How Did Rome Fall?

Ancient Rome was undoubtably one of the biggest empires the world has ever seen. Although Rome did fall, its remnants can still be seen today. The Roman Coulessum, the aqueducts, and much more. But what If I told you that not all of their legacy remained on the physical?
To further understand let us look at how Rome was governed. Though Rome was best known as an empire, and a republic, it actually started out with a king. This was when the Senate was first introduced. The Roman Senate was a group of one hundred consuls for the king that would advise him on certain matters. As time slowly went by, more kings came and passed and the number of consuls reached three hundred members.
Eventually the kings were expelled, and the Republic was born. The Senate became the most powerful governing body and were also the ones that passed the law in Rome. In times of
emergency, a dictator would be elected by the senate for when quick decisive problems were at hand. One such dictator, Dictator Sulla, challenged the control of the Senate. He had hundreds of senators assassinated, increased the number of senators to six hundred, and allowed citizens outside the patrician class to become senators.
This is where we see another crucial dictator come into play: Julius Caesar. Julius Caesar brought many reforms to the Roman Republic and made it the strongest it had ever been. Unfortunately tension grew between Caesar and another important political figure, Gnaeus Pompey. Eventually this tension escalated to conflict where Pompey was defeated and forced to retreat to Egypt where he was killed.
Returning victorious from the conflict, Julius Caesar was named dictator for life.
Even though he continued to do good and build up the republic, not everyone thought that it was a good idea. Caesar was assassinated and the republic fell. Julius Caesar’s heir Octavian then became the first Emperor of Rome as Augustus Caesar.
Though the Roman Republic fell, part of it lived on in western governments, especially our own. The Founding Fathers identified with the Romans, took symbols and parts of their government. Some of the Political symbols we use today were taken from Rome: the eagle, the fasces, having a leader depicted on coinage. These were all symbols taken from Rome.
Much of the Political vocabulary and governmental processes were Latin in origin. Even the Founders’ pen names were Roman. They took architectural styling from the Romans. Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. makes allusion to the Seven Hills of Rome. Jefferson even had plans for an “Empire of Liberty” similar to the Roman Empire. But after more thought they decided against the idea with reminders of the emperors and dictators and
the