Ancient Rome DBQ

Ancient Rome once stood at highest peak of authority and size, that is until Rome faced the inevitable fall of its civilization. Lasting several centuries, at its height, Rome stretched from western Europe to North America and throughout the Mediterranean and into Western Asia. In addition, many modern day influences did originate from Rome like art and architecture. Although, from political instability, to the various social and economic problems, and weakened frontiers, for the majority, Rome destroyed itself, rather than outside causes. Beginning with political instability, the transfer of power was never fair or peaceful. In Doc 3, each emperor over the span of around 50 years is listed, along with their dates in power and the cause of
As demonstrated in Doc 4, “gold reserves dried up...less amounts of gold in each coin...people started trading.” (Doc 4). Gold was a metal Rome heavily relied on and now that this source was quickly disappearing. Because of this the value of money was going down but the prices were going higher. Merchants complained and so did the citizens, which sparked more anger towards Rome from its own people. Eventually the citizens had resorted to older strategies such as produce trading, which set back Rome rather than moving up and evolving. Further explaining, in Doc 7, “People so dedicated their lives to this religion...instead of lives dedicated to Rome…” (Doc 7). With the intention of bringing Rome closer together, Christianity was introduced into the civilization. A large majority had began to follow this faith, but this only caused them to drift farther from Rome. People no longer listened to the ways of Rome, but the ways of the Christian faith. For example, with the military already struggling, it had worsened now that the Romans refused to fight. Additionally, collectively, the Romans decided to put their money in use for buildings related to the religion, instead of repairing buildings and roads that were essential to fix. This became a problem because priorities had changed negatively, for Rome and well being of Rome was no longer
Because of the size, Rome had a lot of space to protect, but little protection. In Doc 5, “young men in military declined, the army faced a serious threat...the Roman government recruited foreigners...this ‘new breed’ of Roman soldiers had very little loyalty to the empire.” (Doc 5). After conquering civilization after civilization, Rome seemed powerful because of its large size, but also made them a serious target. Without any military support, Rome had no other choice, but to recruit from civilizations they had taken over. Because Rome had taken over their home, the new soldiers were not exactly sympathetic to Rome. Following this, in Doc 6 a chart shows all the invasions of the Roman Empire from 100-500 CE. Arrows and line and written on the chart to show the paths and entrances they came through. By showing all the invaders shows how Rome’s fall was enviable. Also to mention, there was six invaders that had tried to make their was into the civilization. If there had been one, Rome could have easily taken care of the enemy, but there was more than one to worry about. In addition, because this happened within the span of 500 years, these attacks must have weakened borders more before they were completely destroyed. As the big and strong Rome, became less big and strong, outsiders used this to their advantage to finally over rule