ES Article - Death of an Empire
Death of an Empire - By the Walrus
With MTW2 coming out I decided an article detailing the fall of the Roman Western Empire would be appropriate. The fall of the Western Empire had many effects. Western Europe went into the period known as the “dark ages”. There were many reasons leading to the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. http://z.about.com/d/ancienthistory/...ire395west.jpg
Map of western roman empire at 395
Background
The Roman Empire of the fourth century A.D. extended entirely around the Mediterranean Sea, including modern day Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and North Africa. Modern France (called Gaul) and modern day Spain and Portugal (called Iberia) were entirely Roman. Modern day England not Great Britain was Roman (Great Britain is considered England, Scotland, and Ireland. Scotland and Ireland were not held by the Romans). The northern borders were the Rhine and Danube Rivers. The lands north of these were occupied by variety of “barbarian” tribes of Scandinavian descent. The Romans called these people Germans. Rome engaged in skirmishes with these people many times. Strong emperors would occasionally conquered the territory across the rivers but then have weak emperors lose them. The bigger and more organized threat was the Persian Empire to the east. The Persian Empire occupied modern Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Rome was ruled by an Imperator(emperor). While this was good with good emperors it was horrible with weak emperors. The rules for succession weren’t clear which often led to civil wars. As time continued the bureaucracy in Rome was becoming more corrupt. The wealth gradually went into the hands of a few minority with a large population of slaves did most of the work. The borders themselves where a strain on Rome’s resources. Roman conquests had ceased in the second century A.D. bringing an end to plunder and slaves. Taxes increased and work production decreased. A plague may have killed twenty percent of the empire’s population in the third and fourth century further reducing trade and production.
The Split
http://www.usu.edu/markdamen/1320His...mpiresmall.JPG
Map of Eastern and Roman empire
In the late third century, the Roman Empire was split into eastern and western halve in an attempt to make controlling the empire easier rule and control. In 323 Constantine became emperor after a civil war and established his capital at Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople(modern day Instanbul) During the next century, the differences between the two halves increased. The western halve was predominantly Latin while the eastern halve was Greek(they claimed to be Roman). The eastern halve survived their western counterpart because they had more population, money, better emperors, and better navy and army. http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/histo...man_empire.jpg
Map of eastern empire
The Beginning of the End
The traditional date for the collapse is September 4, 476 A.D. when Romulus Augustus, the emperor of the western empire was deposed. There are many theories and reasons for the decline. One is Christianity. You could argue that Christianity made the Romans pacifists making it harder to face Barbarians. You could say it was public health. At this time rich people had water coming through lead pipes. This caused lead poisoning. It also didn’t help that they had contact with people on the street leading to disease spreading. The decline of moral values was also a cause. Crime rate was high in bigger cities. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became famous for spending loads of money on lavish parties where the guests ate food until they became ill. Political corruption was also a problem. One of the problems was choosing an emperor. The Romans never made an effective system for choosing an heir. It was often open to debate from the senate, emperor, Praetorian Guard, and the army. It eventually went into the hands of the Praetorian Guard. They would sell the throne to the highest bidder. During the next 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors-25 whom were removed by assassination in office. This gradually weakened the Empire. Another cause was unemployment. Rich people owned huge estates called Latifundias which were ran with slave labor. Small farmers couldn’t compete with this and had to sell their farms. They moved to the city where the Emperor fed them. With nothing to do, they caused trouble and contributed to crime. Inflation was a problem. With no land being conquered, no gold was coming in. Yet much gold was spent buying luxury items. This meant there was less gold to use in coins. As coins had less gold in them, merchants charged more to make up for it. Eventually, people bartered and where paid with clothes and food. Taxes started to be collected in fruits and vegetables. Military spending was also harsh. It took a lot of money for the empire was a constant strain. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the empire. The empire had to recruit/hire from the poor and foreign country soldiers with led to a poor army and higher costs. They had to increase taxes which led to even higher inflation.
The End of an empire, the start of darkness
For years, the disciplined legions kept the Germans at bay. Then in the third century A.D. the Roman soldiers were pulled back from the Rhine-Danube frontier for a civil war. This left the border exposed and gradually the Germans took over Roman lands in Greece and Gaul. Then in 476, the Germanic chieftain Odacer or Odovacar overthrew the last of the Roman emperors. The western empire was now ruled by this Germanic Chieftain. Roads and bridges were left in disrepair and fields left untilled. Pirates and bandits made travel unsafe. Cities could not be maintained without goods from the farms. Trade and business disappeared, and with it, Rome in the west.
Originally Posted by SK_CROW
