Roman state was founded in 509 B.C. after the Romans drove out the hated Etruscan king. By this time Rome had already grown from a cluster of small villages to a small city. Little did the settlers know that this was the beginning of one of the greatest and largest empires ever known.
What can cause a strong empire to fall? Rome is known for having many achievements that have helped to advance culture such as, aqueducts, irrigation systems, and trade. They also helped improve the structure of cities by plotting them in grids which are still used today. Also, religions are taken very seriously. In fact, it got so serious that rulers insisted that they were to be worshiped as the god.
As the story goes, Rome was founding in 753 B.C. by two brothers Remus and Romulus who were raised by wolves. The two brothers started fighting over the leadership of the land. Eventually Romulus killed Remus and took control own his own. The city was only a small settlement at that time. As the civilization grew, the Etruscans took over. The Romans drove out the Etruscans in 509 B.C. By this time Rome had become a city. As the empire came to its peak it included lands throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome had first expanded into other parts of Italy and neighboring places during the Roman Republic, but made wider conquests and made a strong political power for these lands. In 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled the Roman Republic as a dictator was assassinated. Rome descended into more than ten years of civil war. After years of civil war, Caesar's heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals. In 27 B.C. the Senate gave him the name Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one. In this way Augustus established the monarchy that became known as the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic, which lasted nearly 500 years, did not exist anymore. The emperor Augustus reigned from 27 BC to AD 14 and ruled with great power. He had reestabl...
“He is said to have been tall of stature… except that towards the end.” What was it that really led to the fall of the Roman Republic? There are a lot of different factors to consider when trying to determine what caused the collapse. By examining The Rubicon, The Life of Julius Caesar, and some accompanying handouts from class, this paper will discuss how the Roman Republic did not collapse because of one factor. The collapse of the Roman Republic was like that of a game of Jenga. Factors were pulled out of the Republican system just like a game of Jenga until the Republic could not stand anymore.
The first major cause was from the antagonism between the Senate and the Emperor. The Emperor had decision over life and death, and also could rule Rome’s civil, religious, and military affairs with the Senate. The Emperor and Senator did not get along at all. Another reason to why Rome fell is because there was a decline in Morals. There were festivals that were called Saturnalia and Bacchanalia where sacrifices, vulgar acts. There was also to much gambling on chariot races and great consumption of alcohol. The last major cause was constant wars and spending too much on Military warfare. The Roman army then turned against the Empire which led to a downfall in Rome. The last reason Rome began to fall is because of a decline in ethics and values. Dramatically, in the first two centuries the number of slaves increased. Slave wars, led by Spartacus, were the effect of terrible treatment of slaves. Later on the Emperor’s attitude towards slaves changed. They started freeing slaves which caused the number of slaves to decline. This was bad for Rome because they depended on
...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.
All empires must come to an end. The Mongols, Ottomans, and Holy Roman Empires all don’t exist anymore. Even, the United Stated of America will come to its end in one point in time. Everything that goes up must come down. Even, Rome, one of the world’s greatest civilizations. To summarize, The Roman Empire fell because of ineffective leaders, the crumbling economy, and invasions by the Germanic Tribes.
For Augustine, the question is did Rome fall to barbarians because it renounced paganism and embraced Christianity, or is it simply a coincidence in which even if the opposite had been true, the result would have been the same? Augustine takes up this issue in de Civitate Dei and I agree with his argument that Christianity was not responsible for the fall of Rome. Augustine uses a series of reductio ad absurdum to defend Christianity against claims that it is responsible for the downfall of Rome. In Book IV, 3, Augustine asks “what reason . . . there is in wishing to glory in the greatness and extent of the empire, when you cannot point out the happiness of men who are always rolling . . .
One of the main reasons of the collapse of the Roman Empire was the over expenditure on the military to constantly fund wars abroad. In order for the Romans to invade and conquer other provinces they had to spend heavily on their legions. The Roman armies and supply lines became over-stretched resulting in thousands of soldiers being recruited and deployed from Rome into other territories as invaders or defenders. They also depended on soldiers to defend the borders of the lands they had conquered from barbarian attacks which resulted in the increased manufacturing of weapons and more money being spent on soldiers. High military spending left the Romans with very limited resources for other essential government projects such as the building of more public houses and the development of roads and aqueducts as well as leading to inflation. The over-expenditure on the military led th...