Fall of Roman Empire

In 27 BC, Octavian Agustus established the Roman Empire, which grew to a maximum area of 6500000 square kilometers. The Western Roman Domain collapsed and failed to enforce its laws, leading to the division of the vast territory into various successor polities, which is when Rome fell or the Roman Territory collapsed. After being successful for more than 700 years, the Roman kingdom fell in 476 AD. The empire lost its ability to exercise effective control, including the size and efficiency of its force. Moreover, the major causes of the crumple of the Rome realm were due to the rise of enemies, public health, change of religion, overspending, economic issues, political instability and government corruption. The end of the Roman Empire had various effects to Europe and different sectors such the medicine.


However, the collapse of the Roman domain did not take place overnight. Initially, the kingdom was separated into the eastern territory under Constantinople and the western part ruled by many distinct leaders. The double-reign was the concept that weakened the domain making it lose control over executing it rules in all regions. The decaying administration power and infighting over leadership assisted in setting the phase for other factions such as the Byzantines and Greeks to become disobliging. In 476 AD, Odoacer overthrew Emperor Romulus while the western Roman leader used negligible political, financial and military power that could not control the scattered western kingdoms. Besides, barbarians had developed their power in several regions of the Western domain leading to the collapse of the administration, but the eastern region continued for more than thousand years in the type of Byzantine Empire.


The external armed threats were the main cause for the fall of the Roman kingdom and its impacts spread across the domain. During the time of its conquest and prosperity, several enemies were speckled tribes who stayed in small villages. When Rome was separated, a powerful faction known as the Huns started to move to the western part and their figures grew with new allies and captured prisoners. Individuals from all walks of living were anxious to reap the reward of the battle and kept the pressure on the Rome Empire while countries such as Russia became sophisticated and powerful. The kingdom had tangled with various Germanic clans for centuries although, by the 300s, the barbarian faction including the Goths encroached outside the domain’s borders. Even though the Roman army weathered the Germanic rebellion in the fourth century, Visigoth King Alaric conquered the Rome city in 410 AD. For the next many decades, the domain spent time under steady threats prior the invasion of the Eternal City in 455 AD by the Vandals. Alaric who was the Goth leader sought land for his people in Balkans, but the empire delayed the response. Due to the failure of the emperor to react to the Alaric who was the former Roman commander, the army of Goths, freed slaves and Huns gathered together against the Roman Empire.


Despite the victory in the region, the Roman economy was affected by high inflation and a weak currency. Almost all the money was allocated to the national security hence raising the taxes to compensate. Only a few individuals got the chance to enjoy the prosperity of the Rome. The value of the kingdom’s money tumbled to the level that bartering was considerable for paying goods. Besides, several Romans lost their employments due to cheap slave labor making the administration to subsidize the working class. The majority of employees decided to live away from the subsidies hence costing the kingdom more money. The overspending and constant fights had considerably lightened regal coffers, and inflation and oppressive taxation had broadened the gap between the poor and the rich. With the hope of averting the taxman, several individuals from the wealth classes fled to the countryside and started independent fiefdoms. Furthermore, the Romans economy was dependent on the slave labor, but constant fight restricted the flow of slaves during the second century. On the fifth century, the Vandals grabbed the North Africa and started to disrupt the kingdom’s market by raiding the Mediterranean as pirates. Due to the faltering of the economy, commercial and decline of agricultural production, the Roman Empire lost its grasp on Europe.


Another reason for the collapse of the Rome was the geographical extent of the military conquest that extended from the Atlantic Ocean to Euphrates River. The constant expansion needed more workforce and resources to secure its borders. Besides, conquered individuals hated the Romans hence rebellion was a steady predicament. Since the expansion issues needed mammoth army recruitment and spending, manpower was scarce such that defeated communities were permitted to join the ranks which gave barbarians the cherished know-how of the Roman battle approaches. Although the Romans had brilliant road systems, they were not able to converse effectively and quickly enough to control their holdings. Moreover, Rome struggled to assemble enough resources and troops to secure its frontiers from outside attacks and local rebellions which forced Emperor Hadrian to build the wall in Britain by the second century so as to put enemies at bay. Since more funds were channeled into the military spending, the technological progression slowed and the civil infrastructure collapsed.


