Although the Ancient Roman Empire was the largest and strongest empire in the world for centuries, it eventually met its demise in 476 CE. Owing in large part to political instability and internal schisms, attacks from warring tribes, as well as an economic crisis spanning several decades, the struggling Roman Empire simply did not have the resources to combat these challenges.
One of the main reasons for Ancient Rome’s decline was political instability and infighting. Civil wars and assassinations were common occurrences, with a number of military generals rebelling against rule. The power-hungry officials in the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor’s personal bodyguards), and the emperors themselves also started consolidating more and more power as time went on. Their inability to accomplish anything important made it impossible for the Ancient Roman Empire to prevail.
A weakening military is another issue that is commonly brought up as the reason for Ancient Rome’s fall from power. With the split of the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire (now known as the Byzantine Empire) in 395, Ancient Rome’s military strength was effectively halved. Emperors now had to contend with an unmanageable empire that was too massive to defend. The outskirts of the empire were frequently bombarded with attacks from so-called “barbarian” tribes, which included the Huns, Visigoths, Vandals, and other various tribes across Europe. These groups wore down Roman military might to the point where they started losing some of the territory they had conquered. Notably, Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410, resulting in a loss of morale for Roman troops and populace alike and symbolizing their fall from power.
Finally, the last major reason was economic. As Rome’s military power declined, expansion came to a standstill. Thus, their armies were no longer bringing back slaves or riches from the areas they conquered. Without slaves, their main source of labor dried up, and without war riches, Rome’s massive debt went unpaid. With over-taxation of the poor, however, came inflation. As a result, Roman leaders had even less money to spend on their armies, which meant that they could not afford to pay soldiers their wages or purchase better equipment. More and more young soldiers came home to support their families in the absence of slaves, further weakening their military.
The Roman Empire met its gloomy end in 476, when Rome’s last emperor was deposed by a foreign invasion. A combination of weak emperors, who failed to foresee and prevent this decline, a degrading military which could no longer effectively repel invasions, and a heavily inflated economy all contributed to Rome’s fall.
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Picture credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Period