Download The Fall of Rome

The Fall of Rome
By Brendon, Calvin, and Luke
3 Main Causes
• Military Decay
• Economic Issues
• Introduction of Christianity
Military Decay
• Around the 2nd century AD Emperor
Constantine started vast reforms of
Roman laws
• These changes accelerated the effects of
some problems that were at the time quite
small
• These reforms did not only change the way
Romans lived their lives but also had a huge
impact on the military
• Before this the Roman military was composed of
foot soldiers divided into divisions of up to 8000
called Legions
• The new organization
was based on cavalry
instead of infantry
• The main force
consisted of mounted
warriors called
comitatenses
• The other division
was called limitanei
• Comitatenses were
the army and limitanei
were the border
guards
• The border guards had land given to them
near the fortress they were garrisoned at
• They were also responsible for farming in
that area so they became isolated
• They had worse weapons/armour and
insufficient training
• The cavalry who were the favoured
division were had to be called in to
compensate
• There was soon a lack in troops which
spread then even thinner
Causes of the Shortage of Troops
• The new laws allowed people to choose if
they were going to join the army, where as
it was imperative previously
• The inner provinces did not bother
because they were never under immediate
threat from raiders
Map of the Roman Empire
• Rome encompassed
quite a large area
• It had to constantly
defend it’s borders
from barbarian
invaders
• Because of the weak
border guards a huge
number of them made
it past the borders
Introduction of Barbarians into the
Roman Military
• They had to recruit
barbarians to make
up for the lack of
Romans entering
• These barbarians
would either be
brought in as
individuals or entire
tribes would be hired
• They did not follow
standard military rules
Rights of a Barbarian
• These barbarians were given Federate
Status
• They were by their own leaders
• They paid no taxes
• Were able to carry weapons among
unarmed Romans
• The Romans ended up turning the
barbarians into more of a threat than
protection
4th Century Military
• By the year 400 AD
the Roman military
was very weak
• The invading
barbarians noticed
this and took
advantage
• They managed to
create entire colonies
like Spain and Gaul
• Near it’s end, large
civil wars tore Rome
apart
• The barbarian chiefs
would start clan wars
for power
• While they fought each
other the borders were
left open
• The end up the Roman
Empire came about
when Odacer; a
Germanic chieftain
took over the throne of
Rome
The Introduction of Christianity
• One of the most
drastic changes
brought forth by
Constantine was the
conversion of Rome's
Religion to
Christianity
• This change ended
up contributing to
Rome’s downfall
• These new beliefs dictated that disputes
between nations were better solved by
peaceful means
• This greatly affected Rome’s ability to
defend itself
• Also meant that large amounts of money
were put into churches
• Less money to maintain Rome
Effects of Christianity
• It was believed that
Christianity would bring
morals and values to the
people of Rome
• However there were still
32,000 prostitutes in
Rome, Gladiator fights
were still a huge hit and
civil disputes arose from it
• Christians ended up
being blamed for all of
Rome’s problems
• When Rome finally fell
people wondered why
their God had abandoned
them
Economic/Social Issues
• Economic and Social issues also played a
role in bringing about the fall of Rome
• Near it’s end the western part of Rome
had pretty much lost it’s economic will
• The prosperity it had once experienced
was gone
Government
• Rome had expanded
so far that one ruler
would never be able
to control all of it
• As a result it was split
up among multiple
rulers
Political Corruption
• Unlike Greece which had not always
smooth but at least reliable and consistent
methods of picking a new leader Rome did
not have an effective way
• The choice was debated by the current
Emperor, his private army (Like Hitler’s
Gestapo), the Senate and the military
• Often the Emperor’s
army would be given
complete authority on
the choice and then
when they chose their
current Emperor
again they were
rewarded
• This stopped after
one of the Emperors
was strangled by his
guards
• It soon deteriorated into buying your way
into reigning
• Over the course of 100 years Rome had
37 different Emperors and 25 of them
were assassinated because no one liked
them
• These political issues had a large impact
on Rome as a society
Economic Aspects
• With all the military and
political turmoil the
economy of Rome also
began to slip
• When rich land owners
started up slave based
farm operations the
normal farmers couldn’t
compete and ended up
poor and homeless
• Taxes also soared as the
Emperors became more
concerned about money
than their citizens
• The Emperor now had upwards of 100,000
people to take care of because they were
poor
• Due to other reasons the concentration of
citizens caused diseases to spread with
great speed
• These all lead to Rome’s fall slowly but
surely