How the Fall of the Western Roman Empire Drastically Changed Europe
Before the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the Empire was a strong and thriving civilization. However, because of Barbarian attacks on a weak border, the empire began to weaken, causing the Western Empire to decrease in all aspects of its civilization. Moreover, the Roman Empire relied on Germanic tribes for defense, until the Germanic tribes turned on Rome, thereby attacking the empire from the inside out. The fall of the Western Roman Empire drastically changed Europe in the areas of education, government, and religion.
Education is a large portion of an empire's society. Teaching children rhetoric and major events were important to the Romans because they wanted to instill
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Europe's government transformed from an empire into feudalism (Ellis 159, 219). The fall of the Roman Empire caused an outbreak of disorganization. As a result, feudalism developed. Feudalism allowed for powerful lords to divide their land among the lower class (Ellis 219). The Romans had divided themselves, which made trying to unify them under one governmental system a challenge. Preceding the fall of the Roman Empire, philosophers played a large role in the government (Ellis 131). Although, post decline the philosophers were mistrusted due to their knowledge, and in later years the Church took over the power in the government (Ellis 225). The drastic change in authority left many citizens in a state of panic and confusion. When the wars ended, the average Roman did not know who to trust (Frye 15). Between the past invasions and the switch of power Romans were confused as to where to turn to in this time of disorganization. Not to mention, in the midst of the battles, the Roman army became heterogeneous, leaving the Romans confused as to who their allies were (Frye 7). The inconsistency in the government affected the Romans daily lives. The governmental system of Rome adjusted to the needs of its empire and went from ruling a united empire to ruling several different