The fall of the Roman Empire

The fall of the Roman Empire

Introduction & Background

The fragile stability of the 4th-century empire was maintained at great cost to its citizens. Taxation was kept at a high level to pay for the large armies needed to defend the frontiers against increasingly well organized Germanic barbarians; yet the economy, particularly in the west, was in decline. The rich used their political influence to avoid paying taxes, so the tax burden fell heavily upon the poorer classes. Even in Egypt's fertile Nile valley, peasant farmers could not afford to pay their taxes and abandoned their fields. The empire's population contracted and manpower shortages began to affect the armies. The western army relied increasingly on barbarian mercenaries to fill its ranks.

The Emperors

There were many battles between different Roman armies to decide who would be the next emperor. To rule, an emperor needed to have rich and powerful friends and the support of the army. There was no heir to the throne whom everyone accepted as the next ruler. There were emperors of all types. Some were great leaders. Others were weak, stupid, lazy, cruel, or mad. The empire was so big that even when the leader was bad many generals and governors were still able to fight and rule well. In the third century AD there were many bloody power struggles. Most emperors did not rule for long, as they died in battle or were killed by their soldiers. Between 211 and 284 there were 25 emperors! This meant that the Romans did not pay attention to the borders of their empire, where there were many warlike tribes that had never been conquered.

The Barbarians

In some ways the Empire suffered from its own success. Until AD 117 the Romans had used money and goods from the lands that they took over to help pay for the huge cost of the army. After this time the Romans did not conquer any more countries, but they still needed a large army to protect the borders. Barbarian was the Roman name for peoples who lived outside the Empire and did not speak Latin, the Roman language. Many of the barbarian tribes of Germany and Eastern Europe wanted to take some of the Roman Empire's riches.

Money and Trade

The Roman government had to raise taxes to help pay for the army. At the same time as the wars over who should be emperor, there were many problems with trade and money. High taxes left the people with less to spend on other things, which was bad for business. A lot of work was done by slaves. When the Romans stopped taking over other lands there was a shortage of slaves. In the 2nd century AD thousands of Romans were killed by a terrible plague, which spread quickly. This meant that there were fewer people to pay taxes and fewer people to work on the land to grow food. Prices rose and coins were worth less. German tribes attacked the ...