I. Introduction
countries bordering it but eventually fell due to instability in the empire. Rome began in 750
B.C.E. as a small village, but by 117 C.E. had reached its peak growth and soon began to fall. By
44 B.C.E., Rome had no enemies at the time, and became unstoppable, until threemaincauses.
natural disasters and plagues. Of these three reasons, the most crucial reason for the Empires
One crucial reason that Rome fell to its knees was that of natural disasters and diseases that
of the Roman Empire, The Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake
50,000 people had lost their lives in Alexandria alone and destroying, evenmore,buildingsand
structures. Peter Stearns, Michael Adas, Stuart Schwartz, and Marc Jason Gilbert, state in their
book World Civilizations: The Global Experience, Recruitment of troops became more difficult,
so the empire increasingly reduced to hiring Germanic soldiers to guard its frontiers. Stearns,
Adas, Schwartz, and Gilbert also state in their book World Civilizations: The Global Experience,
states budget, just as declining production cut into tax revenues. This issue explains whyRome
fell because although the disasters decreased the population of Rome severely, it also cut
Huns, and Goths all attacked Rome at different times, and from different places. Each barbarian
wanted different things, and had different reasons for migrating to or invading Rome. The
barbarians ravaged entire countrysides and stole anything they could from cities and provinces.
This issue explains why Rome fell because the invaders stole everything from cities, and left
absolutely nothing for the Roman citizens to use, leading to massive food shortages, and
While the first two reasons are crucial to Rome falling to its knees, the most important reason
parade ground drills were abandoned Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside
breastplates andthenthehelmets.VegetiusalsostatesinConcerningMilitaryMatters,Soour
soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for chest and head, and were often beaten by
archers noonetriedtorestorebreastplatesandhelmetstotheinfantry.InDocumentB,Michael
that the weaknesses of the late Roman army were largely to the eventual failure to enforce
regular conscription senators, bureaucrats, clergymen, cooks, bakers, and slaves were all
entitled to escape conscription. This issue explains why Rome fell because, the Goths could
easily invade the Roman empire and ravage everything, without having the city of Rome in the
V. Conclusion
It is true that there are other reasons that explain Romes decline. These include having 22
emperors over the course of 50 years, the savage barbarians known as the Huns,severetaxes,
lazy citizens, and unfair government to name a few. However, the three reasons presented
above, Natural Disasters and Diseases, Invasion Of Barbarian Tribes, and especially Unstable
Military System provide the best explanation of why Rome finally crumbled in the 5th century C.E.