Fall Of The Roman Empire Essay

The City-state of Rome became a republic in 509 BC. Rome fought numerous battles to become what it was at its height. It all started with the Punic wars. After they won, there was no stopping them. By the first century BC, Rome controlled most of the known world. “In 509 B.C.E., the Romans overthrew their Etruscan conquerors. The Etruscans had ruled over Rome for many years” (Independence Hall). Once the Romans overthrew their conquerors, they established a republic. The wealthy class, also know as the aristocracy, dominated the early Roman Republic. “There were two consuls that were the main generals of the Roman army. In times of an emergency, when unity of command was necessary, Rome appointed a dictator in place of the consuls who could

The Visigoths looted, burned, and pillaged their way through the city. This continued for three straight days” (Independence Hall). This is considered the first time Rome was in the hands of someone other than Romans. It was also the first time Rome was sacked, but there’s many more to come.

“Another cause for the fall of the Roman Empire was the spread of a new religion, Christianity” (Independence Hall). Christianity is a monotheistic religion, while the Roman religion is polytheistic. “The Romans treated the Christians poorly due to their beliefs. However, in 313 A.D., the Roman empire Constantine declared tolerance for Christianity and later converted into a Christian” (Independence Hall). Christianity later became the dominated religion for the Roman Empire.

“In 330 A.D., Constantine split the Empire in two parts. One was the western half settled in Rome and the other the eastern half settled in Constantinople, a city he named after himself” (Independence Hall). This accelerated the fall of Rome. Money became really tight and the government had to start hiring the cheapest and least reliable Germanic soldiers to fight in the Roman army. The soldiers turned against the Romans, and began to sack the Empire, along with other