Roman Empire Flaws

The ancient world was marked by many successful and great civilizations and their equally great falls from power. Perhaps the most grand of failures in this time was that of the Roman Empire. After the death of Marcus Aurelius, an empire that had stood strong for centuries began its long, painful decline which lasted almost three centuries. No one person could possibly be blamed for this progression of abasement in the empire, but rather the entire Roman population. There were multiple political, economic, military, and social causes of the fall of the Roman Empire.

The early Roman Republic will always be remembered for its revolutionary government. Citizen-elected leaders who represented both the rich and the poor worked together for the well-being of the country as a whole. After the decline of the Empire began, however, politics in Rome became less and less respectable. The emperor, who was at one time chosen fairly and based on merit and potential as a leader, was now being given away on other terms. The Praetorian
One of the most important of these flaws was the new mentality in the upper class. People who had at one time led the republic and the empire to greatness now only focused their attention on luxuries and money making for their own benefit. Also, traditions in throughout the land were beginning to be shunned. Roman idols and gods of the olden days were beginning to be overtaken by the new God in Christianity. Continued violence in the Coliseum served as a distraction from the troubles of daily life in the empire. However, people witnessing these events adopted the mentality of brutality and bloodshed, and overall morale in Rome fell. Other human values of any age were also being shunned in Rome towards its fall. At one time, there were over 32,000 prostitutes in the capital city