What Caused The Fall Of Rome
Hana Ellamey
Professor Deidre O’Shea
EUH 2000
13 October 2014
Fall of Rome
Rome is no longer the shining empirical state as it was when Augustus was in power. There is a clear division according to locality between the east and the west contrasting to the centralized state. As a result, the state turned into a destabilized state. The eastern part of Rome fell due to several factors; one of its major ones is the Germanic invasion. Accordingly, Europe rose in western Rome. Throughout this essay the causes of the fall of Rome will be represented, followed by Christianity and how it acted as a stabilizing force. Also, how the church attempted to make peace with the franks and the Saxons, and finally the hybrid state that was built by Clovis.
One of the major …show more content…
factors of the fall of Rome is the Germanic invasions. The Visigoths destroyed Rome in 410. They were pressing on the western borders of Rome for centuries and finally in 410 they penetrated the city, sacked and burnt it. The Visigoths were on their way to Africa because of its wealth but Alaric died so they didn’t precede their attempt. “Another east German tribe, the Vandals, then crossed over the Rhine River into Gaul. For twenty years the vandals settled in Aquitaine and Spain, but in 429 they captured an imperial fleet and sailed to northern Africa”. (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 183) The Roman Empire in the west came to an end because of the Germanic invasions. The Visigoths settled in Spain and Italy, the Lombards took portions of Italy; the Saxons procured Germany and England. Furthermore, the Franks settled in Gaul and the Vandals took portions of Italy and North Africa. The Germanic groups had a different conception of kings; they had this idea of destroying a city and then rebuilding it. Every Germanic group is different than the others; they are not all the same. The vandals were Arian Christians, the franks; the Saxons, the Visigoths and the Lombard converted to Christianity. Furthermore, These groups are also not sophisticated as Rome. The Germanic invasions were one of the main causes of the fall of Rome but obviously this was not the only cause.
The Roman Empire started to get bigger and bigger with time.
In consequence, the Persians captured one of the roman emperors Valerian and they turned him into a slave. Diocletian introduces fundamental reforms in Rome. He divided the empire into four parts to re-centralize the power. That was also a cause of the fall of Rome because the east and west couldn’t work together to get rid of the outside threats. The most powerful part of the four was east that was ruled by senior Augustus. He re-concentrated the empire by dividing it into 96 provinces. Furthermore, he increased bureaucracy, expanded the army and raised the taxes. As a consequence, Rome became in a deeper recession. Diocletian attempted a massive reform of Rome through two things: the military and the edicts of prices. One of the major causes of the fall of Rome is the financial crisis. This crisis led to inflation and a huge gap between the rich and the poor of the country. “The empire underwent an economic crisis brought on the by the expense of defending its borders and supporting its armies” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 166). The government taxed all the population to support the military because needed a lot of money to defend their
borders.
Another reason for the fall of Rome is their reliance on slave labor. They not only relied on slave labor for all their needs but they also treated them in an aggressive. In fact, that led to them starting a war and as a consequence the number of slave labor decreased significantly. One other reason of the fall of Rome was its political instability; they changed a lot of emperors in a very short period of time. “Political and economic stability was hard to sustain when the turnover of emperors was so frequent and unsettling. In the half-century after Marcus aurelius, rome had nine emperors, only one of whom avoided assassination.” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 166) Some people say that Christianity was also one of the reasons why Rome fell because it contradicted the beliefs of the empire. Christianity is a monotheistic religion whereas the romans were polytheists which means that they believed in several gods and not only one. Also, Christianity at first was illegal because Rome didn’t understand that this religion promoted love and forgiveness. They only believed that the law has to worship the emperor. “The disorder of the roman empire late in the second century may have allowed the various Christians to prosper.” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 171) A great number of people blamed Christianity for all the bad things that are happening to Rome.
