...Between the years 376 to 476 A.D., the Roman Empire in the west “saw the political Germanization of the western empire,” and the Roman Empire in the west had declined and collapsed. The Roman Empire did not particularly collapse solely because of the barbarians who invaded, but rather a variety of factors influenced her downfall. While there were certainly barbarian tribes who raided and sacked Rome and quickened the decline, there were also other barbaric tribes that actually helped Roman civilization from completely dying out. There was more of a series of causes that led to the decline of Rome. One other appropriate note to make is to say that Rome did not fall, like the fall of Carthage for instance, but rather simply changed. During...
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...territorial height in the first and second century CE, the Roman Empire may have contained between 45 million and 120 million people. The Roman military can be viewed as one of the greatest armies in world history. Historian Edward Gibbon estimated that "the size of the Roman army most probably formed a standing force of three hundred and seventy-five thousand men, at the Empire's territorial peak in the time of the Emperor Hadrian." The Roman population slowly decreased because many barbaric tribes settled along the borders of the Empire and began sacking cities and attacking villages. By the end of the fourth and the beginning of the fifth century, the Roman military began to decay into tons of problems. Many factors contributed to the military decline of the Roman Empire, including a lack of discipline, financial problems, and poor military tactics and decisions by the empire. In result of these factors, barbarians were able to attack the walls of the empire with more ease because of the lack of defense. These barbarian attacks helped prone the efficiency of the army's defenses and tactics which impart the major downfall of the empire. A change in military tactics during the third and fourth century CE was central in the decline of the Roman Army. This left commanders and soldiers confused, this resulted as well in casualties and loses in war. Because of a controversial change in tactics and weapons, the Romans were virtually useless against these barbaric tribes...
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...Barbarians are often thought of as men who are like savages and only desire war and empowerment. After some research, however, one can see that, that is not the case. Most people were thought to be barbarian if they were a different group of people from a different place. In fact, the word barbarian is a Greek word that means “anyone who didn’t speak Greek” (Fascinate). This essay will examine how barbarians were interpreted in European art and how it influenced European Christian art. As the Roman Empire spread all through Europe and Northern Africa, they experienced different clans and groups of people. Some battled against the Roman armed forces, and kept striking after Roman triumph of their countries. The Romans, with their efficient...
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...Rome was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world, but like all great things, Rome came to an end. Rome was large in size therefore it was very hard to defend from the many enemies who wanted land. There was also corrupted government in Rome and civil wars occurred because certain people wanted power. The size of Rome and the amount of money they spent on military was also a big part in the fall. Overall Rome was a great empire but war, poor leadership, the rise of The Middle East, and the size and spending led to the end of the Roman Empire. The Barbarians were a Germanic tribes who wanted more land. The barbarians crossed the border of Rome looking for more land, this angered Rome and they sent an attack to defeat the barbarians, this attack did not farewell for the Romans because they were not used to the Barbarians ruthless, aggressive attacks. The Barbarians met the leaders of Rome and asked for peace in exchange for some land, the Romans...
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...The Roman Empire: The Rising in the East and the Setting in the West The Roman Empire has endured many hardships in the past with conflicts involving expansion of the land, warfare, and political justice. During the 5th Century, many argued whether the Roman Empire had fallen or flourished due to the situations handled by both the Western and Eastern Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire was the Latin speaking empire. It was also known as the barbarian kingdom and became the declining empire in the 5th Century. The Eastern Roman Empire, also known as the Byzantine Empire, was the Greek speaking empire that flourished and revived Rome’s optimistic idealism. Although the Western Empire began to fall, the Eastern Empire rose and covered up the...
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...asked is what attributed to the fall of the Roman Empire? Was it the adoption of Christianity in 380 AD? Or the relentless barbarian hordes that plundered and sacked Roman cities only a few decades later? Or a combination of both? The facts are that Theodosius the Great, being the last true emperor of a unified Rome, officially made Christianity the state religion in 380 AD. He ordered the conversion of all roman temples be either converted into Christian churches or destroyed. Practicing any of the former pagan religions was considered an act of treason and punishable by death. He ordered this conversion in both the seat of the empire in the west and in the eastern capital Constantinople. Fifteen years after the adoption in 495 AD, Theodosius died and the Roman Empire split into two halves: The west, now controlled by Theodosius’ son Honorius and the east, controlled by his other son Arcadius. This begins the ultimate demise of the empire as it was currently known. 410 AD, after 800 years of security, Rome is conquered and sacked by the Visigoth’s lead by Alaric I. Being only 30 years after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion it is hard to argue the role it may have played in this destruction. However barbarians are by no means a new threat. Rome struggled for centuries before containing the threats of pagan tribes such as the Visigoths, Vandals, Alani, Allemanni, and even the Huns lead by the notorious Attila. The empire, at least the western half, has been in decline...
