THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
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The Fall of the Roman Empire
At the beginning of
the fourth century A.D., the Roman Empire had been one of the most
powerful empires to contend with in the entire world. They were
enabled to wield so much power because they brought structure,
cohesion, and good fortune to the people living in the West. The
capital of the Roman Empire was in Rome and there were many roads
that led to the outer reaches of the Empire with the capital. These
roads were mainly for use by the military but they were also used
for trade and for use by other Romans. There were Roman armies
placed strategically along the border of the Empire to provide
security for the Empire and those within it. This was a time when
the Empire was enjoying a feeling of influence and good wealth. But
all good things must come to an end and this was also true in the
case of the Roman Empire.
There are many reasons for the fall of
the Roman Empire. Many books have been written and movies have been
made. Most of these focus on one main reason for the decline of the
powerful Empire but there are actually many reasons for the fall.
This only makes sense as the Empire really was too big and powerful
to be taken down by any one factor. The main reasons were that new
leadership came into rule that was not as strong as the leadership
that had been in place, overspending on the part of the military,
the introduction of Christianity, and the dishonesty of political
leaders.
In the late third century, there was
much political disarray until 284 A.D. when Diocletian became the
Emperor of Rome. Looking at the Empire and deciding that it was far
too large for him to rule alone, he divided the Roman Empire into
two halves, each to be ruled by a separate Emperor. He would be the
Emperor of the eastern half and he appointed his associate, Maximian
to control the western half. He also appointed different Caesars,
who would help to look after their share of the Empire usually in an
administrative capacity. These Caesars would also take over control
should one of the Emperors die. Although Diocletian and Maximian did
not pass away, Diocletian did retire in 305 and therefore, Maximian
was required to retire as well. The leadership was then given to the
two Caesars and that leadership passed to only one Caesar,
Constantine in 324.
Constantine became the first Christian
leader of the Roman Empire. In 325, he placed his beliefs onto the
Romans by instating the Orthodox Christianity, otherwise known as
the Nicene Creed. Christianity was developed even further in 379
when Theodosius made Christianity the primary religion of Rome and
declared that any Pagan religions were now illegal. This contributed
to the fall of the Roman Empire due to the fact that this made many
Romans far too passive, and they were no longer motivated to defend
the borders of the Empire. This new religion of Christianity also
cost money as funds were required to build churches and pay for
religious figures.
The amount of money that was spent on
and by the military was another reason for the fall of the Roman
Empire. Spending so much money on the military left very little
money available for other resources that were needed by Rome, such
as housing and providing infrastructure around the state. Not only
did spending so much on the military mean less money for other
important resources, it was also very frustrating to the people of
the state. They no longer wanted to help with the defense of the
Empire that had been letting them down so greatly. Because of this,
the leaders then needed to spend money on those that were in mobs to
defend the Empire. Not only was this not very effective but it also
cost a great deal of money, which again meant less money to spend on
the Empire but also caused the Emperors to raise taxes to pay for
this hired protection.
The downtrodden state of the Roman
Empire climaxed in 410 when the Visigoths escaped to Rome, to keep
clear of the Huns. They became quite comfortable in their new home
and started to destroy parts of the city. Attila and the rest of the
Huns soon followed the Visigoths to Rome and also started to attack
and destroy parts of the city while they began to conquer Rome. In
476 A.D., the German general Ocacer became leader when he overtook
the Roman emperors. The condition of the state did not improve as
the infrastructure was left decrepit and abandoned, forcing them to
decay on their own. Pirates and bandits took over parts of the land
and the area was no longer safe for travel or any sort of living.
Fields were also abandoned and there was no longer any food to
supply for the state. Business came to almost an entire halt and
things never returned to their original state. This was the end of
the Roman Empire.
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