History books have illustrated the fact that some of the most successful nations in the past have looked to expand their influence across the globe and have sought to rule and control in order to become the ascendancy of the world. This concept of superiority became known to the human race as the development of an empire and numerous countries down through the centuries followed this idea with the intent of increasing their power and declaring their authority to the world. These empires, in their own unique periods of dominance in times past, became the power blocs of the planet and they almost completely controlled the places they conquered. They learned a vast amount from the colonies they occupied but have also left a great deal behind such …show more content…
Numerous arguments have been put forward by people who suggest that the Empire survived on through the Eastern half which remained after the West fell. Regardless of this there a myriad of reasons for why the Roman Empire collapsed and in particular the western half and it is interesting and significant to see what caused this decrease and ultimate downfall of Rome. Through the next few paragraphs the economic, social and political factors which led to the demise of the western half of the Roman Empire will be explored and examined.
There are many explanations for the depletion of the Roman economy and their problems with finances and productivity loomed in the shadows for a long period prior to their downfall. At first, Rome’s economy was primarily built on and based upon agriculture, urbanization and slave labour but as the Romans grew more and more powerful some of their citizens took it as an opportunity for personal wealth and they opened a massive gap between themselves and the working class. As a result of this greed the rich no longer felt obligated to fiscally support small farmers and now opted to buy huge