The Roman Empire: The Down Fall Of Rome
The Roman Empire was one the largest and wealthiest empires of all time; and it was definitely the largest of its time (Wells 21). At its largest it contained about 20 percent of the worlds known population (Wells32). Historians have studied Rome for decades to learn as much as possible about their art, politics, military, and their economy. They study Rome to see how one small city turned into one of the most prominent empires in history. Rome rose from nothing into a strong republic and eventually grew into an even stronger empire, however there are many historians who believe that everything that made Rome strong and fascinating, such as its size and wealth and its leaders, is exactly what eventually lead to the down fall of this great empire. In this
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paper I will explain how Rome turned from a republic into an empire, how its emperors led to the down fall of Rome and how the expansion of Rome also helped bring down the empire.
The Roman Empire was the post republic period of the ancient roman civilization; it’s important to understand this because the rise of Rome is crucial to understanding how the empire fell. The Roman Republic was disbanded by many civil wars and major political conflicts. Julius took the position as the first emperor and although the senate still existed this act was what changed Rome from a republic into an empire. In Rome the emperor made all major military, economic and foreign decisions himself though he did still have a senate for advice he had the ultimate say. Julius was assassinated in 44BC (Wells 89). After the assassination the Roman senate granted Octavian, the adopted son of Julius, full power of the empire and the new title of Augustus. His major moment in roman history was how much he updated and expanded the roman military. Following this more civil wars erupted and eventually Octavian (Augustus), defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium resulting is his new position as emperor and the annexation of Egypt (Wells90-111). When the senate granted Octavian power over Rome the republic successfully ended and the reign of the roman emperors over the empire began.
The roman republic lasted approximately 500 years compared to the 1500 years that the Roman Empire reigned. The first 2 centuries of the Roman Empire were an unprecedented period of political stability and prosperity among the empires citizens (W5d’ells 245). This period of peace is often referred to as “Pax Roma” meaning Roman peace. This is the period in time historians often speak of when praising the Roman customs and economy.
The next part of the rise of the Roman Empire was the attempt to revive it senate.
This may sound contradictory but when Caligula was assassinated the politicians attempted to end the empire because they favored the republic; however the Praetorian Guard proclaimed Claudius the new roman emperor successfully shutting down the futile attempt to rebirth the senate. The declaration of Claudius as emperor becomes defining in Rome’s history because as emperor he invades Britannia and completes the largest expansion of the empire since Augustus. This expansion does eventually lead to the down fall of Rome because the expansion was so large and violent.
After Claudius’s successor, Nero, committed suicide Rome again suffered a brief period of time involved in civil wars and rebellions like the ones in Judea (Martin 716). Because of the rebellions in Judea 4 different legionary generals were appointed emperors to rule their territory under the roman emperor. It was after this that the empire reached its greatest extent under the rule of Trajan the Roman emperor. Trajan invaded and conquered many new lands to add to the empire and brought nearly double the amount of income into Rome than it previously was making
before.
The beginning of the end of the Roman Empire began with the emperor Commodus. In 192 Commodus was assassinated, this assassination started the year of the five emperors in which the Roman Emperor Septemis Severus took final control of the empire. The Severus men ruled the Roman Empire up until the year 235 when Alexander Severus was assassinated (Gardner9). Alexander’s assassination led to what is commonly referred to among historians as the “crisis of the third century” (Heather 210). During this crisis over 25 emperors were appointed by the senate in a short 50 year time span.
paper I will explain how Rome turned from a republic into an empire, how its emperors led to the down fall of Rome and how the expansion of Rome also helped bring down the empire.
The Roman Empire was the post republic period of the ancient roman civilization; it’s important to understand this because the rise of Rome is crucial to understanding how the empire fell. The Roman Republic was disbanded by many civil wars and major political conflicts. Julius took the position as the first emperor and although the senate still existed this act was what changed Rome from a republic into an empire. In Rome the emperor made all major military, economic and foreign decisions himself though he did still have a senate for advice he had the ultimate say. Julius was assassinated in 44BC (Wells 89). After the assassination the Roman senate granted Octavian, the adopted son of Julius, full power of the empire and the new title of Augustus. His major moment in roman history was how much he updated and expanded the roman military. Following this more civil wars erupted and eventually Octavian (Augustus), defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium resulting is his new position as emperor and the annexation of Egypt (Wells90-111). When the senate granted Octavian power over Rome the republic successfully ended and the reign of the roman emperors over the empire began.
The roman republic lasted approximately 500 years compared to the 1500 years that the Roman Empire reigned. The first 2 centuries of the Roman Empire were an unprecedented period of political stability and prosperity among the empires citizens (W5d’ells 245). This period of peace is often referred to as “Pax Roma” meaning Roman peace. This is the period in time historians often speak of when praising the Roman customs and economy.
The next part of the rise of the Roman Empire was the attempt to revive it senate.
This may sound contradictory but when Caligula was assassinated the politicians attempted to end the empire because they favored the republic; however the Praetorian Guard proclaimed Claudius the new roman emperor successfully shutting down the futile attempt to rebirth the senate. The declaration of Claudius as emperor becomes defining in Rome’s history because as emperor he invades Britannia and completes the largest expansion of the empire since Augustus. This expansion does eventually lead to the down fall of Rome because the expansion was so large and violent.
After Claudius’s successor, Nero, committed suicide Rome again suffered a brief period of time involved in civil wars and rebellions like the ones in Judea (Martin 716). Because of the rebellions in Judea 4 different legionary generals were appointed emperors to rule their territory under the roman emperor. It was after this that the empire reached its greatest extent under the rule of Trajan the Roman emperor. Trajan invaded and conquered many new lands to add to the empire and brought nearly double the amount of income into Rome than it previously was making
before.
The beginning of the end of the Roman Empire began with the emperor Commodus. In 192 Commodus was assassinated, this assassination started the year of the five emperors in which the Roman Emperor Septemis Severus took final control of the empire. The Severus men ruled the Roman Empire up until the year 235 when Alexander Severus was assassinated (Gardner9). Alexander’s assassination led to what is commonly referred to among historians as the “crisis of the third century” (Heather 210). During this crisis over 25 emperors were appointed by the senate in a short 50 year time span.