The Break-up of the Roman Empire

Historians consider a number of factors responsible for the decline of the great Roman Empire. There were social, political and economic reasons alongwith with external threats that lead to the decline. All these factors were interrelated and interconnected.

The size of the empire considerably increased after huge conquests by its rulers. The Emperor enjoyed absolute powers within his jurisdiction. He acted as commander in chief of army, high priest, source of law and highest court of appeal. “This worked well with good emperors, but incompetent ones could do great harm.

The economy of Rome was mainly based on Agriculture. The elite invested their wealth in land and cultivation increased when Romans learned new farming techniques and brought plants from Mediterranean. Wealthy landowners mostly lived in cities and servants managed their estates. These estates had lower labor costs which gradually undermined/weakened Italian agriculture. As a result, Rome started importing wheat from Egypt and Africa, oil from Spain and wine from France (Gaul). Similarly, the Roman industry did not include mass production. Small units were manufacturing pottery, metalwork, glass etc.

The Roman Empire was founded in 27 BC, when Gaius Octavius (Augustus) was crowned after years of civil war in Rome. The empire lasted for nearly 500 years until it quietly collapsed in 476 AD. The reasons of collapse are numerous but above all were the inefficiency and mal-administration on part of the rulers. The fate of the great Roman Empire would have been different if it enjoyed the presence of competent Emperors and the Empire would have been able to survive for a comparatively longer period. In case of the said leaders however, the fall of Rome was very much obvious.

The political violence in Roman Empire was largely influenced by the religion events in the region. This paper will discuss the political violence in Roman Empire from the view point of religious conflict. It started simply enough, according to the Gospels, with the life of Jesus of Nazareth. During a brief career as an itinerant teacher, he attracted lively crowds in the fishing and farming villages of Roman-occupied Palestine where he preached the coming of God's kingdom and performed extraordinary deeds. Many who followed him believed he was God's "anointed one": the long-awaited messiah presaged in the Hebrew Scriptures.

After his brutal execution in Jerusalem, the belief that God had raised him from the dead energized his disciples to boldly proclaim him "both Lord and Christ." As they spread that message throughout the Mediterranean region, they converted gentiles and Jews alike. By the end of the first century, small communities of Christianoi, or "Christ's people," could be found in many of the commercial and cultural centers of the Greco-Roman world.

But as the movement expanded during the second and third centuries, it proved to be anything but simple. The nascent Christian church was torn by persecution and internal division as Christians struggled to understand and apply the meaning of Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection in the roiling religious ...