Fall of Rome Essay

All good things must come to an end The Roman Empire was one of the greatest
empires in the world and has existed for centuries. The empire rose to power very
quickly, and became a powerhouse. It even had two centuries of wealth, stability
and peace. However, due to natural disasters, armor and conscription, and legal
injustice the roman empire declined greatly.
Natural disasters takes the biggest toll for the decline of rome. These natural
disasters killed thousands of people, an emperor, and has decreased a dreadful
amount of the population. One example is the series of plagues that swept over the
empire. These plagues brought diseases from southern asia to new areas where
resistance has never been established. This decreased the population of rome from
a million to two hundred fifty thousand people. As a result, because of the
tremendously decimated population, the empire had to pay troops to guard its
frontiers.
The second major reason for the decline of Rome is armor and conscription.
Earlier in the empire footsoldiers wore breastplates and helmets to fight, but
because of negligence and laziness parade ground drills were abandoned.
Consequently, since soldiers rarely wore their customary armor it began to seem
heavy, so they asked the emperor to set aside the breastplates and then the helmets.
Therefore when the roman footsoldiers fought the Goths and other invaders
without any protection for their head and chest they were susceptible from archers
and were often beaten by them.
The third major reason for the decline of Rome is illegal injustice. According
to the roman ambassador to the Huns, Priscus. The condition of rome in the time of
peace was way worse than war. For example the taxes were very severe,
unprincipled men inflicted injuries on others, and because you had to pay to obtain
justice, a wealthy lawbreaker would not be punished for his injustice. According to
Priscus the laws and constitution of romans were fair but the governors were
ruining the state of the empire. As an effect this shows how unstable the roman
economy was and why most of the people mustve been happy when they were
taken over from the huns.

To conclude, After the many centuries of stability, wealth, peace, and hardships the
roman empire lost its edge. Due to natural disasters, armor and conscription, and
legal injustice. This proves that any empire can or will fall at some point in their
time.