Dominic Marsella

DBQ: The Fall of Rome

I. Introduction

Rome used to be a flourishing empire that had conqueredtheentireMediterraneanSeaandthe

countries bordering it but eventually fell due to instability in the empire. Rome began in 750

B.C.E. as a small village, but by 117 C.E. had reached its peak growth and soon began to fall. By

44 B.C.E., Rome had no enemies at the time, and became unstoppable, until threemaincauses.

The Roman Empire fell because of an unstable militarysystem,invasionsofbarbariantribes,and

natural disasters and plagues. Of these three reasons, the most crucial reason for the Empires

demise was having an unstable military system.

II. Natural Disasters & Diseases

One crucial reason that Rome fell to its knees was that of natural disasters and diseases that

swept through the empire. Edward Gibbon states in his bookTheHistoryoftheDeclineandFall

of the Roman Empire, The Roman world was shaken by a violent and destructive earthquake

50,000 people had lost their lives in Alexandria alone and destroying, evenmore,buildingsand

structures. Peter Stearns, Michael Adas, Stuart Schwartz, and Marc Jason Gilbert, state in their

book World Civilizations: The Global Experience, Recruitment of troops became more difficult,
so the empire increasingly reduced to hiring Germanic soldiers to guard its frontiers. Stearns,

Adas, Schwartz, and Gilbert also state in their book World Civilizations: The Global Experience,

Economic life worsened in consequence. The need to paytroopsaddedtothedemandsonthe

states budget, just as declining production cut into tax revenues. This issue explains whyRome

fell because although the disasters decreased the population of Rome severely, it also cut

through the empires economy.

III. Invasions Of Barbarian Tribes

Another critical reason that Romefelltoitskneeswasthatofinvasionsofbarbariantribesthat

surrounded the entire empire. The map in Document C statesthatinvaderssuchastheVandals,

Huns, and Goths all attacked Rome at different times, and from different places. Each barbarian

wanted different things, and had different reasons for migrating to or invading Rome. The

barbarians ravaged entire countrysides and stole anything they could from cities and provinces.

This issue explains why Rome fell because the invaders stole everything from cities, and left

absolutely nothing for the Roman citizens to use, leading to massive food shortages, and

crippling the empires economy.

IV. Unstable Military System

While the first two reasons are crucial to Rome falling to its knees, the most important reason

Rome fell was having an unstable militarysystem.InDocumentB,theRomanhistorian,Vegetius,

states in his book Concerning Military Matters, But when, because of negligence and laziness,

parade ground drills were abandoned Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside

breastplates andthenthehelmets.VegetiusalsostatesinConcerningMilitaryMatters,Soour

soldiers fought the Goths without any protection for chest and head, and were often beaten by

archers noonetriedtorestorebreastplatesandhelmetstotheinfantry.InDocumentB,Michael

Grant states in hisbookTheFallOfTheRomanEmpire:AReappraisal,Therecanbelittledoubt

that the weaknesses of the late Roman army were largely to the eventual failure to enforce

regular conscription senators, bureaucrats, clergymen, cooks, bakers, and slaves were all

entitled to escape conscription. This issue explains why Rome fell because, the Goths could

easily invade the Roman empire and ravage everything, without having the city of Rome in the

empire, there is no practical way to restore the crippled empire.

V. Conclusion

It is true that there are other reasons that explain Romes decline. These include having 22

emperors over the course of 50 years, the savage barbarians known as the Huns,severetaxes,

lazy citizens, and unfair government to name a few. However, the three reasons presented

above, Natural Disasters and Diseases, Invasion Of Barbarian Tribes, and especially Unstable

Military System provide the best explanation of why Rome finally crumbled in the 5th century C.E.