Ancient Rome DBQ

Imagine, you are safe in a controlled city, you are healthy and enjoying a nice bath, or eating a feast in the dining hall. This is what it was like for most Romans from about 50 BCE until the year of 200 CE. At this time, Rome was the superpower of the Mediterranean World and Rome’s territory, wealth and popularity were well known (Background Essay). Although Rome was prospering, it was slowly starting to fall apart due to poor leadership, a weak military and invasion of outsiders. Poor leadership was a big contributing factor to the fall of the Roman Empire. 12 out of the 19 emperors that ruled Rome were assassinated for power or out of hatred (Document A). That’s about 63%. This shows that the Romans were always fighting over power which lead to an unstable government. “[He]…considered his new life…better than his old life among the Romans…the condition of [Roman] subjects in time of peace [is worse than war] …taxes were severe…” this Document also states “A [wealthy lawbreaker] … is not punished for his injustice while a poor man undergoes punishment.” (Document E). This source is a primary source that comes from a former Roman citizen whose land had been conquered by the Huns. They say that it is better to be …show more content…
Roman historian, Ammianus Marcellinus says “The Huns exceeded any definition of savagery…although they have shape of human beings, they are so wild in their way of life that they of life that they need no fire or the pleasure of tasting foods, but eat the roots of uncultivated plants and the half-raw flesh of all sorts of animals…Like refugees – without the permanent settlement of homes, law or a fixed way of life…” The Romans saw the Huns as vile, malicious creatures nowhere close to human, but this document is biased towards the Romans. This document might be a little exaggerated and used a propaganda during that time to inspire Romans to join the Roman