It has been two weeks since I returned from a trip to Rome (among other cities). It was one of my dreams to visit the eternal city of Rome, the city that was once the center of the civilized world. Many of my friends didn't like Rome, because, as they said: "there are only a bunch of stones to be seen". I totally disagree with them. It's hard to express what I felt when I saw the Colosseum, the Imperial forums or Trajan's Column, so much history and power in a single city. It is amazing to think that I stood on the same spot where, 2000 years ago, stood the emperors of the world. It was also hard for me to understand, seeing today's italians, how they managed to conquer most of the known world.
In recent years I started having a passion for history. For my history is made up of 3 parts: Alexander The Great (considered one of the most successful military commanders in history and the world's biggest empire builder), The Roman Empire (the world's biggest empire and the most important of them all) and The Third Reich (Drittes Reich, Tausendjähriges Reich "Thousand-Year Empire").
As I stood among the ruins of ancient Rome I started thinking... how could the italians conquer the world since they are like my own people, the romanians (we are half latin) - very lazy and uncivilized (at least compared to some other countries). But the roman 2000 years ago couldn't have been lazy or uncivilized, they were the flower of menkind.
What follows is my very own opinion... it is not to be considered professional or 100% true. It is just my opinion!

There are a bunch of reasons why the Roman Empire fell. I will discuss them in the order of their importance:

1. Tyranny - When Julius Caesar killed the too corrupt Republic he had replaced a form of bad government with one, which at that time, seemed good. On the short run (~180 years) the empire was better then the old republic, but on the long run it was to be the core of the rotten empire. A long series of emperors had nothing to do with the well-beeing of the empire, they only saw their own interests and vices. Internal crisis weakend the imperial army which was no longer capable of defending the empire.
2. No more practice of virtues. In the time of the republic the romans built the empire step by step, discipline was a common word, law and order reigned everywhere. The barbarians where not (yet) afraid of the mighy legions. When the republic turned into the empire, it was near its peak. Pace came and there was no more need for a well disciplined army or brillliant generals; people mixed and the roman blood was no longer pure (it is strongly related to the difference I wazs talking about: ancient roman- modern italian). The barbarians where now afraid even when they heard the name of the Roman Empire. So on the base of peace and prosperity (the Pax Romana) the empire started to slide downwards. Soon the barbarians started to realise that the mighty roman army was not what it used to be. While they were attacking the boders of the empire the internal crisis decimated the flower of the roman army. And the fall was only at the beginning. Diocletian was the last good emperor to realise that the empire could no longer be governed by one person... At this point there was no turning back...
3. Christianity - some may not agree with me but I (and other people way smarter then me) think that Christianity is one of the most importnat reasons of the decline of the Roman Empire. Christianity told people that the life on earth is, for the most part useless. The material world is only temporary, so people no longer practiced the virtues and simply waited for the kingdom of heaven. The army was no longer considered a priority, because God will not reward the brave man of the legions. As I see it Christianity corroded the very pilars of the Roman society. As there was no more wish to fight, the end was no longer a problem of if, but of when.

I should state that I have been impressed (and probably heavly influenced) by Edward Gibbon's (arguably the most influential historian to write in English) History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a book which I strongly suggest reading to all those interested in this topic.

Hope you had the patience to read my long post. I would be happy if you would post you're own theories or even theoriesthat you have heard and agree with. Criticism is also welcome!

This post has been edited by adriantc: Aug 14 2006, 03:37 PM

Well I think they fell into too many ditches "Semper Raeda in Fossa Est."

Ok I had to say that. Anyway my real theory for why I think the Roman Empire fell, was mostly because of leadership issues. I don't think that Christianity really played a role in Romans demise, but it could of had an effect. There is also a theory out there that lead in the water supply was the reason the empire fell. For some reason I can't see how that could of have caused an empire of that size to fall, but its just a theory.

I recently did a big report at school about Julius Caesar and i found out some very interesting things! He assassinated his political and military rivals so they couldnt strike against him, he did lead the Roman Empire to greatness by expanding north into Europe but anyone who was in the spotlight apart from Caesar was usally assassinated.

Mayby when Caesar was killed thats why the Roman Empire started to fall, because there were no "good" politicians or military leaders left.

Well like most things they must come to a end. Same thing with are civilization. Pretty soon it will fall. Hopefully not in a long time. The dinosaurs fell. It is just how things go.

IMO the Roman empire feel due to the loss of one of its finest leaders, Julius Caesar. If Julius Retained control over the other men thatw ere in his group then he would have made Rome a civizilation of great and unique power that would last a lot longer. Rome was a very powerful place but the fact of the loss of caesar cost it everything.

See I've always thought that one big reason to help them fall was that they were smart enough to make indoor plumbing but they didn't know that lead causes problems with humans.

Now after so long of a time using lead piping for all of your water needs (i.e Public Bath Houses) you will start to get lead poisoning and/or birth defects like crazy.

I think Christianity may have had something to do with it as well. But not all Romans were Christians. In fact, the Romans were the ones that crucified Jesus on the cross.

I'm a little confused though. Are you saying the Roman Empire fell because they were Christian, or because other nations were Christian?

Yeah it is very much true... One of the main reasons why the Roman Empire started to fall is the lack of good emperors and generals. What I want to discuss is why there were no good emperors. I don't see how the lead theorie could explain that!




I'm saying that the Roman Empire fell because, in time, they converted to Christianity. If you look into the timeline of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire you will see that after Constantine ("first Christian Emperor", fully legalized Christianity in the Empire) there were no good Christian emperors anymore... just a very long line of emperors who did not care about the good of the empire, only for the good of themselves. It also happens that the last pagan emperor Flavius Claudius Iulianus (also known as Julian the Apostate) was, even though he enjoyed only a very short reign, one of the best after Constantine.
Before Christianity was adopted in the Empire people would, for example, consider military service a sacred duty for which they expected some sort of reward from the gods. When Christianity was adopted in the Empire people became unwilling to kill and careless with their life, no longer praticing the ancient (virtues. That is why I consider Christianity to be one of the main reasons why the Roman Empire fell; the conversian had a much greater influence in all aspects of life in comparison with other reasons.