Roman Empire Social Problems
Another major cause of the fall of the Roman Empire involves the social problems that they had encountered. As a majority of the Roman citizens were excluded from political responsibilities, such as serving as a part of the Empire’s army , many were hopeless and left in thoughts that the old civilization had no reason to be saved. This idea was presented largely in a document incorporating an excerpt from the textbook, The Course of Civilization, by Strayer, Gatzke, and Harbison, as it blames these inhabitants’ thoughts for the fall of the Empire. Strayer writes, “The basic trouble was that very few inhabitants of the empire believed that the old civilization was worth saving…”. In these words, it is shown that due to the Empire’s inhabitants’
lack of inclusion in the civilization’s politics, they believe that the Empire had no interest in helping their own citizens, and therefore it was not really worth saving. The introduction of Christianity was a major cause of the Empire’s downfall, as it destroyed Rome’s inhabitants’ fighting spirit. One document including an excerpt from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon, emphasizes this point. Gibbon states, “...and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister”. This shows how Christianity completely changed the feelings of the Empire’s citizens, by making them against violence and war. Instead the citizens focused their attention on charity and devotion. As working hard to remain as a strong force, the army’s loss of focus on keeping the Roman Empire successful, caused the Empire to lose its strength and eventually fall. Muller believes that the abundance of slaves in the Roman Empire brought upon a large social problem. If there are a lot of slaves, then the wages must be kept low to keep the economy at balance. Although this seems as if it would be helping the economy, the large amount of these employed slaves led to unemployment in the cities, causing social havoc. While some of the social problems brought onto the Roman Empire were revolved around the thoughts of the citizens, and others involved the physical actions of the inhabitants, they all helped to lead to the Empire’s downfall. While social issues were a big detriment to the Empire, political problems were just as destructive.
lack of inclusion in the civilization’s politics, they believe that the Empire had no interest in helping their own citizens, and therefore it was not really worth saving. The introduction of Christianity was a major cause of the Empire’s downfall, as it destroyed Rome’s inhabitants’ fighting spirit. One document including an excerpt from The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon, emphasizes this point. Gibbon states, “...and the last remains of military spirit were buried in the cloister”. This shows how Christianity completely changed the feelings of the Empire’s citizens, by making them against violence and war. Instead the citizens focused their attention on charity and devotion. As working hard to remain as a strong force, the army’s loss of focus on keeping the Roman Empire successful, caused the Empire to lose its strength and eventually fall. Muller believes that the abundance of slaves in the Roman Empire brought upon a large social problem. If there are a lot of slaves, then the wages must be kept low to keep the economy at balance. Although this seems as if it would be helping the economy, the large amount of these employed slaves led to unemployment in the cities, causing social havoc. While some of the social problems brought onto the Roman Empire were revolved around the thoughts of the citizens, and others involved the physical actions of the inhabitants, they all helped to lead to the Empire’s downfall. While social issues were a big detriment to the Empire, political problems were just as destructive.