Why The Roman Empire Fell

587 Words3 Pages
Civil wars reduced the strength of the Empire and made it vulnerable to barbarian invaders began because for years, the Roman Army held back barbarians from Germany. In the third century A.D. The Roman soldiers were pulled from the Rhine-Danube frontier. They had to fight in the civil war located in Italy. The Roman boarders were open for attack. Germany’s hunters and herders from the North slowly took over Roman lands in Greece and Gaul . In 476 A.D. Odacer, German general over threw the last of the Roman Emperors, Augustus Romulus. From then on the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic chieftain. Roads and bridges were not kept. Pirates and bandits threatened travel. Cities could not be kept running without food from farmers. The theory “Poor leadership in which the Roman Emperors and the government bureaucracy were more interested in maintaining their own positions rather than supporting the Empire” was caused because during Pax Romana The roman economy suffered from inflation beginning after the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of into the Roman economy decreased. Still, a lot of the gold was being used by the Romans to pay for luxury items. This then meant there was less gold to be used in coins. As the gold in coins decreased, so did their value. To make up for loss of value, merchants raised prices of the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and started to barter to get what they needed, Soon, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes had were collected in fruits and vegetables. As for the theory “The empire spent too much money on keeping the poor happy with free grain and games at the Coliseum. As revenues from the outer provinces declined through neglect, the economy suffered and the need to maintain spending led to inflation and a steady drop in economic activity.“ During the latter years of the empire
Open Document