The Roman Empire What Went Wrong - 1253 Words

Chris Cheng CLSC 300I The Roman Empire: What went wrong? Rome was founded as a small farming town in 753 BC. It grew to a vast empire that enveloped the whole Mediterranean Sea. It spanned from the western shores of what is now Portugal, to as far as the modern day Persian Gulf to the east. It remained as the world’s largest and most powerful empire in the ancient world for about 1100 years. But by 476 AD, the stress of war and the multiple sackings of Rome proved too much for the once mighty empire. There have been many theories and debates by scholars and historians on the cause of the fall of Rome. A list of these theories was assembled by John P. Adams, a professor who taught at University of California Irvine. Some of the†¦show more content†¦Each half of the Empire also had its own emperor who controlled his own army (Dorrington; The Fall of the Western Roman Empire). How do you expect the Western Empire to survive with such a small population? How do they sustain their once powerful army to protect against i nvaders without funds? You really can’t expect good answers to these questions when such a poor decision is made. A third and important cause of the fall, the final straw that broke the camel’s back, can be atrributed to the barbarian invasions that ultimately ended the reign of the Western Empire. Facing decline in economy and the steady deterioration of the quality of life caused by the split of the Empire, unrest amongst the people broke out and civil wars erupted throughout the empire. The Roman army, which was already weakened by crisis, had their hands full fighting these wars. The Germanic tribes, such as the Vandals and Goths, seized the oppportunity and invaded and sacked Rome repeatedly, until finally capturing it in 476 AD by General Odoacer (Section 8, Damen). There are many other legitimate theories on what caused the fall of Rome. One such theory is that the Romans did not develop new technology to increase efficiency, as they relied heavily on human and animal labor (Fall of the Roman Empire). Thus, they could not keep up with the needs of the growing population. But the events I focused on,Show MoreRelatedThe Roman Empire Was At Its Height. Despite Many Historians1202 Words   |  5 Pages The Roman Empire was at its Height. Despite many historians and professors attribute the fall of the Roman empire to excess and corruption, the role of Christianity shifting power, increased technology beyond the borders of the empire, the passing of power and trade created a situation that made the fall of such a large cumbersome empire inevitable. Rome History The founder of Rome goes back to the very first early days of the civilization. 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