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...THE ROMANS AND CHINA Robert King HIEU 201-B05 September 29th, 2014 The West and East both had major super powers at the same time. The Romans in the West and the Han Dynasty in the East. Both had no idea how large the other was. The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty both had created strong government systems, military and had vast technology advancement. Though they had major differences, they both made a lasting impression on Eastern and Western civilization as we know it today At the height of the Roman Empire it had close to nineteen provinces stretching as far as Syria. "The simple mention of the Roman Empire is sometimes enough to conjure up an image of something that is immensely stable." Roman's had an emperor which ultimately controlled everything. As same to the Han dynasty the emperor came to power with no regards to the law. The Roman empire had a different way to govern a provinces and a cities. they had some freedom on running their government but always had to pay tax and had to take command from a assigned governor. Then Han dynasty like the Roman's used their military power to take over their land. At the height of the Han dynasty they had thirty-one districts, creating law, currency, a weight system and a measurement system. These systems where to overtake old ones in all of the China. This did not go as well as the Romans approach. The Roman empire took control of areas but did not try and change their culture as much. They still had their own...
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...The Fall of the Roman Empire Corey Aiken History of Western Civilization 201- D03 16 April 2013 The fall of the Roman Empire cannot be attributed to one single event. This process took several hundred years, and only resulted in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Eastern half-wealthier, more populous, less afflicted with civil wars, and less exposed to barbarian invasions- survived as the Byzantine Empire until the middle of the fifteenth century (Perry, Chase, Jacob, Jacob, Von Laue, 2009). There are several reasons for the decline of Western Rome such as: the role of the Germanic tribes, along with political, military and spiritual considerations and economic conditions. One reason for the fall of the Western Roman Empire is the role of the Germanic Tribes. It is interesting to note that, “the importing of tribal peoples into the Roman Empire was a permanent imperial policy which expanded in scale over the centuries (Williams, Friell 1994). There were many critics and supporters of this risky policy. The Roman aim was to encourage small, friendly client chieftainships who would both respect the Roman frontiers and protect them against other tribal threats, often in return for Roman help against their tribal enemies (Williams, Friell 1994). The Romans understood that these tribal people were instinctively people of war, and would undoubtedly end up fighting one another. Therefore the Romans decided to let them do so for the benefit of the empire, and began to...
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...Rome was one of the most prosperous empires of the Western world. In its early days, its military was undefeatable, and its citizens were loyal to the government. Before Rome’s height, or peak in AD 117, its land had been growing rapidly, stretching from Britain to northern Africa and surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. Soon after the Roman Republic became the Roman Empire, Rome’s military and government could no longer control all of this land, and had to give up a large portion of it to Germanic barbarians. However, with time, Rome could not govern its innermost lands with efficiency. Before Rome became an empire, or dictatorship, it was a republic, or a form of government where the citizens elect representatives. Soon after Rome’s height,...
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...of the Roman Empire There are adherents to single factors, but more people think Rome fell because of a combination of such factors as Christianity, and economy, and military problems. Even the rise of Islam is proposed as the reason for Rome's fall, by some who think the Fall of Rome happened at Constantinople in the 15th Century. Most people think it occurred during the fifth century, after the western division of the empire. There were several reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire. Many often blame the initiation of Christianity for the decline. Christianity made many Roman citizens into pacifists, making it more difficult to defend against the barbarian attackers. Some say the money used to build churches could have been used to maintain the Roman Empire. Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which, in turn, led to increased inflation. The Roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped...
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...Western Roman Empire encompassed the western regions of the Roman Empire while the Eastern part was later renamed as the Byzantine Empire. It is noteworthy that the two were not separate as such, but rather had independent Imperial courts. Despite enjoying a period of growth, independence, and prosperity, the collective empire collapsed due to some reasons that include: military failures, natural disasters, and civil wars, among others. There are ranging debates that exist and un-conclusive arguments regarding the fall of the empire. However, the reasons for its fall are known with the two showing similarities and differences. The Western empire collapsed in the 5th century after about 500 years of its existence. Some historians argue that...
