The Roman Empire is Falling Down, Falling Down
In 476 C.E. the Roman Empire fell, however the Pax Romana during 27 B.C.E to 180 C.E. was the prime of the empire and it would not be believable that this empire would fall. During this time there was a stable form of government, prosperity, a strong army, and happy citizens. The Pax Romana was considered the peak of the growing empire because afterwards there were signs of a slow decline. This eventually led to the fall of the Roman Empire. The fall was a slow process and there were many factors that contributed, such as, the lack of a powerful army, invaders, the size of the empire. The two most significant causes were a weak central government and the increase in expenses.
Because of greedy …show more content…
The majority of the financial resources were spent on the military and the government officials. Some felt that the high budget caused the decline, “..part of the money went into... the maintenance of the army and the vast bureaucracy required by the centralized government,” (Document 4). It was expensive to pay for the support of the military, especially because there was a decrease in Roman soldiers. Because of this decrease, the Romans had to hire mercenaries to fight in their army and they were expensive. The salaries of government officials and the welfare system impacted expenses too. “Bread and Circuses”, which was free food and free entertainment was a major part of the welfare system. This eventually started to drain the treasury with the lack of wealth. The government had to keep the system going because it prevented the poor citizens from rebelling against the poor conditions. With the demand for money, the government had to find a way to pay for the high expenses. To fulfill the need for money, they created impossible and burdensome taxes for the ordinary citizens (Document 4). The fact is “...the expense led to strangling taxation,” and that was the only reason (Document 4). Most of the taxes could not be paid by the citizens which caused them to lose the will to push and succeed (class
In 476 C.E. the Roman Empire fell, however the Pax Romana during 27 B.C.E to 180 C.E. was the prime of the empire and it would not be believable that this empire would fall. During this time there was a stable form of government, prosperity, a strong army, and happy citizens. The Pax Romana was considered the peak of the growing empire because afterwards there were signs of a slow decline. This eventually led to the fall of the Roman Empire. The fall was a slow process and there were many factors that contributed, such as, the lack of a powerful army, invaders, the size of the empire. The two most significant causes were a weak central government and the increase in expenses.
Because of greedy …show more content…
The majority of the financial resources were spent on the military and the government officials. Some felt that the high budget caused the decline, “..part of the money went into... the maintenance of the army and the vast bureaucracy required by the centralized government,” (Document 4). It was expensive to pay for the support of the military, especially because there was a decrease in Roman soldiers. Because of this decrease, the Romans had to hire mercenaries to fight in their army and they were expensive. The salaries of government officials and the welfare system impacted expenses too. “Bread and Circuses”, which was free food and free entertainment was a major part of the welfare system. This eventually started to drain the treasury with the lack of wealth. The government had to keep the system going because it prevented the poor citizens from rebelling against the poor conditions. With the demand for money, the government had to find a way to pay for the high expenses. To fulfill the need for money, they created impossible and burdensome taxes for the ordinary citizens (Document 4). The fact is “...the expense led to strangling taxation,” and that was the only reason (Document 4). Most of the taxes could not be paid by the citizens which caused them to lose the will to push and succeed (class