History 3rd Term Research Paper

May 18 2016

The Disintegration of Roman Empire

Throughout history things change, but one thing remained firm—great empires don’t last

forever. Starting from the bottom, the legend of Romulus and Remus, to a great up rise during

the reign of Trajan, the Roman Empire has stood for many years. Contrary to most of the

people’s belief that Rome fell in 476 A.D, Rome’s demise only happened in the West and it did

not happen in a day. A buildup of factors, such as government corruption and political instability,

weakening of Roman legion and a decline in its economy, and barbarian tribes’ invasions are

some of the significant factors that leads to the disintegration of Rome.

A major cause of the collapse of the Roman Empire is government corruption and

political instability. Political instability started when the empire had grown very expansive that in

285 CE, Emperor Diocletian divided the empire into two halves: the Latin-speaking Western

Roman Empire and the Greek-speaking Eastern Roman Empire (Wasson). This division made

the empire more controllable, but in the long run they drifted apart. The Eastern Roman Empire,

known as Byzantium, gained more power due to its abundance of resources. Eventually, Eastern

and Western Empire failed to unite against hazards and often battled over resources (Andrews,

“Rome Fell”). Government corruption started when faced the decision to appoint a new emperor.

This decision was discussed between the old emperor, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's

personal elite group of soldiers), the Senate, and the army itself. Eventually, the Praetorian Guard

grew to have such power where they decided which emperor should be assassinated and which to

ascend the throne (Andrews, “Praetorian Guard”).This weakened the stability of the empire, as
Praetorian Guard can easily become corrupt. During the following years, Rome had 37 emperors

– where 25 of them died through assassination, including Caligula. The Praetorian Guard then

started to auction the title ‘emperor’ to the highest bidder, as quoted in “Then in 186 A. D. the

army strangled the new emperor, the practice began of selling the throne to the highest bidder.”

(“Fall of the Roman Empire”).This, of course, would cause the people themselves to lose trust

and the will to cooperate with the government, which is furtherly leading Rome to its downfall.

Roman army once had world’s strongest forces. It was considered unbeatable and no one

dared to challenge Romans, especially after their epic victory on the Battle of Zama. After a

corrupt government, romans have lost their faith in Rome and refused to defend their homeland.

Because the emperors faced difficulties in recruiting enough soldiers from the Roman citizenry,

they began constantly recruiting foreign mercenaries to strengthen their armies. These barbarian

armies are tough and effective, but showed no sense of loyalty to Rome, only to the money

they’re paid to and their officers. The officers themselves often turned against Rome (Andrews,

“Rome Fell”). To preserve their loyalty, armies and officers had to be paid constantly.

Sustaining the army to defend the large territories of the Roman Empire from outside barbarian

(everyone else outside the Roman Empire was considered barbarian) assaults require money.

/More land is require to maintain soldier’s loyalty towards the rulers, and as the number of

soldier’s increase, the more land and resources they need. Constant warfare due to the need of

more land is fueled by heavy military spending. The government was so focused on enhancing

its military, it often overlooks the city’s development. Due to the lack of money needed for city

development and to pay the army, the government increased taxation and inflation occurred,

which widened the gap between rich and poor (Andrews, ‘Rome Fell”). Merchants raised the

prices on the commodities they sold to make up for the loss of value in money due to inflation.
Many people began to barter to obtain commodities (“Fall of the Roman Empire”). This adds to

the tension between the rich and the poor which caused many revolutions to erupt throughout the

empire, causing it to become more unstable.

Barbarian invasions is perhaps the final blow. Since the reign of Augustus, Roman armies

have successfully kept barbarian tribes out of the Roman Empire, but due to corrupted

government and a declining economy, the empire lost its discipline and stability. This weakens

the empire, making it more vulnerable to barbarian attacks. The most notable attacks are attacks

from Germanic tribes, especially Germanic tribe from the east—the Goths. Goths forced

expansion due to the need of more land and resources to satisfy the growing population. Their

attacks began in 247 A.D and 251 A.D where Emperor Decius was killed in one of the battles.

Later on, Emperor Constantine settled an agreement with the Visigoths (western Goths) that

made them accomplices of the empire, where they agreed to help defend the empire in return for

resources. The threats of other barbarians to the Empire forced the emperor to raise a bigger and

better army, in which with the lack of funds is not possible. (Watkins)

In conclusion, the downfall of the great Roman empire occur because of corrupted government

and unstable politics, decline in economy and enfeeble Roman brigade which consists of disloyal

foreign mercenaries, and constant attacks from barbarians. These conditions finally guide to the

ultimate demise of ancient Rome, an empire that was once the most powerful empire in history.
Bibliography

1. Andrews, Evan. "8 Reasons Why Rome Fell." History. A&E Television Networks, 14

Jan. 2014. Web. 13 May 2016.

2. Andrews, Evan. "8 Things You May Not Know About the Praetorian Guard." History.

A&E Television Networks, 8 July 2014. Web. 13 May 2016.

3. "Fall of the Roman Empire." Rome.info , Rome.info, n.d. Web. 13 May 2016.

4. Wasson, Donald L. "Diocletian." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Ancient History

Encyclopedia Limited, 02 Feb. 2014. Web. 14 May 2016.

5. Watkins, Thayer. "The Invasion of the Western Roman Empire by Barbarian Tribes." San

José State University Department of Economics. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 May 2016.