After Diocletian retired, Constantine became in power and overthrew tetrarchy. He decided to use “Christianity” as a new platform for Rome despite the fact that he didn’t convert to Christianity until he was on his deathbed. He viewed it as a stabilizing force to the empire. “If there was one centralizing element in the whole of the old empire, it was Christianity, which had consolidated its presence in the empire, established an official church with a hierarchy of officers, and suppressed voices of difference and dissent.” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 192) The bishop and pope have power because they have followers and the pope is like god’s hand on earth. The bishops of Rome had a secular and a theological role. “While emperors were busying themselves in church affairs, the spiritual and political vacuum left by the disintegration of the roman state allowed bishops to play a more active role in imperial government. Increasingly, they served as advisers to Christian roman emperors.” (Spielvogel 189) He became not only a spiritual leader but also a political one. Most of the Germanic tribes had no education about Christianity, as a consequence the church had to educate and convert them. The majority of romans converted to Christianity and also two groups adopted orthodox Christianity: the Visigoths and the franks.
Pope Gregory the great is a roman patrician. He was the most powerful pope and an advocate who turned the bishop into a political figure and a theological one. He also expanded the church, established a roman government and protected Rome from the Lombard. He used his own money to send money to the army who protected Rome. He mainly did everything he could to protect his own country. “Gregory took charge and made Rome and its surroundings area into an administrative unit that eventually came to be known as the Papal States”. (Spielvogel 190) Gregory the great converted the Franks and the Saxons to Christianity after arguing a lot but at the end he finally succeeded. We all know that he was a supporter of missions; therefore, he used the monastic movement to convert them.
Clovis was the king of the Franks, head of the Merovingian. He was also the ruler of Gaul. Gaul is the only state that emerged because of its great population and its great ability to produce agriculture goods. His wife Cotilda converted Clovis to Christianity and he also forced his men to convert to orthodox Christianity. Clovis had a close relationship with the bishop of Rome “Reims”; he was a political advisor for the pope and a political advisor for the Franks. The economy at that time was largely agricultural and there were some development of the palaces that was controlled by the mayors. The kings depended on mayors for agriculture production and military support. Furthermore, the political power at that time was polygamy; that means that legitimate and illegitimate sons can have the thrown. The donation of Pepin led pope Leo the third to crown Charlemagne as the roman western emperor. Charlemagne is acquiring more and more land because holding land makes wealth. He expanded his territories in Spain, Austria, Germany ect… he conquered the majority of his neighbor countries. He is creating a strong and a centralized state by distributing land to every free man in his country. Furthermore, Charlemagne was building a new renaissance by educating illiterate citizens in the cathedral schools. Feudalism is land, service and loyalty. Feudalism is an oral contract for services and gets protection in return. For example you make a service for your country and in return they give you land. It was a social and economic system that was dominant and valued by everyone.
To sum all up, Rome fell due to many factors like the Germanic invasions, the overexpansion of the empire that led to chaos, economic and political problems, reliance on slave labor and Christianity. Furthermore, Diocletian used Christianity as a stabilizing force. Also, Pope Gregory the great built new relationships by converting people to Christianity through the monastic movement. In addition, Charlemagne was one of the most powerful men in the Carolingian age. Everything developed during the Middle Ages from politics to literature to education to religion to philosophy to art to medicine and many more. We can never call the Middle Ages “a dark age” because it brought a lot of development and advancement to our world today. Furthermore, not because some people call the renaissance period “ a dark age” then we should call all the Middle Ages “a dark age”. The middle ages developed Europe a lot so we can’t classify it as a dark age.
Works cited page
Dutton, Paul Edward, Suzanne L. Marchand, and Deborah E. Harkness. "Many Greeces." Many Europes: Choice and Chance in Western Civilization. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2014. 1-445. Print.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. "Late Antiquity and the Emergence of the Medieval World." Western Civilization. 2nd ed. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West, 1994. Print.
