The Fall of the Roman Empire

Tuesday, December 2, 2003 Bibliography Page

Darin, Bobby (1990) on The History Of The Decline And Fall Of The Roman Empire, Volume 1

Gibbon, Edward The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1994)

Halsall, Paul Medieval Sourcebook: Edward Gibbon: General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West (1996)

Nardo, Don The Roman Empire (1947)

Taylor, John (2002) The Last Wave. Retrieved Tuesday, November. 25, 2003 from the World Wide

Salvain, On Government of God. Quoted in Chester G. Starr, The Ancient Romans (1971)

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Rome

The Fall of the Roman Empire

The year is 476AD. The once most powerful empire in the world is now obsolete; Rome has fallen. So what exactly made this happen? That would be the most debated argument between scholars and historians over the next fifteen hundred years. And the main focus of this research paper.

“Rome wasn’t built in a day,” as the well-known saying goes, and in keeping with the saying, Rome also did not fall in a day. In fact, Rome was crumbling under the weight of several problems many many years before it actually fell. Furthermore, the problems that plagued Rome were not minor problems but rather major ones, that if individually addressed, could have saved or at least slowed the Empire from its demise. Several of the identified problems are as follows:

“Rome suffered a crisis of leadership in the fifth century. For the most part, its emperors, in both the east and west, were corrupt and inefficient. Government was no longer responsive to the needs of the people, but this by itself was not the cause of Rome’s fall. . . . . .Poor leadership was just one symptom among many of a sick and dying society, one more negative result of centuries of overall decline.” (Nardo, 1947 pg. 84)

Economic decay began in the late second century during the reign of Commodus. Taxes and debt among Romans were increasing daily, the whole Middle-Class disappeared almost entirely, as they joined the growing ranks of the poor. Trade between other countries and Rome decreased, while free Roman farmers were turned into poor serfs causing agriculture to greatly decline.

Thus, the empire became unable to feed itself, and the “government also lost vital tax revenue and sank further into debt. Often desperate for money, the state would overtax everyone, especially the poor.” (Nardo, 1947 pg. 85) The Christian priest Salvian said, “Who can find words to describe the enormity of our present situation?. . . . when the Roman commonwealth empire, already extinct or at least drawing its last breath. . . . is dying, strangled by the cords of taxation as if by the hands of brigands. . . .the poor must endure the frequent, even continuous, ruin of

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state requisitions seizures of properties and goods, always menaced by severe . . . proscription; they desert their homes to avoid being tortured in them, and go into voluntary exile to avoid heavy punishment for not paying their taxes and debts.” (pg. 64)

Rome’s population had begun diminishing in the second and third century as result of plague and disease. But during the fifth century, because of relentless war, poverty, and famine, the population had reached its’ fewest in more than one hundred years. And because of this, the Roman public had a “general tendency toward having fewer children” (Nardo, 1947 Pg. 86)

Romans were also becoming less patriotic and the thought of having to go fight in a war became less exciting and many Roman soldiers became increasingly more idle and began paying freelance soldiers to go in their place. Darin (1990) said, “There they the Roman soldiers were. . . . .well paid. Fighting without a cause. . . . these half-armed warriors rushed to battle with dissonant shouts and disordered ranks; and sometimes, by the effort of native valor, prevailed over the constrained and more artificial bravery of the Roman mercenaries.”

The severely weakened state or Rome made it so susceptible to invasion. And with only but a small population to defend its’ borders. “It was this sick and weakened empire, this mere shell of the thriving happy Rome of the Pax Romana era, that faced the fifth century’s great foreign invasions. . . .” (Nardo, 1947 Pg. 86) These invaders were “no mere destroyers. They settled and farmed the land and took advantage of Roman roads and public works. . . .Often, Romans in these conquered areas preferred being ruled by foreigners who did not tax and brutalize them than by Roman officials who did.” Salvian wrote, “All the Romans under barbarian rule have but one desire, that they may never have to return to the Roman jurisdiction authority. It is the unanimous prayer of the Roman people in those districts that they may be permitted to continue to lead their present life among the barbarian. Hence the name of Roman citizen, once not only much valued but dearly bought, is now voluntarily. . . .shunned, and is thought not merely valueless, but even almost abhorrent.”

“Thus did Rome, the grand city that had overseen the stately republic and the majestic empire, fade into obscurity. Whether by divine intervention or by mere coincidence, its 1229-year reign nearly matched the one predicted in the ancient prophesy. The once proud and mighty Roman eagle lay buried in the dust of ages, never to rise again.” (Nardo, 1947 Pg. 93)