Advantages Of Being On The Mediterranean

Being on the Mediterranean had significant advantages, one of the most important being commerce. Trading by land is much more of a hassle than by sea. The disadvantages of land trade are that it takes longer, it can’t carry as much, and is impractical when it comes to long distance. Being surrounded by a large body of water meant that the Romans could simply build ships that would allow them to carry much more cargo as well as traveling even further out than normal standards. Strong economies can endure a heavier load of troops which helped make the empire a very intimidating force. According to Ward-Perkins, around the end of the empire, they had lost approximately tens of thousands of soldiers due to an economic downfall and could not salary

Not to mention their impressive trade connections, they were a very wealthy empire with elegant displays of theaters, amphitheaters, and even temples adorned with a roof of gold (4). It was clear that they were a very successful empire and they showed it through many different ways. The Roman empire could have been extremely different if they had been settled in a different location, since they would lose all the valuable assets that their land had to offer. Though they were very successful, not all good things last forever, and so began the inevitable fall of Rome.Historian, Ward-Perkins, suggests that for over a year, the sun was obscured, which caused an immense blow to the agricultural field. Since at this time, Rome was experiencing some economic difficulties, a blow to their food supply was even more threatening. However, this was not the main issue to the Romans; the main issue was that of invading forces. Germanic tribes experiencing these same issues with crops, had no way of sustaining themselves, so they sought to experience the life of the Romans, which was extremely extravagant as detailed by their