Reasons for the Fall of the Roman Empire
Barbarian Invasions: For years, the well-disciplined Roman army held the barbarians of Germany in check. However,
when the Roman soldiers were withdrawn from the Rhine-Danube frontier in the third century A.D. to fight in civil wars
in Italy, the Roman border was left open to attack. Gradually Germanic hunters and herders from northern and central
Europe began to raid and take over Roman lands in Greece and Gaul. In A.D. 476 the Germanic general Odovacar
overthrew the last Roman Emperors and defeated the last Roman armies. He then declared himself ruler of all Italy.
From then on, the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic tribal chiefs. Roads and bridges were left in
disrepair and many fields were left unfarmed. Pirates and bandits made travel unsafe and cities declined as trade and
business began to disappear.
Weak Economy:
During the later stages of the Roman Empire, the once prosperous Empire fell on hard times.
Farming was once the backbone of the Roman economy but as time went on, many farmers started hiring slaves to do
their work. It grew to the point that wealthy land owners began buying family farms and creating LATIFUNDIAS where
all of the work done on the huge plantation was done by slaves. The LATIFUNDIAS only grew cash crops that could be
traded, rather than staple crops which were “staples” of people’s diets (like wheat or other grains.) Slaveowners could
sell their crops for cheap prices and they could undercut the family farmers. This made the problem even worse as
ordinary Romans started losing their farms and the LATIFUNDIA owners would buy the land and add it to their gigantic
estate.
Many farmers and ordinary Romans became unemployed and flocked to the major cities to find jobs even if
they were simple, dangerous, or low-paying. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000
unemployed people in Rome alone. The average Roman was living in crowded apartment complexes called
TENEMENTS, which were cramped, dangerous, and dirty. Anyone who could not afford their rent would have been
forced to live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this, cities began to decay and become dilapidated (partly ruined
or decayed.) To make matters worse, the economy really started dropping when massive inflation hit as a result of
Rome losing control of its conquered territories and not getting their tax payments. Prices started soaring and the
relative amount of money that people had or were earning was staying the same. It would be like going to the grocery
store and having to pay $50 for a loaf of bread and the next week paying$150 for a gallon of milk.
Political Corruption of Emperors and Leaders: One of Rome’s most serious problems was the difficulty of choosing new
emperors. The Romans never created an effective system to determine how new emperors would be selected. For this
reason, the choice was always left up to either the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor’s private
army of body guards who you did not want to mess with e.g. think of the Navy Seals), and the regular armies. Eventually
emperors were selected based on the size of their bribes to anyone and everyone that mattered. At the same time,
many emperors and Senators were being corrupted by bribery and were ignoring the real purpose of their jobs: to
represent the people. Many public works such as roads, bridges, and aqueducts were being ignored.
Size and Over-Expansion:
At its peak the Roman Empire stretched into 3 continents and had borders that
stretched thousands upon thousands of miles. At its borders were many people who did not like being neighbors with
the Roman Empire and did not want to be taken over or become part of the empire itself. Within the empire there were
different languages, cultures, religions, and ways of life. Some of the conquered people rebelled against the Romans,
like the Jews and the Gauls (French people, Sacre Bleu!) Overall, the Roman government had to maintain entire armies
to guard the frontier (border area) and Barbarian attacks were a constant drain on the government. Military spending
left few resources for other vital activities such as providing public housing and maintaining the quality of public roads.
Eventually, frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the empire and the government had to rely more and more on
hired soldiers. These armies were unreliable and very expensive. Thus taxes were raised time and again, the citizens
grew more frustrated and the same problems got bigger and bigger.
Can you see how these problems were intertwined and made each of the other problems even worse?
IT’S ALL CONNECTED!