An argument could be made that the ‘Holy’ Roman Empire shaped the way the world is now, but the Fall of Rome was inevitable for three reasons which can be seen in the demise of most great empires. Firstly, the Romans expanded their empire too far from their capital, secondly the creation of enemies due to Rome’s lack of leadership resulted in the land being overrun by foreign nations, and lastly, due to the weakening of the Roman legions, corruption and political instability played a role in the ending of the Roman Empire. During its reign as the world’s foremost superpower, Rome overexpanded and overspent on its military. At its peak, the Roman Empire was 2 million square miles and it stretched across Western Europe, encompassing parts of
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The biggest of all was the lack of succession of the emperors. Later in time, the emperors became figureheads while the real power lied in the hands of non-Roman generals like Stilicho, Ricimer, and Odoacer. When the central government of the over-expanded empire weakened, there was nothing the large empire could do, but fall apart. Britain, Pannonia, Norcium, and Germania were abandoned by the central government and many areas were left to look for their own leadership when the Roman control weakened or did not respond to urgent needs and invasions. This was the case of Spain, Roman Africa, and a large chunk of France. The local officials felt that they were abandoned by Rome, and this let them succumb to foreign rules. If Rome would have never allowed Goths, Franks, and Burgundians to settle in their domain, the country would never have lost control over their territory. If the Roman Empire had exterminated them, though it may have been utterly brutal; it could have prolonged the life of the empire. Had there been Roman government that was effective in it’s final stage, the distant Romanized provinces would have kept Roman rule over the barbarians.
In conclusion, the Fall of Rome was unavoidable due to three main arguments, the first one being that Rome expanded its empire too far which lead to military overspending. Secondly, the military overspending proved to be infertile, because it deemed impossible to protect such as vast amount of land with the constant attacks from enemy barbarian tribes daily. Thirdly, without supporting leaders and the Roman legions, the empire fell into a long sad spiral into corruption and political unreliability. Therefore, the “‘Holy Roman Empire is [no longer] holy, nor Roman, nor an empire’
The biggest of all was the lack of succession of the emperors. Later in time, the emperors became figureheads while the real power lied in the hands of non-Roman generals like Stilicho, Ricimer, and Odoacer. When the central government of the over-expanded empire weakened, there was nothing the large empire could do, but fall apart. Britain, Pannonia, Norcium, and Germania were abandoned by the central government and many areas were left to look for their own leadership when the Roman control weakened or did not respond to urgent needs and invasions. This was the case of Spain, Roman Africa, and a large chunk of France. The local officials felt that they were abandoned by Rome, and this let them succumb to foreign rules. If Rome would have never allowed Goths, Franks, and Burgundians to settle in their domain, the country would never have lost control over their territory. If the Roman Empire had exterminated them, though it may have been utterly brutal; it could have prolonged the life of the empire. Had there been Roman government that was effective in it’s final stage, the distant Romanized provinces would have kept Roman rule over the barbarians.
In conclusion, the Fall of Rome was unavoidable due to three main arguments, the first one being that Rome expanded its empire too far which lead to military overspending. Secondly, the military overspending proved to be infertile, because it deemed impossible to protect such as vast amount of land with the constant attacks from enemy barbarian tribes daily. Thirdly, without supporting leaders and the Roman legions, the empire fell into a long sad spiral into corruption and political unreliability. Therefore, the “‘Holy Roman Empire is [no longer] holy, nor Roman, nor an empire’