Roman Empire.docx

Eldar Karadan

THE DOWNFALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE When we hear a phrase “the most powerful and magnificent state” the Rome Empire firstly comes to our minds. Even those, who have nothing to do with history know, that the Rome Empire was the queen between other states. It was invincible for enemies, stable for its citizens and unreachable for others. The city of Rome was considered to be the largest city in the world. The Rome Empire was founded in 27 B.C. and it was divided into Western and Eastern parts in 396 C.E. The Western part disintegrated in 476 C.E. unlike the Eastern – it existed up to 1453 C.E. It’s obvious that nothing is eternal. But what are those crucial events that brought to ruin such a magnificent state? There are different points of view regarding the fall of Rome Empire. Researchers explain it differently. But most of them come together with a thought that the fall was only in the west. The eastern part continued it’s existing for several centuries and it actually reflected the original Roman culture. There are several external facts that influenced the fall of Rome Empire. The most crucial is the influx of barbaric horde. Barbarians took advantage of problems already existing in the Roman society – overpopulation, poor leadership, culture and moral decay. The fall of the Empire occurred not due to a war or revolution. The facts imposed on each other and lead to the slow fall. Moreover, in the last day of Rome Empire the barbarian leader entered the city of Rome unopposed and the military and financial power of Mediterranean was not able to exist anymore. When he entered the city, Rome has already lost the control of Britain, Spain and North Africa to Goths and Vandals. If we speak about the internal facts, that influenced the fall of Rome Empire, there are researchers who believe that the fall occurred due to the structure of the Roman society. Even as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis. Constant wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers, and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between rich and poor. In the hope of avoiding the taxman, many members of the wealthy classes had even fled to the countryside and set up independent fiefdoms. At the same time, the empire was rocked by a labor deficit. Rome’s economy depended on slaves to till its fields and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. But when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome’s supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up. A further blow came in the fifth century, when the Vandals claimed North Africa and began disrupting the empire’s trade by prowling the Mediterranean as pirates. With its economy faltering and its commercial and agricultural production in decline, the Empire began to lose its grip on Europe. In conclusion, we can say that there were many factors that lead to sorrowful consequences. It was absence of army, which lacked both equipment and training and unstable government. Also unstoppable invades from the barbarians’ side, culture and religious decline. Rome’s fall ended the ancient world. However, western civilization has to be grateful to Romans. Consider Latin language it gave birth to French, Spanish Italian and other languages. Also many European cities were founded by Rome. Nevertheless, Rome had fallen, its merits still exist in the modern world.