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What Are The Primary Reasons For The Fall Of Rome Dbq

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Right now in the 21st century, the United States of America is known to be one of the strongest nation around the globe. However back in 200 BCE, the Roman Empire was the Alpha country throughout the whole Mediterranean world. But when something or someone hits a peak, they are surely to decline in the near future. As for Rome, the problems that later caused destruction began around the 5th century. I will use Documents A,B and C as a resource to show the primary reasons of Rome’s decline. For example, the leaders who were overconfident and lazy, led a feeble and unprepared army, who soon weren’t able to defend Rome from foreign invaders. All the confusion and violence made Roman citizens fear and blame their lazy emperors for the chaos and …show more content…

Unfortunately for the Roman Empire, most of the emperors were not favored by the people of Rome in their years of decline. According to Document A, about 22 emperors ruled Rome in a span of 50 years without including the time of 260 to 268 BCE which there is no recorded information about. Out of the 22 emperors, about 90% of the emperors were assassinated. Another factor that contributed were suicides. As The Roman Empire weakened, there were many invaders aiming to assassinate the emperor. Therefore certain emperors chose to take their own lives before anybody else could. Now with the confusion and violence from the poor leadership in Rome, the once-prosperous-empire was coming to it’s …show more content…

But when because of negligence and laziness, parade ground drills were abandoned,...” This led the military to come to the idea that breastplates and helmets were turning too heavy for them and therefore, it was not needed. Also, Michael Grant, the author of The Fall of the Roman Empire: A Reappraisal, states in Document B, “There can be little that the weaknesses of the late Roman army were largely due to the eventual failure … to enforce regular conscription.” Even though there weren’t enough men to serve in the military, the government officials excluded men from tremendously different categories. Such as, senators, bureaucrats and clergymen escaped the draft. Alongside, cooks, bakers and slaves were prohibited since the leaders needed them for their own convenience. However when invaders, such as the Goths, poured into the empire around 410 CE, the troops were in battle without any protection and were exposed to wounds. This brought the soldiers to the idea that it was better off for them to run away instead of fighting unsheltered. They didn’t have any defense nor could fight back to the aggressors. The vulnerable army was the key for Rome to turn into ruins. Just like that, The Roman empire’s lusty army was turning into a clutter of frail

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