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...Comparisons: Romans and Germans in AD 100 As the Roman Empire enjoyed peace during the Pax Romana, a historian named Tacitus wrote a description of their German neighbors. Because the Germans at this time had no known written language, his writing -- known as Germania -- tells us much of what we currently know about the Germans. Not only does it describe much of their culture and religion, but the perspective it takes gives interesting insights into Roman culture and their attitudes toward the Germans. While the Romans enjoyed looking down upon the Germans, considering them barbarians, many aspects of their cultures had interesting comparisons, including family units, gender roles, military, education, religion, slavery and government. Family units in the Roman empire were marked by a strong patriarchy. They were typically a fairly tight family unit, with the father as the ruler of the household wielding total control over his wife and children. Girls were often married off young and had little say in their choice of husband. Divorce was generally reserved for men; however, sexual impotence was legal grounds for a wife to divorce her husband. Germany also had a strict marriage code. Tacitus throws a compliment their way when he states that “no part of their manners is more praiseworthy” (Tacitus). However, immediately following this he refers to them as “barbarians,” -- clearly he did not want it believed that he actually admired them. However, these “barbarians” were nearly...
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...According to many history books found at school, the fall of the Roman Empire can be attributed to one thing – the demise of the capitol of the Empire, carried out by the Visigoths from Germany. Roman soldiers were pulled back from a defense post in the Rhine-Danube frontier, where they held back the barbarians, to fight in Italy, leaving an open Roman border to attack. The Visigoths looted, burned, and ransacked their way through the entire capitol city, Rome, for three whole days. This was considered a major event back in its day because much of the western part of the Empire had already fallen, making Rome an exaggerated center for the existing parts of the Empire. In 476 A.D., the Germanic general Odacer inevitably overthrew Augustus and Romulus, the last of the Roman Emperors. Roads and bridges were left in disrepair, agriculture never picked back up, and pirates made travel very unsafe, officially signaling the total fall of the Roman Empire. Although most agree that this was the ultimate demise of the Empire, this was not the reason that the Empire became so weak, in order for it to be taken over so easily. Rome, considered, the ‘mighty city’ by many, could not have fallen so easily to barbarians without some external and internal conflicts, eventually weakening the whole Empire into both economic and physical decay....
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...years of Rome, the Roman Empire faced many problems. The Romans suffered from inflation, unemployment, and barbarian invasion. Inflation was the rise in prices of food and water. Since the food and water was so expensive, the poor couldn’t buy it so they died or had hard times living without food. Unemployment was a big problem in the Roman Empire. Most of the poor and farmers did not have any jobs so they over crowded the cities, overcrowding of the cities was bad for the rich and the poor. The barbarian invasion was horrible, since they burned roman houses and killed many of the citizens. The barbarians were Germanic tribes that invaded Rome to destroy their land. The Roman had many accomplishments during their time. Many of the accomplishment were making concrete, creating aqueducts, having a good government, created the column, and having indoor plumbing. The concrete was to build roads, buildings, and vaults. We use concrete to build most stuff today too. Romans also had aqueducts that brought clean and fresh water to the cities. Today we use aqueducts to hold water. They also had a very stable government. Thru Roman Republic was very good, they also had judges who judged fairly. The Romans also had columns that hold their buildings up. On the columns the Romans usually carved pictures on it. Indoor plumbing was also one of the Romans accomplishments. The Romans waste goes through the sewers and in to the Tiber River. Today the Roman Empire influences our...
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...Laws History has seen many Empires, their prosperities and downfalls. There were Empires, which had controlled great territories, had amazing culture and had left the great trace in the world history. In general almost every empire had the same story, but the two most significant empires were Roman and Chinese empires. The two had left most enormous traces in History. Roman and Chinese empires had many similarities and differences, but the Roman Empire lasted for only 500 years, while Chinese empire lasted for about 16 centuries. Actually Chine as an Empire had never ruined, it just transformed into a Republic of Chine in 1912. There was simple advantage of Chinese empire over Roman that made it everlasting, China as an Empire was united not only by the laws and military force but also by the culture, ideology and religion, what made Chinese empire one whole nation, whereas Romans were only united by the military forces and not by the cultural heritage that made Chinese empire so united. There are many theories why did Roman Empire collapsed, some of them might seem stupid for example some people think that Romans went crazy because they used led in pots and they ate food which was cooked in pots made of led, so they were poisoned by led and that’s why this huge Empire ruined. Despite these kinds of theories, almost every scholar and historian says that Rome failed as an Empire because of military exhaust, the new religion in the Empire, the division of society, economic...
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