The Roman Empire- was it the greatest Empire the world has ever seen? Well, the jury is out on that one. Sure people at the time thought that Rome and the Roman Empire could not be defeated... yet eventually it was! In 476AD the Empire eventually collapsed. The Roman Empire ruled most of what we now know as Europe for 500 years, yet those times did come to an end. But why oh why did this happen? We know why they left Britain... so read on to find out why the entire Empire collapsed.
1. Corrupt politicians
One of the institutions that had made Rome so powerful was its government. They had created decisions that allowed the Empire to expand and grow beyond belief. However, as the Empire grew older, its politicians grew lazy- too used to the idea of being in control. They began to take bribes from local businessmen so the rules were not in favour of the whole of he Empire, but just small groups of rich influential people.
The government became weak- and weak governments cannot defend a large Empire.
2. The Empire was enormous!
The Roman Empire had become huge- it stretched from the coast of Gaul (which we know as France) across the plains of Europe over to the Middle East. The Empire was huge and as a result had alot of boundaries to defend. It was simply too big and it impossible to defend all of these boundaries. As a result, there were many weaknesses along the borders for opposing tribes to take advantage of...
3. Attack of the Barbarians!
The fact that the boundaries were so big and as a result difficult to defend, this allowed numerous Barbarian tribes to break through the Roman defences. These tribes included the Vandals and the Visigoths. They took advantage of the weak Roman borders and began to take territory- eventually making it all the way to Rome itself.
4. The Tax System was useless
Tax systems are vital to any country. They are the main way a country can raise money to spend on buildings, roads and other vital things. The Roman tax system was once a brilliant way to raise money. However, as the Empire aged, the Tax system became useless and could not raise enough money for the Empire to defend itself.
5. The roads were broken
Roads and transport links are vital in order to move goods, cargo and people around as quickly as possible. Again, this was one of the things that allowed the Empire to grow- quick movement of supplies- especially food and weapons to the soldiers. However, as the Empire aged, so did the roads and nobody looked after them. Sadly they eventually fell into disrepair and transporting goods and people became impossible.
6. The Army got worse
The Roman Army- once the greatest army in the history of the world- again declined in force. It soon became unable to defend The Roman Empire against the Barbarian tribes. Also, the Army had been spread too thinly trying to defend the borders- so thin it became ineffective.
So there we have it- 6 reasons why the Roman Empire collapsed in 476AD. This resulted in the Sack of Rome in which the Visigoths, led by King Alaric, destroyed Rome- the that couldn't be beaten...
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