Popular Reasons For The Decline Of The Roman Empire
ROME
The Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum) was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The 500-year-old Roman Republic, which preceded it, had been destabilized through a series of civil wars.1 The main popular reasons for the decline of Roman Empire are discussed in the following paragraphs.
The most straightforward reason for the same has been the invasion by Barbarian tribes. 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.
There also occurred a severe financial crisis, …show more content…
Traveling became a very dangerous activity, particularly at night, and gradually people fell into a long period of superstition and ignorance, whereby they began imagining that "dragons" and other monsters lay outside the towns and would eat anyone who traveled at night. The fact traveling outside at night was dangerous (and therefore people who traveled at night tended to disappear) reinforced this superstition. Gradually, tales arose of brave knights who went out into the forests and battled these monsters and discovered all sorts of magical talismans and so
The Roman Empire (Latin: Imperium Romanum) was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterized by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, Africa, and Asia. The 500-year-old Roman Republic, which preceded it, had been destabilized through a series of civil wars.1 The main popular reasons for the decline of Roman Empire are discussed in the following paragraphs.
The most straightforward reason for the same has been the invasion by Barbarian tribes. 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.
There also occurred a severe financial crisis, …show more content…
Traveling became a very dangerous activity, particularly at night, and gradually people fell into a long period of superstition and ignorance, whereby they began imagining that "dragons" and other monsters lay outside the towns and would eat anyone who traveled at night. The fact traveling outside at night was dangerous (and therefore people who traveled at night tended to disappear) reinforced this superstition. Gradually, tales arose of brave knights who went out into the forests and battled these monsters and discovered all sorts of magical talismans and so