Ancient Rome: the Fall of Rome

Rome, an entire empire with a lot of power ceased to exist. It was one of the mightiest empires in its time, undefeated through ferocious battles and wars, but it didn't last forever. This corrupted civilization came to an end. There was a lot of reasons why the Roman Empire fell, three of these reasons were the ones that had caused the majority of Romans Empire to fall. The three significant reasons for the fall of Rome were: natural disasters, foreign invasions, and the most important one military problems.

One important reason that Rome fell was that of natural disasters. In the second year of the reign of Valens(366 CE) the Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake followed by an immense flood(Document F). Since they didn't have time to prepare for it caused many more damages and deaths. The flood that followed the earthquake drowned crops and as well destroyed structures the Romans had created. Initiating the process of decline was a series of plagues that swept over the empire...which brought diseases from southern Asia to new areas like the Mediterranean, where no resistance had been established even to contagions such as the measles(Document F). The resulting diseases declined the population, from a million people to only 250,000. Without any immunity, a lot more died and it also affected the military, once a soldier was ill they could no longer fight and would eventually die. The king/leader would now have to pay mercenaries to fight for them, but once they could no longer pay them, their fighters would leave them for someone else creating a less balanced empire. This problem helps explain why Rome fell because they weren't really prepared for natural disasters. Losing too many people made them have less available options. They had to rebuild with the few people they had, and they also had to pay or even force others to fight for them.

A second important reason that Rome fell was foreign invasions. Rome had different invaders some including the Huns, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths[Doc C]. Throughout time Rome was being invaded, but it wasn't instantly. Since the Romans didn't have any battles, they wouldn't practice and finally got too cocky thinking they would always win against any opponent they faced. The Romans at this time were now getting lazy and negligent, so they eventually stopped wearing their armor because it was getting too heavy for, which results in them being easier targets. The Huns were something else, like unthinking animals, they were completely ignorant of the difference between right and wrong. Fired with an overwhelming desire for seizing the property of others, these swift-moving and ungovernable people make their destructive way amid the pillage and slaughtered those who lived around them[Doc D]. The Huns were very different, they would always be mounted on their horses making them much faster. Because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned as well as their customary armor[Doc B] making the Romans less resistance in the field. Without any armor, it was much easier for the Huns to target the Romans killing them one by one. This problem contributed to Rome's fall because the invasions that occurred weren't instant. So when the time came, the Romans had grown lazy, letting the foreign invaders have the upper advantage.

While the first two reasons are important, the primary reason that Rome fell was that of military problems. Throughout a 50 year period, 22 rules were either assassinated or killed in battle[Doc A]. This lead to instability in the military. Also if the people fighting for you didn't like your decisions they would turn on you. As I mentioned before it was their laziness[Doc B] that caused the fall of Rome. The soldiers would go into battle without any armor. The foes they faced either much faster than them and had more advantages on their side. When it came time to choose a new leader they would probably fight for that position or would let the second in command lead the military, but if he wasn't very liked they would hardly listen to him. They wouldn't have great communication with each other. It mostly wasn't the military that would assassinate their own king or leader, it was the people. The people of Rome were sometimes against the laws that the ruler decided. They wouldn't agree to the terms he did when it came to the rich and the poor. Without a leader, they were just unstable. They lacked a lot of things that caused their empire to fall. This was the main reason why Rome fell because of their laziness and the people's loyalty to their king changed.

It is true that there were many reasons that explained Rome's decline. However, the three reasons presented above-natural disasters, foreign invasions, and especially military problems provided the best explanation of why Rome finally crumbled in the 5th century CE. Each of these contributed to one another. It didn't only affect some people, it affected everyone. There were multiple reasons that could've cause the fall of this great empire.

Cite this page