Rome's Political Problems

Political problems were a major factor in the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Many of Rome’s emperors were greedy, cruel, and lacked the skills needed to rule an empire. In addition, multiple emperors were mentally unstable. An outstanding example of an emperor with these traits is Nero. Nero burned down much of the heart of Rome, in order to make a palace to attest to his riches and honor himself. He also thought of himself much like a god and killed his own mother. A large number of Rome’s emperors were assassinated by their own Praetorian guards, who were often motivated by outside payment, or desiring the position of emperor. There was no system in place to replace a fallen emperor, so legions would often fight against each other to try to bring who they wanted to power. This led to many civil wars breaking out. The citizens eventually revolted against their corrupt government, high taxes and poor living conditions. Rome's political problems were a major factor in the fall of the empire.

Economic issues also contributed to the fall of the Western Roman …show more content…
Rome and major cities became overcrowded, which spreads disease very easily and rapidly. In these cities there were public baths, which were at the optimal temperature to harbor bacteria, and were rarely cleaned. The sewage and drainage systems were not sanitary enough to prevent diseases from passing to other people. Furthermore, because of overcrowding, many romans lived in apartments, which had lead pipes. They also ate off of lead silverware and dishware. This caused many cases of lead poisoning. Another major disease was malaria. In the overcrowded cities there were none of the precautions like mosquito nets, that we have today to fend against this. Attila the Hun retreated from attacking Rome to avoid the rampant malaria there. In many ways, diseases were a major problem in the fall of the Western Roman