What Was the Most Important Factor in the Downfall of Rome?
- Thread starter cgannon64
- Start date
Panda
Metal head
I'm surprised nobody mentioned the plague in the Eastern parts of the Empire that killed off a quarter of the population.
Just before the real huns arrived.
Just before the real huns arrived.
Serutan
Eatibus Anythingibus
Something else no one has mentioned yet is that in ancient
times the cities were wholly parasitic. That is, not only did they
consume lots of resources, but they produced *nothing* in
return, so they were a huge drain on the economy. Not the
only factor, of course...
BTW, on a history of the Western World telecourse, the prof
said that maybe the question that people should ask is not "why
did Rome fall", but "How did Rome last so long?" After all,
515 BC -> 1453 AD outlasts everything except Ancient Egypt.
times the cities were wholly parasitic. That is, not only did they
consume lots of resources, but they produced *nothing* in
return, so they were a huge drain on the economy. Not the
only factor, of course...
BTW, on a history of the Western World telecourse, the prof
said that maybe the question that people should ask is not "why
did Rome fall", but "How did Rome last so long?" After all,
515 BC -> 1453 AD outlasts everything except Ancient Egypt.
onejayhawk
Afflicted with reason
I think the empire of Rome was ripe to fall within a century of the Punic wars, except for the Punic wars themselves. Hannibal galvanized an already stodgy roman society and gave them the impetus to continue expanding. By the Christian Era, Rome was already out of enemies, except Persia. 400 years later, there was no backbone left. The Byzantine Empire had Persia to serve as both a counterweight and trading partner, hence a much longer run at the top.
J
gr8ful wes
Deity
Perhaps the fact that it relied on slavery.
sabo
My Ancestors were Vikings
I don't wonder what the reasons were for contributing to the fall of Rome, as all great civilizations fade away. What I wonder is how in the heck they made it last as long as they did!!
Goths, Suebi, Franks, Burgundians, Vandals, Alans and Huns...
Famous Latin last words: Heck, those guys are good warriors. Lets build an army consisting of Germans and led by Germans. Maybe we should add some Sarmatians and Huns as well. What could possibly go wrong? Anonymous Roman Emperor
Anytime A.D.
Cimbri the sarcastic
Famous Latin last words: Heck, those guys are good warriors. Lets build an army consisting of Germans and led by Germans. Maybe we should add some Sarmatians and Huns as well. What could possibly go wrong? Anonymous Roman Emperor
Anytime A.D.
Cimbri the sarcastic
Higher Game
National Socialist
The Romans relied heavily on slaves, and they inbred with them too. Do modern day Italians look like Roman busts?
The Roman Empire died because the Roman race died out. The incredible reliance on slaves and not working for themselves is what killed them. In a word, laziness. You can include drunken orgies and parties, and gladiator fights too.
The Roman Empire died because the Roman race died out. The incredible reliance on slaves and not working for themselves is what killed them. In a word, laziness. You can include drunken orgies and parties, and gladiator fights too.
Wildbore
Chieftain
The failure of the Roman Empire was a combination of 3 major factors, military, economy, and political.
The barbarians were coming in from everywhere and taking it over basically. Polititions were becoming corrupt and taking all of the money for themselves and not putting it back to the ppl, basically like CEO's in America. and the economy failed because the reliance on slaves was so high that eventually they all died and romans could not keep produce up. OK?
The barbarians were coming in from everywhere and taking it over basically. Polititions were becoming corrupt and taking all of the money for themselves and not putting it back to the ppl, basically like CEO's in America. and the economy failed because the reliance on slaves was so high that eventually they all died and romans could not keep produce up. OK?
Similar threads
