Decline of Rome's Empire Over the years, Rome's greatest attributes faded away little by little. The seemingly unstoppable city began to lose its dominance over surrounding city-states. Because of their power and control, the citizens thought the decline of Rome was unheard of. That was until the city made many poor decisions that had a vast affect on the city itself, which eventually led to the fall of the empire. The political instability, economic crisis, and resilience of outside forces resulting from a weak military were the major factors that led to the fall of Rome's giant empire. The first factor that my essay will address is the weakening of Rome's military. As we know, Rome was known for having the strongest military mostly because of their discipline. However, once the control slipped, soldiers became lazy, negligent, and drills were abandoned. An example of this is shown in document #2 where the text explains how soldiers became lazier and chose not to wear equipment while …show more content…
Although the "fall" of Rome is used to describe all the declining events leading to 476, that doesn't mean Rome disappeared forever. In fact, in 476, an emperor still ruled the eastern Roman empire for 1,000 years after, but under the name Byzantine empire. While the definition of fall is "to go down quickly from a high place or position," the definition of the fall of Rome is long, slow change from one way of life to another. This contrast shows how yes, the fall was catastrophic, but it happened over time and not all at once. Officially, the fall of the empire lasted from 376-476. Over the following centuries, people continued to speak Latin and obey Roman laws. However, Germanic customs began to replace much of Roman culture. Old cities began to crumble, and Roman roads disappeared. Still, the Christian church preserves elements of Roman civilization, so it will never be