The Fall of the Roman Empire

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Rome was one of the most successful empires in history. The Roman Republic won an overseas empire beginning with the Punic Wars. The Second Punic War was both a defining moment and a turning point in Roman history. The Roman republic was supreme throughout the Mediterranean. By the end of the first century B.C, Rome controlled almost all of the known world (along the Mediterranean). And its system of government changed from that of a Republic to an empire with the first emperor, Augustus Caesar. Caesar began the two centuries of the Pax Romana. During this time, the Roman Empire reached the peak of success. Unfortunately, Rome’s empire eventually fell. There were many contributing factors to the fall of the Roman Empire such as military weakness, political instability, and economical problems. The first reason for the decline of Rome was that its economy was starting to fail. Rome began to start having problems with trading goods throughout other countries. At this point in Rome’s history, it had stopped expanding and as a result stopped gaining wealth from conquering other countries. Also, during this period where Rome was not gaining any revenue, inflation started to occur. Inflation is the result of the devaluation of money. Most of Rome’s currency was silver coins and as a result of the empire not gaining any more wealth from the system, they reduced the amount of silver used in the coins. Because of this, roman citizens were charging higher prices for items so they would be receiving the same amount of silver. Inflation was not the empire’s only concern with the economy. The defense of the empire was very expensive and Rome also needed to maintain an active military, as a result Rome raised taxes that the average roman citizen could not afford. Even with the raised taxes it could not provide enough money to maintain the empire. The ultimate outcome of
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