Decline of the Roman Empire

Throughout history, many great empires have been erected, but just as many have fallen, and so the pattern will continue as history continues to progress. Perhaps one of the most notable empires in history is that of the Romans, and being unparalleled in power, its decline was also unparalleled in severity. The Roman Empire spanned from humble beginnings in 264 BCE to the fall of a powerful nation in 476 CE, spanning the length of a remarkable 740 years. According to myth, the Roman Empire was two brothers named Romulus and Remus. However, these were no ordinary brothers, they were raised by a wolf-mother and their extraordinary beginnings foreshadowed an extraordinary legacy, the Roman Empire. The Empire thrived and reached its peak c. 27 BCE under the command of Emperor Augustus, at which point the Pax Romana, or "Roman Peace" began, finally ending in 184 CE with the death of Emperor Marcus Aurelius. The Pax Romana was the greatest period for the Romans as they experienced two centuries success and stability. However, they were unable to keep up with their own expansion and eventually the Empire was too vast and too great to be sustained by those who created it. At this point, the Empire began its slow and steady decline that would finally see it brought down in the 5th century. There was no single reason, event, or person that can be held responsible for the fall of such a great empire, but there were four significant, interconnected factors that caused the decline, they were military, political, economical and social problems that Rome faced, but was unable to overcome. The most important of these was the Roman military and its lack of loyal, Roman soldiers and therefore, its inability to fulfill the duty which it had been given. The second most important of these factors was political. The decision made by the Roman leadership directly caused most of the problems being faced by the Empire. The poor were exhausted by taxes. The military suffered even further because of the one emperor's decision to grant citizenship to all free-born residents of the Empire. The religious divide between pagans and Christians was also being widened by the close relationship between the state and the church. Social problems created conflict between people of different classes and different faiths. The Roman Empire collapsed primarily because of its inadequate military, but also because of poor political decision and social divide.

The main reason for Rome's downfall was its lack of a strong, loyal, and unified army to defend it against barbarian invasions. The Romans had immense difficulty recruiting new soldiers. Roman citizens did not want to join the military because the pay was low and there was nothing significant to be gained from enlisting. They also believed that it was their right to be exempt from military service. Some went to extreme lengths to avoid service, including self-mutilation, intentionally disabling themselves in one way or another so that they would be physically incapable to serve. If a Roman citizen ever did enlist, it was most likely because they were of the upper class and likely to be promoted to a high rank, such as officer, upon joining. When the Romans realized that citizens would not fulfill the numbers they needed, they chose to lure non-citizens into joining by offering Roman citizenship as an incentive. It was an enticing offer because not only did citizenship help them socially, but it also provided the citizen and his family with a lot more opportunities. This strategy worked for a while, but had one major drawback. The calibre of the soldiers was gradually decreasing because as more and more people received citizenship, the Romans had to stray farther and farther to find new recruits. Eventually, the entire plan collapsed in 212 CE when Emperor Caracalla decided that all inhabitants of the Empire would be considered citizens as long as they were free-born. The biggest incentive for people to join now no longer existed. Caracalla's decision forced the army to find soldiers from outside of the Empire and this contributed to another problem: corruption.

The Roman army was truthfully quite unorganized and corrupt after 212 CE. Many of the soldiers were from barbarian tribes; Germanic people were especially common in the Roman army. The army, though chaotic, was still quite influential when it came to politics because anyone hoping to become emperor would require their support. Power hungry generals were aware of this and often acted selfishly in hopes of ruling the Empire. This aspect of the military is directly related to politics, which also contributed significantly to the decline of the Empire. The problem had gotten so out of hand that 60 different men had been proclaimed emperor between 235 CE and 284 CE, most of whom were army commanders named Emperor by their troops. Not only were the leaders greedy, but so were the men. The army terrorized the citizens and even each other. They perpetuated civil wars and cared little about Rome because they were not Romans themselves. They had enlisted for personal reasons, not to defend the Empire and their disloyalty led to their inability to defend Rome from ultimately being sacked by barbarians.

The role of politics in the decline of the Empire must also be acknowledged because ultimately, all the other factors were influenced by decisions made by the state. The recruiting crisis facing the army was made infinitely worse because one emperor, Caracalla, decided to give all free-born inhabitants of the empire citizenship. A prime example of the influence of officials in the empire is Emperor Diocletian's decision that the Empire was too large for one man to rule, which was cemented in 385 CE following the death Emperor Theodosius I, when the Empire was permanently split into the Western Empire and Eastern (Byzantine) Empire. Though there may have been some advantages to splitting the empire, the effects were generally negative, especially for the Western Empire. There was often tension and disagreement between the two Empires, resulting in hostility. Another reason why this was harmful is that the army was then split. This created problems because when the Western Army was dealing with peasant uprisings in Gaul, the Eastern army did not help them because they were worrying about border disputes elsewhere. The division ultimately weakened the Western Empire, leaving it vulnerable to attack. Emperors were also becoming more tyrannous as time progressed. They were sometimes addressed as Dominus (lord) which was what a slave typically called his master; it would also go on to mean God in Christianity. By associating themselves with God, emperors were trying to increase their power because if they were Emperor as a result of God`s will, then they could not be questioned by a mere mortal. Also, beginning in 300 CE, people began to bow before