Roman Empire Dbq Essay

Nearly two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire conquered all territories west of the Persian Empire in modern day Iran and Iraq. The empire extended southwards into North Africa, and as far north as the British Isles. For close on to four centuries, the Romans controlled and conquered most of Western Eurasia and the Mediterranean. However, their rule came to an end because of the centrifugal forces of political and economic issues, foreign invaders and belligerent tribes, and socio-religious transformations. This brief response will help highlight the primary reasons why the Roman Empire fell.

In the later part of the Roman Empire’s existence, their political and government was fraught with political corruption and incompetent leaders. The
After Jesus’ crucifixion, many of Jesus’ followers began to spread the word of their new religion modeled after the teachings and lifestyle of Jesus. But, as these followers went throughout the Roman world, they were met with persecution and ridicule. Although the Roman elite later adopted Christianity as the state religion, Christianity was first successfully adopted by the lower class and the Germanic tribes (Document G). Christianity helped the Roman subject to start questioning the ruling class’s impropriety and their indifference to inequality. Christianity led the fall of the Roman empire because it helped the subjects question the Roman authority, and to ultimately overthrow it.

The Roman Empire was able to control the entirety of the European continent and to control spheres of influence around the ancient world. However, this did not make them immune to forces out of their control: economic inequality and political mismanagement, tribal insurrections, and the spread of Christianity. In short, the Romans lost their empire because of these numerous forces pulled the their resources, time, and effort into multiple quagmires. Without the number of centrifugal forces, the Roman Empire would have easily continued to rule over Europe for another four