Professor Deidre O’Shea
EUH 2000
13 October 2014
Fall of Rome
Rome is no longer the shining empirical state as it was when Augustus was in power. There is a clear division according to locality between the east and the west contrasting to the centralized state. As a result, the state turned into a destabilized state. The eastern part of Rome fell due to several factors; one of its major ones is the Germanic invasion. Accordingly, Europe rose in western Rome. Throughout this essay the causes of the fall of Rome will be represented, followed by Christianity and how it acted as a stabilizing force. Also, how the church attempted to make peace with the franks and the Saxons, and finally the hybrid state that was built by Clovis.
One of the major …show more content…
factors of the fall of Rome is the Germanic invasions. The Visigoths destroyed Rome in 410. They were pressing on the western borders of Rome for centuries and finally in 410 they penetrated the city, sacked and burnt it. The Visigoths were on their way to Africa because of its wealth but Alaric died so they didn’t precede their attempt. “Another east German tribe, the Vandals, then crossed over the Rhine River into Gaul. For twenty years the vandals settled in Aquitaine and Spain, but in 429 they captured an imperial fleet and sailed to northern Africa”. (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 183) The Roman Empire in the west came to an end because of the Germanic invasions. The Visigoths settled in Spain and Italy, the Lombards took portions of Italy; the Saxons procured Germany and England. Furthermore, the Franks settled in Gaul and the Vandals took portions of Italy and North Africa. The Germanic groups had a different conception of kings; they had this idea of destroying a city and then rebuilding it. Every Germanic group is different than the others; they are not all the same. The vandals were Arian Christians, the franks; the Saxons, the Visigoths and the Lombard converted to Christianity. Furthermore, These groups are also not sophisticated as Rome. The Germanic invasions were one of the main causes of the fall of Rome but obviously this was not the only cause.
The Roman Empire started to get bigger and bigger with time.
In consequence, the Persians captured one of the roman emperors Valerian and they turned him into a slave. Diocletian introduces fundamental reforms in Rome. He divided the empire into four parts to re-centralize the power. That was also a cause of the fall of Rome because the east and west couldn’t work together to get rid of the outside threats. The most powerful part of the four was east that was ruled by senior Augustus. He re-concentrated the empire by dividing it into 96 provinces. Furthermore, he increased bureaucracy, expanded the army and raised the taxes. As a consequence, Rome became in a deeper recession. Diocletian attempted a massive reform of Rome through two things: the military and the edicts of prices. One of the major causes of the fall of Rome is the financial crisis. This crisis led to inflation and a huge gap between the rich and the poor of the country. “The empire underwent an economic crisis brought on the by the expense of defending its borders and supporting its armies” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 166). The government taxed all the population to support the military because needed a lot of money to defend their
borders.
Another reason for the fall of Rome is their reliance on slave labor. They not only relied on slave labor for all their needs but they also treated them in an aggressive. In fact, that led to them starting a war and as a consequence the number of slave labor decreased significantly. One other reason of the fall of Rome was its political instability; they changed a lot of emperors in a very short period of time. “Political and economic stability was hard to sustain when the turnover of emperors was so frequent and unsettling. In the half-century after Marcus aurelius, rome had nine emperors, only one of whom avoided assassination.” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 166) Some people say that Christianity was also one of the reasons why Rome fell because it contradicted the beliefs of the empire. Christianity is a monotheistic religion whereas the romans were polytheists which means that they believed in several gods and not only one. Also, Christianity at first was illegal because Rome didn’t understand that this religion promoted love and forgiveness. They only believed that the law has to worship the emperor. “The disorder of the roman empire late in the second century may have allowed the various Christians to prosper.” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 171) A great number of people blamed Christianity for all the bad things that are happening to Rome.
