What gave this family such a competitive edge? The collapse of the Roman Empire was an important turning point in history. The Western part of the Roman Empire was not as rich, and as organized as the Eastern half of the Roman Empire. The “Western Emperors were less competent then their eastern colleagues.” (Pg: 26). The Economy of the Western Empire was also very weak.
He then began to spread the word of Christianity denouncing the common law of Rome. At the time, this would been an enormous nuisance for the Senate that governed the Roman Empire. If the citizens of the Empire were to open denounce the Roman law, then the Senate’s power would be useless. Thus, much time and resources were spent to control and maintain the empire: it had become too large. The rise of Christianity would have been a festering wound to the Senate that just wouldn’t go away but that they couldn’t ignore.
He then began to spread the word of Christianity denouncing the common law of Rome. At the time, this would been an enormous nuisance for the Senate that governed the Roman Empire. If the citizens of the Empire were to open denounce the Roman law, then the Senate’s power would be useless. Thus, much time and resources were spent to control and maintain the empire: it had become too large. The rise of Christianity would have been a festering wound to the Senate that just wouldn’t go away but that they couldn’t ignore.
During the late Roman Empire, Christianity linked the faithful of many religions and background together in one worship. The religious separation was due mainly to the language difference. The official language in the east became Greek, while the west continued to preserve Latin. The Byzantine Emperor Leo ordered all icons destroyed in the early to mid 700’s. The western popes did not acknowledge the emperors authority therefore straining the already tense relationship between the east and west.
Medical knowledge was helpless in the face of pandemics like the mid-third-century plague, and Roman families could no longer populate the empire." (Sherman & Salisbury, 153) Perhaps the greatest factor that led to the population decline was the lack of offspring. " The future of Rome...depended on offspring to carry on the family and other cultural traditions. Yet throughout the empire, had a particularly hard time reproducing. (Sherman & Salisbury, 149) Lack of knowledge on children's and woman's healthcare resulted in a low birthrate. "
Alexander III re-implements Tsarist form, through the use of repression and terror. At the end of the Crimean War, Alexander II realised that Russia was no longer a great military power. His advisers argued that a backwards economy which is reliant on the serfs could not compete with modernized powers such as Britain and France. He also became increasingly unpopular at this time, meaning he needed to do something
Their anger was made evident during the peasant disturbances of 1902. The landowners were also unhappy with the terms of emancipation. They lost the free labour of their serfs and a large amount of land. As a result many were facing huge debts by 1905. Another long-term cause of the 1905 Revolution was the general disappointment with which many Russian people viewed the reforms of the previous decades.
Roman society worked by everyone submitting to the emperor and sacrificing to the gods. That these Christians would not accept societal norms must have been infuriating for many romans, and is the starting point of their hatred towards the Christians. The roman religion which saw seeing forgiveness as performing a set of rituals had no interest in some morality or a set of dos and don’ts, which the Christians lived by. This was considered to be the realm of philosophy. There was no great concern for the afterlife here, and Polytheism with its acceptance of an unlimited number of gods meant that the society that practiced it was adaptable to change.
Although if people with such power are unable to maintain control, their society usually collapses and resolves in chaos. As for Rome, emperors were often selected by violence or by birth, so the head of government was not always capable and eventually it came to the point where it was too large to govern effectively. This caused people to retreat to rural areas, Civil wars between political groups, there were corruption in the military, prices increased, trade decreased. The empire was quickly reducing allowing the Huns, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons and other barbarian tribes to take control over the empire. Social factors involve people’s beliefs and the way they set up their behaviours.
And to top it all off both of these empires fail for similar reasons. The Han Empire collapsed for reasons such as: undetermined emperors could no longer control powerful warlords, weak emperors let canals and roads fall into disrepair, because of the weak government people started to turn on each other and lose control. But the most important reason for the empire collapsing was because of the economic inequality. Burdened by heavy taxes and crushing debt many peasants revolted destroying the civilization. While this collapse took very little time to happen, the Roman Empire’s decline took about a century to occur.