Reasons For The Downfall Of The Roman Empire Dbq

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires in the world. Growing and expanding from Spain to Asia. But sadly, everything has an end. Three topics that contributed to the downfall of the Roman Empire were bad emperors and leadership, illnesses, and invaders. Bad emperors contributed to the downfall of Rome because the Roman empire was not being ruled properly. For example, in Document A, the information shows that 63.5% of emperors were assassinated between 235 to 285 BC. This means that over half of the Roman emperors were not favored for reasons such as being selfish, bad decisions, and more. Also, on Document B the text says, “Therefore, they first asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates… and then the helmets.” The emperor who supported the armies neglectance to armor to protect them, made the wrong decision. This was wrong because the soldiers will get killed easier in battle and it increases the chance of the Roman Empire to become conquered. Illnesses and plagues also led to the downfall of Rome because of lack of medicine established at that time. As noted on Document F, “process of decline was a series of plagues that swept over the empire.” This shows that the citizens of Rome, mostly the middle class, lived in small, cramped apartments …show more content…
Invaders such as the Germanic tribes, attacked Rome from different parts of the empire. This was difficult for the Roman army since they couldn’t be all around the empire at once. On the map located on Document C, the Huns, Angles, Saxons, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, and etc. attacked the Roman Empire from different locations each time. However, on Document D, the text states the Huns as, “Swift-moving and ungovernable people make their destructive way amid the pillage and slaughter of those who live around them.” Since the Huns were very violent, the Roman army was not ready to battle against them because they neglected parade ground