The changeover to the new leader of the roman kingdom was not easy since it was only decided between the former king, Praetorian Guard and the Senate. However, the Praetorian Guard gained the power to select the new emperor, and by 186AD, the military had strangulated the new king. For the next 100 years following the 186 AD, the domain had 37 distinct kings of whom 25 were killed. Several rulers were corrupt with authority and wanted rule for their personal gains which made the Roman citizens to distrust the administration hence weakening the kingdom. The political rot spread to the Roman Senate that failed to alter the excess of the emperor because of the widespread incompetence and corruption.


The spread of Christianity in the roman kingdom led to the fall of the empire. In 313, the Edict of Milan made Christianity legal and was declared the national religion in 380. The decrees of adapting Christianity terminated centuries of harassment while eroding the traditional Roman values. Besides, Christianity relocated the polytheistic religion in the empire which viewed the king as the divine status and adjusted focus from the glory of the kingdom to the single deity. In the meantime, church leaders and popes took the increased duty in the political affairs which complicated the governance. Although the Christianity played a small part in restricting the Roman civic virtue, its manipulation paled in the comparison to the administrative, economic and military factors that took part in the fall of the empire.


The destiny of the Roman was partly sealed in the third century when King Diocletian separated the domain into the eastern kingdom in Byzantium and western empire in the Milan city. The separation made the territory more manageable in the short period, but the two domains drifted apart over time. The west and east failed to function mutually in combating threats and squabbled over military aid and resources. When the gulf widened, the Greek-speaking Empire in the east developed in wealth while the Latin-speaking region in the west moved down into economic catastrophe. The strength of the eastern kingdom diverted the barbarian raids to west domain leaving Rome and Italy which were symbolic for many people in the east vulnerable. The vulnerability of the western kingdom made the political structure to crumble in the fifth century although the eastern lasted for thousand years up to 1400s when it was besieged by the Ottoman kingdom.


The majority of the citizens in the Rome Kingdom was unemployed or poor and stayed in the streets. Besides, individuals were constantly affected by hundreds of ailments. Also, there was continuous interaction in the cities where entertainment, public bath, and trading took place. The use of alcohol in the domain increased drastically making people especially from the rich classes sick. Additionally, individual with wealth brought water into their residential areas via lead pipes thus causing lead poisoning. Furthermore, citizens who were poor though not homeless lived in the hot, overcrowded and dirty residence where they encountered with many diseases. Due to the public wellbeing sicknesses and diseases that spread across the Rome Empire, many individuals died leading to the fall of the kingdom.


T he collapse of the Roman domain put Europe into the dark ages and disintegrated the region. Secondly, the majestic scheme in Rome was substituted with the loose-knit faction of princes and kings across the Europe. Rich Romans who had land in Britain and Gaul lost their estates while some of the Rome communities collapsed quickly. Furthermore, elites staying in the southern region of the kingdom comprising Italy, southern Gaul, and Spain learned to live with the migrants. When the roman’s infrastructure distorted, the quality of life fell leading to the two eras of Dark Ages. The initial Dark Ages lasted up to 700 AD due to the destruction of the market while the second era happened around 1000 AD due to the raids from the Vikings. Since the stability offered by Rome did not exist, new countries had to establish themselves independently.


Roman parents stopped to use the money on educating their kids since the careers that were boosted via taxation ended, and advanced edification was kept for the clergy. The long-term impacts of fall of Rome include constant invasion and warfare, development of feudalism, abandonment of cities, the rise of agrarian and rural populations as well as the Catholic Church became a ruling authority in Europe. During the middle, the collapse of Rome led to the rise of smaller empires, the Holy Roman Domain under Charlemagne and national monarchs that brought stability and changes.


Bibliography


Augustus. The Deeds of the Divine Augustus. Cambridge, Mass.: Internet Classics Archive, 1996.


Bartlett, Bruce. “How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome.” The Cato Journal 14, no. 2/ (1994).


Davis, William Stearns, and Willis M West. Readings in Ancient History: Illustrative Extracts from the Sources. Charleston, S.C.: Nabu Press, 2010.


Gibbon, Edward. History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. I I. Dinslaken: André Hoffmann.


Josephus, Flavius. The Jewish War. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.


Luzzatto, Gino, and Philipp Jones. An Economic History of Italy from the Fall of the Roman Empire to the Beginning of the Sixteenth Century. London: Routledge, 2014.


Nagle, D. Brendan. The Ancient World: A Social and Cultural History. 8th ed. Boston: Pearson, 2014.


Tacitus, Cornelius. Annals. London: Penguin Books, 2012.

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