Causes of the Fall of the Roman Empire Explained

Introduction: The Beginning of Rome's Decline

The decline and eventual fall of the Roman Empire occurred primarily during the third century CE. Rome had made many enemies and grew from a revered, unchallenged leader of the Mediterranean world into a weary empire surrounded by a myriad of hostile forces. The empire experienced a number of significant military defeats over this period. The most significant contributor to its fall, however, was the economic policy adopted by successive emperors. The decline is noted to have begun with the rule of Septimius Severus in 193 AD. His reign engaged in excesses and spent too heavily on the military. The currency was debased, and inflation rose to crisis levels. This era of poor economic policy coincided with a period in which civil wars were commonplace, assassinations were rife, and army generals routinely attempted coups to seize power. Soldiers often murdered the emperor when they felt he had offended them. The empire found it extremely difficult to recover from the abyss into which it had fallen (Brown 2015).

The Late Roman Empire

A unique group of outsiders referred to as barbarians ultimately broke up Rome, conquered its territories, and absorbed the entire empire. Consequently, the empire died in pieces. From 410 AD — the year of the sack of Rome — there were a total of six claimants to the empire (Moore Jr. 2004). There are varying accounts regarding the exact moment when the Roman Empire began to fall. Michael Rostovtzeff, a well-known Russian historian, points to the role that Emperor Septimius Severus played in the eventual decline. Severus ruled for a period of fourteen years, from 193 AD to 211 AD. Rostovtzeff observes that the emperor developed a militarized bureaucracy controlled by a monarch with autocratic authority. By Rostovtzeff's assessment, Septimius operated an administrative system that was largely viewed as one of the most oppressive of its kind, assuming severe forms at regular intervals. His was effectively a police state: citizens were watched closely on the streets and in their homes, and those suspected of undermining the emperor were arrested (Rostovtzeff 1957).

Diocletian followed Severus and ruled from 284 to 305 CE. His reign was defined by strict measures to consolidate power and control over the population. The empire lacked sufficient manpower to sustain its ambitious undertakings, while the Barbarians were both efficient and hostile, and had grown considerably in number. Diocletian sought to double the size of his army and embarked on fortifying the frontiers, focusing his reign on manpower development and the construction of earthworks (Hammond 1970).

Both historians nevertheless point to a conspicuous shortage of Roman manpower, especially relative to the Barbarians, who were always growing in number. Roman rulers reacted by doubling the size of their armies, imposing compulsory serfdom, and enforcing hereditary occupational status (Moore Jr. 2004).

Works Cited

Primary Sources

Euggipius. The Life of St. Severinus. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1913.

Ferryl, Arther. The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation. London: Thames and Hudson, 1986.

St. Jerome, trans. F. Wright. Select Letters of St. Jerome. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1963.

Ward-Perkins, Bryan. The Fall of the Roman Empire and the End of Civilization. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005.

Secondary Sources

Alchin, Linda. "Reason Why the Roman Empire Fell." 2015. http://www.tribunesandtriumphs.org/roman-empire/reason-why-the-roman-empire-fell.htm (accessed November 8, 2016).

Brown, Jack E. The Architects of Rome's Demise. PhD Thesis, University of Delaware, 2015.

Ferguson, Dr. James. "The Division and Fall of the Roman Empire." Journey to the West: Essays in History, Politics and Culture, 2006.

Garnsey, Peter. Ideas of Slavery from Aristotle to Augustine. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.

Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. London: Strahan & Cadell, 1776.

Hammond, N. G. L. The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1970.

MacMullen, Ramsay. Corruption and the Decline of Rome. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990.

Moore Jr., Barrington. "Cruelty and Decay in Two Empires: China and Rome." Social Justice Research, 2004: 337–356.

Ott, Justin. The Decline and Fall of the Western Roman Empire. Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Iowa State University, 2009.

Pearse, Roger. "Did Moral Decay Destroy the Ancient World?" January 17, 2014. http://www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2014/01/17/did-moral-decay-destroy-the-ancient-world/ (accessed November 8, 2016).

Rostovtzeff, Michael. The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire. Vol. I. Cheshire, CT: Biblo-Moser, 1957.

ushistory.org. "The Fall of the Roman Empire." 2016. http://www.ushistory.org/civ/6f.asp (accessed November 8, 2016).

Williams, Stephen. "Corruption and the Decline of Rome." 2016. http://www.historytoday.com/stephen-williams/corruption-and-decline-rome (accessed November 8, 2016).