The Fall of Rome Empire

One of the biggest third-century crises was the fall of the Roman Empire, which is seen to be one of the issues that scholars try to establish the cause. Moreover, the concept and opinions related to the fall are many indicating that there are many complexities associated with it. For instance, Voltaire and Gibbon indicate that the fall was as a result of the rise of Christianity which was an indication of the fall of their political strongholds and ideologies. On the other hand, Machiavelli indicates that the invasion of the barbarians is to blame as Paulo Paruta indicates that the fallout of the people and the Senate was the major cause of the weakening of the empire (Perry 121). There are also reasons related to the climate change, diseases and plagues such as malaria, military spirit, immorality, racial population and depopulation. Therefore, with the establishment of different issues to represent the fall of the roam empire, it is essential to establish factors that can instigate the correct concept and ideology that has significant facts. One of the issues that stand out and can be established by this paper is the economic weakness, which was inherited by several governments in the empire before the third century.

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Apart from just the economic factors, there are other financial problems. According to Hugh Elton, both the Eastern and Western empires suffered similar conditions that would have led to their fall, and this does not clearly explain the main reasons for the fall of the entire Roman Empire. The East survived the collapse because of institutional weakness and invasions from the barbarians. Elton believes that the fall of the Rome is because of the financial difficulties that are familiar with the western empire and poor leadership (Heather 40). The Barbarians ruled the Rome and influenced them negatively, that even when Diocletian a Roman rose to power, was influenced by them contributing to the fall. There was a misuse of money on the purchase of bread, pork and circuses for non-working poor people. The introduction of Barbaric Christianity and the move of the Roman capital to Constantinople also contributed to the fall of the Rome.

Economic, military and gradual are the three main models that try to explain the fall of the fall of the Rome according to Ohio state site. Lack of currency for circulation in the Western empire, economic decay through hoarding of bullion, and trade deficiency are examples of economic factors. Exploitation of the Treasury and looting of funds by the Barbarian greatly led to the fall of the Rome (Gibbon 72). There are, however, other reasons that contributed to the fall such as environmental change and decaying infrastructure. These economic factors coupled with the lack of effective leadership among the military and attrition that resulted to military decay also led to the fall of the Rome.

Some of the economic inheritance that weakened the empire includes decentralization of the agricultural industry, slave economy and the non-sustainability that has been exhibited by the empire for a long time. During the third century, the serious weaknesses of the empire were developed by the economic nature of the situation where the fundamental structure was based on the republic that was governing the sector (Gibbon 80). For instance, during the first century, the population of Rome was, and workers and their lives were dominated by the aggression towards their agricultural produce. Later, the farmers were forced out of their lands as the territories were being confiscated by the government. At the same time, some other communities were being integrated into the Roman Empire. The new communities did not practice the same economic practices, which made the production of food dwindle (Heather 53). The region also suffered a great deal during the second Punic war, which made the region have a different economic establishment. During the war, the agricultural lands in the region were devastated. The people who benefitted from the war were the wealthy opportunists since they were not inclined to the finances of the small-scale farmers.

In conclusion, there are quite some factors that contributed to the fall of the Rome, some of which are major like Economic factors and inflation. Among the minor problems that affected the economy of the Rome are poor management, the Dole, which was made of Bread and circuses and Hoarding. The region became weak economically which also interfered with the social interaction of the people of the region and their neighbors. At the same time, they embarked on economic development that made things worse for them as it riddled the weakness and the problems. The first problem was the establishment of the Imperial trial estates, which made it impossible for the farmers establish themselves since their land, were taken by the developers. The large development of the estates was uncalled for at that particular moment as the developers did not establish a better way of getting finance as an alternative to the farming that was already established by the people in the region.

Works Cited

Gibbon, Edward.The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. New York: Harcourt, Brace, 2010. Print.

Grant, Michael. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A Reappraisal. Radnor, Pa.: Annenberg School Press, 2016. Print.

Heather, P J. The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Internet resource.

Perry, Marvin. Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society., 2015. Print.