“A house divided against itself cannot stand.” This is part of one of President Lincoln famous speeches on equality, at a time of civil war. By understanding the mistakes of past civilizations, society can ensure that we do not meet the same fate as certain civilizations, such as the Roman Empire. The small community of Rome began its formation around the year 750 BCE. With the fall of the Greeks in 200 BCE, Rome had conquered most of the land in Europe, some land in Africa, and parts of the Middle East and Asia. Over time, Rome transformed from a republic into an empire. This worked well for a while, and the first two centuries of Rome being an empire was called the Pax Romana, which was a time of wealth and prosperity. The empire soon became
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Around the year 400 CE, soldiers began to train without armor, such as helmets and breastplates. This caused the armor to feel heavy amongst the soldiers, who then requested that the soldiers no longer use the armor. Battle after battle, Roman fighters were being killed or retreating due to lack of protection. The troops lost many cities, but were not given the order to resume wearing armor again. Another military problem was that Rome became less strict with conscription, the drafting of soldiers, letting government officials, religious officials, senators, slaves, and cooks escape the draft (Document B). Between the years of 235 and 285 CE, 22 emperors governed Rome, of which 13 were assassinated (Document A). This was a sign to Rome’s people and to outsiders that Rome’s political system was becoming corrupt and that the empire was beginning to weaken. When Germanic tribes and the Huns invaded, Rome couldn’t counter the attack because they didn’t have enough manpower, and the soldiers they had left were unprotected, scared, and …show more content…
The rich and powerful aristocrats and citizens who were caught breaking the law were not reprimanded and faced no consequences, however impecunious citizens, having little money or political power, were punished instead (Document E). This led many citizens to lose patriotism and loyalty to Rome, and other situations led to the Romans becoming less proud of their home. One part was that political leaders weren’t doing their job, or had too much control. Another part was that Rome seemed vulnerable, which was evident in the army’s many failures. In addition, the western half of the empire was going into
Around the year 400 CE, soldiers began to train without armor, such as helmets and breastplates. This caused the armor to feel heavy amongst the soldiers, who then requested that the soldiers no longer use the armor. Battle after battle, Roman fighters were being killed or retreating due to lack of protection. The troops lost many cities, but were not given the order to resume wearing armor again. Another military problem was that Rome became less strict with conscription, the drafting of soldiers, letting government officials, religious officials, senators, slaves, and cooks escape the draft (Document B). Between the years of 235 and 285 CE, 22 emperors governed Rome, of which 13 were assassinated (Document A). This was a sign to Rome’s people and to outsiders that Rome’s political system was becoming corrupt and that the empire was beginning to weaken. When Germanic tribes and the Huns invaded, Rome couldn’t counter the attack because they didn’t have enough manpower, and the soldiers they had left were unprotected, scared, and …show more content…
The rich and powerful aristocrats and citizens who were caught breaking the law were not reprimanded and faced no consequences, however impecunious citizens, having little money or political power, were punished instead (Document E). This led many citizens to lose patriotism and loyalty to Rome, and other situations led to the Romans becoming less proud of their home. One part was that political leaders weren’t doing their job, or had too much control. Another part was that Rome seemed vulnerable, which was evident in the army’s many failures. In addition, the western half of the empire was going into