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[Instructor’s
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title]
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Fall
of the Roman Empire
Historians consider a number of factors
responsible for the decline of the great
Roman Empire. There were social, political
and economic reasons alongwith with
external threats that lead to the decline.
All these factors were interrelated
and interconnected.
The
size of the empire considerably increased
after huge conquests by its rulers.
The Emperor enjoyed absolute powers
within his jurisdiction. He acted as
commander in chief of army, high priest,
source of law and highest court of appeal.
“This worked well with good emperors,
but incompetent ones could do great
harm”. [Dorrington, Adrian. The fall
of Rome]
The
economy of Rome was mainly based on
Agriculture. The elite invested their
wealth in land and cultivation increased
when Romans learned new farming techniques
and brought plants from Mediterranean.
Wealthy landowners mostly lived in cities
and servants managed their estates.
These estates had lower labor costs
which gradually undermined/weakened
Italian agriculture. As a result, Rome
started importing wheat from Egypt and
Africa, oil from Spain and wine from
France (Gaul). Similarly, the Roman
industry did not include mass production.
Small units were manufacturing pottery,
metalwork, glass etc.
The
Roman Emperors introduced silver coins
with different weights and values. Merchants
used the coins but these were mostly
used to pay the troops. When an Emperor
was short of finances, he used to raise
taxes on his subject, seize properties
or finally melt down existing coins
and mint new ones with lesser weight
and smaller amount of precious metal.
Early coins were made of pure silver
but as the economy weakened, the coins,
by the 3rd century, contained
only one percent silver.
The
Roman Empire levied heavy taxes especially
upon the conquered people in the empire.
Roman citizens and their lands were
exempted from taxes, but they had to
pay 5% inheritance tax, 1% sales tax,
a custom or import duty and a tax on
freed slaves. Tax contributed to 10%
of the empire’s gross national product
(GNP). The empire, on the other hand,
was providing minimal services against
these taxes. The citizens who were hardly
living on survival level were to pay
10% of their income to the government,
which was a considerable burden. As
the troops demand for supplies increased
the tax collector made harsh demands
for funds. Farmers who were hardly surviving
could no longer pay taxes and some of
them left their lands and joined large
landowners while others turned to robbery.
“The
roman economy suffered from inflation
(an increase in prices) beginning after
the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the
Romans stopped conquering new lands,
the flow of gold into the Roman economy
decreased. Yet much gold was being spent
by the Romans to pay for luxury items.
This meant that there was less gold
to use in coins. As the amount of gold
used in coins decreased, the coins became
less valuable. To make up for this loss
in value, merchants raised the prices
on the goods they sold. Many people
stopped using coins and began to barter
to get what they needed. Eventually,
salaries had to be paid in food and
clothing, and taxes were collected in
fruits and vegetables”. [Roman Empire]
“Roman
imperialism introduced extremes of wealth
and poverty that sharpened social and
economic conflict within the Roman state...Immense
wealth inflamed the ambitions of Roman
nobles who struggled for personal domination
rather than collective rule”. [Reasons
for the Fall of the Roman Empire]
Corrupt
Emperors like Gallus, Constantius, Valens
and Theudosius were responsible for
creating social and economic instability
among the masses. Unjust practices and
overregulation by these rulers eventually
lead to the decline of the empire. Gallus
was cruel and took pleasure of up to
seven people fighting. Constantius increased
taxes that created hatred among the
masses. He destroyed the roots and branches
of all that were connected with him
by blood and birth. Valens was a very
unjust and cruel man and took satisfaction
of gaining glory from other people’s
sufferings. Theudosius changed the military
structure by increasing the number of
magistracies from two to five. This
caused an increase of taxes because
of the extra expanses of the military
leaders. He hired unqualified men for
high positions in the government and
was paying huge salaries to them. The
army slowly diminished and people were
living in poverty because of heavy taxes.
Since the political rulers were more
concerned about their own interests
and increased taxes to stimulate personal
profit, the public grew fearful of the
tax collectors. This led to the soldiers
being more protective of the peasants
rather than the empire. The change in
attitude of soldiers led to the ultimate
collapse of the political and military
systems within the state, allowing the
barbarians to invade the empire.
The
political and military perspective help
demonstrate the strength, and ultimately
the weakness of the Roman Empire. The
economic and social perspective helps
demonstrate the "inner decay"
of the empire as a whole. The corruption
of leaders led to the fall down of military
structure and overregulation, inflation
and over taxation brought economic collapse.
As a result the barbarians were able
to attack and conquer the Romans, and
the empire fell. The Roman Empire was
founded in 27 BC, when Gaius Octavius
(Augustus) was crowned after years of
civil war in Rome. The empire lasted
for nearly 500 years and quietly collapsed
in 476 AD.
References
Dorrington, Adrian. The fall of Rome.
http://ancienthistory.about.com/library/bl/uc_dorrington1.htm
Roman
Empire, Microsoft® Encarta® Encyclopedia
2002)
Reasons
for the Fall of the Roman Empire,
http://Killeenroos.com/1/Romefall.htm
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