The Fall Of Rome: Why Did The Roman Empire Fall?

Why did the Roman Empire fall? Historians have asked this question for centuries and yet no one still really knows why. The Roman Empire first emerged as a city-state after its founding in 753 BC. It would grow into a Republic and eventually an Empire as it expanded beyond the Italian peninsula and across the Mediterranean Sea. At the height of its power in the 1st and 2nd centuries AD, the Roman Empire consisted of some 2.2 million square miles and about 120 million people lived within its borders. Before its collapse, the Roman empire had become too big for it to be effectively governed by one leader so in 330 AD the Roman emperor Constantine split the empire into two halves. The western half remained Rome but the newly formed eastern half

Between 410 AD and 476 AD, barbarians had wreaked havoc on the Roman Empire. These groups included the Germanic tribes known as the Visigoths, Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Franks, Ostrogoths, and Lombards. In 410 AD the Visigoths had breached the walls of Rome. They looted, burned, and pillaged their way through the city. Invasion like this had continued until 476 AD when the Germanic general Odoacer had overthrown the Roman emperor, Romulus. These barbarian invasions had heavily contributed to the fall of Rome because once Rome was under barbarian rule, the city was left in ruins. The roads were in disrepair, bandits made travel unsafe and cities and businesses began to decline and disappear. This made it much more difficult for the Romans to get around because of how unsafe travel had become. Also, if it weren't for the barbarians Rome would still have its leaders, and emperors, and still be in good condition. The barbarian invasions of Rome were significant because they were the ones who finally ended it for Rome. If the barbarians had not come, Rome could have survived longer than it did. Barbarian invasions may have been a significant reason why Rome fell, but it wasn’t the only