This paper aims to define causes of decline and fall of The Western Roman Empire through analyzing wide range of factors including its military failures, economic crisis, interior and exterior pressures. The Western Roman Empire which become known as The Holy Roman Empire established vast and powerful state through fighting with their neighbors and expanding its territories over its time of over five hundred years. But eventually, certain important political and economic problems emerged which crashed down the one of the history’s most legendary empires. Numerous great historians have tried to explain the causes of the decline of this great empire. According to the scientist Louis West (1932), the important reason was the army that had eaten
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For explanation of military factors, I plan to analyze the political decisions of roman emperors, logistics, pay and supply of the armies, military losses, strategies and tactics, and the overall decline in population across the empire’s territory.
After the military might declined which was vital tool to the all military success of the Roman empire, the state stability also decreased. Some historians see the beginning of the end as early as during Marcus Aurelius’s reign - the Empire began facing increasing pressure from barbarian people, somewhat turning inward: for example, Edward Gibbon had “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” start de facto with Commodus and his atrocities. …show more content…
Food prices started to rise because of the reduction in the agricultural production. The western half of the empire had a large trade deficit with the eastern half. In the purchase of the luxury goods from the east, the west part did have nothing to pay them in exchange. Consequently, government was threatened by bankruptcy. The amount of gold sent to the orient to pay for luxury goods led to a shortage of gold to make Roman coins. In order to solve this problem, the government started to produce more coins with less silver content which led to the inflation and failure of the economy. Eventually, piracy and attacks from Germanic tribes destroyed commercial connections, especially in the
For explanation of military factors, I plan to analyze the political decisions of roman emperors, logistics, pay and supply of the armies, military losses, strategies and tactics, and the overall decline in population across the empire’s territory.
After the military might declined which was vital tool to the all military success of the Roman empire, the state stability also decreased. Some historians see the beginning of the end as early as during Marcus Aurelius’s reign - the Empire began facing increasing pressure from barbarian people, somewhat turning inward: for example, Edward Gibbon had “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” start de facto with Commodus and his atrocities. …show more content…
Food prices started to rise because of the reduction in the agricultural production. The western half of the empire had a large trade deficit with the eastern half. In the purchase of the luxury goods from the east, the west part did have nothing to pay them in exchange. Consequently, government was threatened by bankruptcy. The amount of gold sent to the orient to pay for luxury goods led to a shortage of gold to make Roman coins. In order to solve this problem, the government started to produce more coins with less silver content which led to the inflation and failure of the economy. Eventually, piracy and attacks from Germanic tribes destroyed commercial connections, especially in the