Why Did Rome Fall?

Bad Emperors When Rome had a bad emperor (like Caligula or Nero), they typically would then have a good emperor. However, toward the end of the empire, there NO good emperors. They often killed off their best military men out of fear that they would attempt an assassination; this only led to weaker militaries.

Romans Became Fat and Happy As Rome became more civilized, they also became weaker in battle. This let barbarians from the North and East of the Empire to begin to win battles. As the Romans enjoyed the wealth and protection of the Empire, they were also less able to protect themselves.

The Empire Became Divided When the Roman Empire split into two parts, each ruled by a different emperor, the Roman citizens began to feel less and less loyalty to their government. The Eastern Roman Empire, which became the Byzantine Empire, continued on for hundreds of years. In the Western Roman Empire however, which included Europe, civil war and geographical barriers separated people and discouraged Roman loyalty.

Economic Problems The Roman Empire was spending money like crazy. This included exotic goods, like silk and spice, from China, as well as the free bread and elaborate circuses provided to keep the poor happy. At the end of the Empire, the metal in Roman coins was worth more than the coins themselves. Ultimately, Rome didn’t even have enough gold to make coins.

Plagues Beginning at the end of the Roman Empire and extending into the Middle Ages, great epidemics of disease killed huge populations in the Roman Empire, particularly in Europe.

Population Migration As the Roman Empire grew, large populations of barbarians began to inhabit Roman lands. The Empire could not support these huge groups of people who were moving in and Roman systems and services were overwhelmed, leading to collapse.

Former (and future) enemies of Rome were allowed to settle in Roman lands Once Roman emperors, in an effort to stop barbarian attacks, began to allow these barbarian tribes to settle inside Rome’s geographic borders, there was nothing to protect Roman cities from attack during revolts. The barbarian tribes, now in Roman lands, could easily destroy Roman cities, including, ultimately, the city of Rome. These cities were no longer protected by the rivers and mountains that had protected them for hundreds of years.

Christianity As Christianity became more widespread, the Roman emperors began to feel threatened, which led to the persecution and killing of Christians. This created a situation where people were more likely to follow Christian leaders than Roman emperors. By the end of the Roman Empire, 1 in 10 citizens in the West were Christian, and Christianity was the official religion of the Eastern Roman Empire, replacing the traditional Roman gods and goddesses.

Moral Decay Society began to lose traditional Roman values. As populations died from disease and groups of barbarians overtook Roman controlled lands, combined with shortages of food and a weak economy, the Roman population saw fewer and fewer reasons to follow the government of Rome. People left cities and local governments became more powerful. There was no allegiance to Rome or Roman traditions.

A widening gap between rich and poor In the Roman Empire, fewer and fewer people began to control more and more of the wealth. This led to an even larger group of people living in poverty, in increasingly dangerous and difficult conditions. Revolts and civil war followed, particularly as the rich struggled to keep and increase their wealth.

Ultimately, the Western Roman Empire was left in fragments…

…And ruins…

…and setting the scene for the European Middle Ages.