How Did The Fall Of The Western Roman Empire

It has been said that events in history have an intricate web of relationships, causes, and effects. This is particularly true of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, as supported by the many books published speculating different reasons why the empire collapsed. They were a people of discipline, pride, and honor. At its peak of success, Rome was the military powerhouse of the world. However, many factors lead to its instability, and eventual demise. This essay will outline three such factors, that I feel significantly contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire: their politics, their economy, and their military. Towards the end of the Western Roman Empire, the government had oppressive laws and leaders. In the beginning of the
The Patricians were the upper class and they had far more rights and power than the lower class, Plebeians. One of the major influences on how badly the economy was doing was the patricians use of slaves to fill farming jobs on the latifundia. Since the slaves employed these jobs, this caused plebeians to have less job opportunities. This also caused an even bigger gap between the rich and the poor. Also, inflation was at its height, so only the rich could afford most things. Additionally, one of the governments main sources of income was taxes. However, the government did not receive much tax money because the patricians were often exempt and the plebeians had barely any money to pay
Roman soldiers took great pride in what they did, and the Roman army originally consisted largely of Romans. However, Rome began to use the barbarians because they thought that they were less civilized, more hardened, and that they were bigger and more brutal in terms of fighting. Also, during the third century, Rome had a series of invasions and civil wars, which led to a shortage of troops and created a greater dependence on troops from outside the country. Towards the end of the empire they hired mercenaries, from the Germanic tribes, as professional soldiers. These troops were not as loyal because they weren’t Roman and their motivation was not pride in the country, but money. This new military was missing some of the key qualities of the old one such as discipline and training. The use of foreigners in the Roman military created other problems because Roman citizens viewed them as barbarians that were enemies, and did not trust them. As it turns out, the Germans that were part of the Roman military were not loyal, as they turned on Rome when the Germans invaded Rome. As seen in the map the Germanic tribes such as the Vandals, the Visigoths, the swiftly moved through Gaul, Spain, Britain, and Italy, battling their way through. From 100 A.D.-500 A.D. they were gradually conquering places throughout the Roman Empire. They fought at cities like Troyes, Rome, and Adrianople, the