Roman Empire Vs America Dbq Analysis

America is very similar to Ancient Rome, but there are several differences. For example, the Roman Empire "fell" and America is still “standing”. Before ancient Rome “fell”, Rome started out as a small settlement of farmers on the Palatine hill. About one hundred years later, Rome became a republic. The Roman Empire started when Pax Romana or Roman peace began in 27 BCE under the rule of Augustus Caesar. During Pax Romana, Rome had fair laws, a participatory government, growth and trade. But no peace can last forever. In 200 CE, Pax Romana comes to an end. Only twenty years later, foreigners start invading Rome. The Roman empire came to its end in 476 BCE, when invaded by the Goths, a Germanic tribe after five hundred and three years of being an empire. The Roman Empire "fell" predominantly because of government issues, natural disasters and disease and most importantly, defence problems. The Roman Empire had many issues with government. In only fifty years, Rome’s Empire had

In 366 CE, a “violent and destructive earthquake”(Document F) followed by a tsunami hit the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, leaving Rome shocked and frightened. “Fifty thousand persons had lost their lives in the city of Alexandria alone” according to Edward Gibbon’s The History of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The vast loss of lives meant that Rome had fewer defenders for their empire. A concatenation of plagues struck the Rome’s Empire and reduced the population to less than half of what it once was.“A series of plagues...swept over the empire which brought diseases..... [to] areas like the Mediterranean, where no resistance had been established.....The population of Rome decreased from a million people to 250,000”(Document F). Empire’s population decreased, thus leaving Rome with an even smaller army and closer to its “fall”. To sum up, Rome lost most of its citizens to natural disasters and