Why Rome Fell Essay

How and Why The Roman Empire Declined and Fell

The Roman Empire began its decline and eventually fell due to many reasons. During the Pax Romana, Roman culture flourished and spread throughout the peaceful empire. But, after the Pax Romana started to crumble, the Roman Empire began its decline. The first issue that affected the Roman Empire tremendously was inflation. Inflation is a drastic drop in the value of money, along with a huge rise in the prices of products. The inflation occurred because the Romans decided to mint more coins, but put less silver in them. Therefore, with having less silver in the coins meant that the value of said coins would drop. Inflation then led to an economic crisis. The second issue that affected the Roman Empire was the economic crisis it went through. Along with inflation, the economy also was in a crisis because of its growing military troubles. Rome was constantly fighting with tribes, which also lowered the amount of money they had and caused Rome to have to obtain German mercenaries, which lowered the amount of money they had even more. Mercenaries are people that fight for …show more content…
Diocletian decided that it was best to divide the Roman Empire into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. Diocletian ruled the eastern half, which consisted of Greece, Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt while speaking Greek, and he elected a co-ruler to rule the western half, which consisted of Italy, Gaul, Britain, and Spain while speaking Latin. Diocletian was a strong-willed army leader that was able to restore order and increase Rome's strength. He governed as an absolute ruler, and managed to double the size of Roman armies also. His reforms slowed the decline of the Roman Empire, but after a while, Diocletian decided to retire. This meant that a new ruler had to take his place. A civil war broke out as four rivals competed for taking Diocletian's