After Diocletian retired, Constantine became in power and overthrew tetrarchy. He decided to use “Christianity” as a new platform for Rome despite the fact that he didn’t convert to Christianity until he was on his deathbed. He viewed it as a stabilizing force to the empire. “If there was one centralizing element in the whole of the old empire, it was Christianity, which had consolidated its presence in the empire, established an official church with a hierarchy of officers, and suppressed voices of difference and dissent.” (Dutton, Marchand and Harkness 192) The bishop and pope have power because they have followers and the pope is like god’s hand on earth. The bishops of Rome had a secular and a theological role. “While emperors were busying themselves in church affairs, the spiritual and political vacuum left by the disintegration of the roman state allowed bishops to play a more active role in imperial government. Increasingly, they served as advisers to Christian roman emperors.” (Spielvogel 189) He became not only a spiritual leader but also a political one. Most of the Germanic tribes had no education about Christianity, as a consequence the church had to educate and convert them. The majority of romans converted to Christianity and also two groups adopted orthodox Christianity: the Visigoths and the franks.
Pope Gregory the great is a roman patrician. He was the most powerful pope and an advocate who turned the bishop into a political figure and a theological one. He also expanded the church, established a roman government and protected Rome from the Lombard. He used his own money to send money to the army who protected Rome. He mainly did everything he could to protect his own country. “Gregory took charge and made Rome and its surroundings area into an administrative unit that eventually came to be known as the Papal States”. (Spielvogel 190) Gregory the great converted the Franks and the Saxons to Christianity after arguing a lot but at the end he finally succeeded. We all know that he was a supporter of missions; therefore, he used the monastic movement to convert them.
Clovis was the king of the Franks, head of the Merovingian. He was also the ruler of Gaul. Gaul is the only state that emerged because of its great population and its great ability to produce agriculture goods. His wife Cotilda converted Clovis to Christianity and he also forced his men to convert to orthodox Christianity. Clovis had a close relationship with the bishop of Rome “Reims”; he was a political advisor for the pope and a political advisor for the Franks. The economy at that time was largely agricultural and there were some development of the palaces that was controlled by the mayors. The kings depended on mayors for agriculture production and military support. Furthermore, the political power at that time was polygamy; that means that legitimate and illegitimate sons can have the thrown. The donation of Pepin led pope Leo the third to crown Charlemagne as the roman western emperor. Charlemagne is acquiring more and more land because holding land makes wealth. He expanded his territories in Spain, Austria, Germany ect… he conquered the majority of his neighbor countries. He is creating a strong and a centralized state by distributing land to every free man in his country. Furthermore, Charlemagne was building a new renaissance by educating illiterate citizens in the cathedral schools. Feudalism is land, service and loyalty. Feudalism is an oral contract for services and gets protection in return. For example you make a service for your country and in return they give you land. It was a social and economic system that was dominant and valued by everyone.
To sum all up, Rome fell due to many factors like the Germanic invasions, the overexpansion of the empire that led to chaos, economic and political problems, reliance on slave labor and Christianity. Furthermore, Diocletian used Christianity as a stabilizing force. Also, Pope Gregory the great built new relationships by converting people to Christianity through the monastic movement. In addition, Charlemagne was one of the most powerful men in the Carolingian age. Everything developed during the Middle Ages from politics to literature to education to religion to philosophy to art to medicine and many more. We can never call the Middle Ages “a dark age” because it brought a lot of development and advancement to our world today. Furthermore, not because some people call the renaissance period “ a dark age” then we should call all the Middle Ages “a dark age”. The middle ages developed Europe a lot so we can’t classify it as a dark age.
Works cited page
Dutton, Paul Edward, Suzanne L. Marchand, and Deborah E. Harkness. "Many Greeces." Many Europes: Choice and Chance in Western Civilization. Vol. 1. New York: McGraw-Hill Companies, 2014. 1-445. Print.
Spielvogel, Jackson J. "Late Antiquity and the Emergence of the Medieval World." Western Civilization. 2nd ed. Minneapolis/St. Paul: West, 1994. Print.