Why did the Roman Empire fall?

Question

CuriousJC · Accepted Answer

Modern Historian on History Channel season 5 episode 6: Roman Empire.
The most straightforward theory for Western Rome’s collapse pins the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries, but by the 300s “barbarian” groups like the Goths had encroached beyond the Empire’s borders. The Romans weathered a Germanic uprising in the late fourth century, but in 410 the Visigoth King Alaric successfully sacked the city of Rome. The Empire spent the next several decades under constant threat before “the Eternal City” was raided again in 455, this time by the Vandals. Finally, in 476, the Germanic leader Odoacer staged a revolt and deposed the Emperor Romulus Augustulus. From then on, no Roman emperor would ever again rule from a post in Italy, leading many to cite 476 as the year the Western Empire suffered its deathblow.
Even as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis. Constant wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers, and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between rich and poor. In the hope of avoiding the taxman, many members of the wealthy classes had even fled to the countryside and set up independent fiefdoms. At the same time, the empire was rocked by a labor deficit. Rome’s economy depended on slaves to till its fields and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. But when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome’s supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up. A further blow came in the fifth century, when the Vandals claimed North Africa and began disrupting the empire’s trade by prowling the Mediterranean as pirates. With its economy faltering and its commercial and agricultural production in decline, the Empire began to lose its grip on Europe. The fate of Western Rome was partially sealed in the late third century, when the Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into two halves—the Western Empire seated in the city of Milan, and the Eastern Empire in Byzantium, later known as Constantinople. The division made the empire more easily governable in the short term, but over time the two halves drifted apart. East and West failed to adequately work together to combat outside threats, and the two often squabbled over resources and military aid. As the gulf widened, the largely Greek-speaking Eastern Empire grew in wealth while the Latin-speaking West descended into economic crisis. Most importantly, the strength of the Eastern Empire served to divert Barbarian invasions to the West. Emperors like Constantine ensured that the city of Constantinople was fortified and well guarded, but Italy and the city of Rome—which only had symbolic value for many in the East—were left vulnerable. The Western political structure would finally disintegrate in the fifth century, but the Eastern Empire endured in some form for another thousand years before being overwhelmed by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s. At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean all the way to the Euphrates River in the Middle East, but its grandeur may have also been its downfall. With such a vast territory to govern, the empire faced an administrative and logistical nightmare. Even with their excellent road systems, the Romans were unable to communicate quickly or effectively enough to manage their holdings. Rome struggled to marshal enough troops and resources to defend its frontiers from local rebellions and outside attacks, and by the second century the Emperor Hadrian was forced to build his famous wall in Britain just to keep the enemy at bay.

demonics · Accepted Answer

"Masculine republics give way to feminine democracies, and feminine democracies give way to tyranny." Aristotle
-Women vote/gain rights
-Welfare states develop
-Borders dissolve
-Overconsumption of scarce resources
-Militaries stretched thin
-Birth rates plummet
-Importation of cheap labor
-Debauchery and social decay
-Infrastructure in disrepair
-Government corruption
-Enemies of the state leave the city gates unlocked
-Barbarians rush in
-Collapse
-War
-Men rebuild
-Repeat

MCheetah · Answer

Arrogant people in power + incompetence, just like every empire falls.
Just like the American empire is about to do right now, if it hasn't already.
Which is a shame, because this is only the fault of a few people whoa re EXTREME corrupt and stupid.

lightbulb27 · Answer

they used the wrong mortar for the pillars... knuckleheads...

humor aside. they committed the many sins that the USA is repeating. they made war instead of peace, debachury, and they ran out of money to pay the soldiers. it's cheap to be a villian, expensive to pay military.

pass_the_celery98 · Answer

The Roman Empire fell because other super powers such empires emerged. But the remnants of the Roman Empire was used for the current Western empires of the British, North America and Australia. But even they have lost their power, the British have lost their power since 1979 so has the United States. I think we area heading into WW3 territory eventually.

Lionman95 · Answer

Because the society lost its strength, the leadership broke and got confused. At the end they had children who became kings. Another problem is that the control of so much land became a huge burdain after some time.

Alexandrubaschet08 · Answer

Constant barbarian invasions
Economic crises
Division based on differences in religious vision in 1054
Internal revolts based on feelings of belonging to the rightful homelands (Galia, Thrace, Carthage, Germany, Dacia... etc), the most famous being Spartacus' revolt.
Administration of the empire, communications between regions were difficult.

hahahmm · Answer

Too many people and not enough resources to provide the stuff those people needed. The Eastern Roman empire did things right and survived until the 1900s in the form of the Ottoman Empire.

Soleil8000 · Answer

They were straight heteros and the circumcised/transgender Egyptians arrived/lured them to move from Rome to Constantinople/Istanbul, then they kept brainwashing them to collapse near to Egyptian homelands.

EssenceOfLight · Answer

Effeminacy. Romans hired warriors from Germanic, Celtic and Scythian tribes for their army and at some point those tribes took the control and divided roman empire.
This is the fate of every ethically non homogeneous society

DCooper · Answer

The fall of the republic was the beginning of the decine. Time proved Brutus and the Tyranicides right.

Snakeyes7 · Answer

Tyrannical emperors. I seem to remember Nero was a pretty notorious example.

REDHOTLINE · Answer

There was So many reasons and factors.
Bad and selfish emperors , administrators.
Misconduct , bribe. Unfair economical status etc... and also giant and so far lands could not manage.
And big enemies exist on last years and attacked them.

OddBeMe · Answer

It’s not the people were wiped out. The govt just transitioned to other countries. Eventually becoming Italia. Historians just point to a few millennia and call it the Roman Empire.

Not_Average · Answer

They debased their currency. There’s a ton of reasons, but this one stood out to me the most.

TheFlak38 · Answer

because the original Romans who founded it died out.

darkcloud1945 · Answer

Over extended it self to be able to maintain itself.

ragooo8 · Answer

A lack of manpower, plagues, mismanagement and economic problems.

Juxtapose · Answer

They were spread too thin.

siseñor · Answer

it tripped

Joker_ · Answer

because of sex

Gwenhwyfar · Answer

I have an idea why

TheSpaceGnome · Answer

Wasn't there.

threebelles · Answer

Too many defeats

Why did the Roman Empire fall?

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