Why Did The Pax Romana Decline

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At the beginning of the Roman Empire, they started off strong. Taking over territories and expanding their empire rather quickly. Perhaps, some people would say the Romans were one of the best civilizations of their time. In this time, the Pax Romana was "In session." In this time, Rome had a stable government, a strong legal system, widespread trade, and, most importantly, a time of peace. However, around 180 A.D., the Pax Romana ended, which begins the fall and later on, the end of the Roman Empire. Once this happened, more rulers came to power not knowing how to deal with the vast Roman Empire. The two biggest causes why the Roman Empire declined was farming and the decline of loyalty & discipline in military. In the beginning of the …show more content…

The government was stable, the economy was at its best, and they were allowed to practice any religion they believe in. They had no reason to lose their loyalty to Rome because the Roman Empire was in its prime. However, things changed once the Pax Romana ended. In the time of Pax Romana, Rome was in peace. With that in mind, little of Rome's money would go into the funds for the army. With little funds for the army, leads to recruitment problems. Many of Rome's citizens would try to avoid the draft for the army because of low pay. Rome's government tried to fix this by overspending on the army, which lead to a lack of funding to any other branches of Rome. With Rome's government unable to recruit enough soldiers to fight in the army, their government had 2 decisions. To either force the citizens to join the Roman army or hire mercenaries/barbarians. This means that the Roman army being made up of citizens, mercenaries, and barbarians that have no will to fight and protect the Roman empire. This leads to a decline of loyalty. With a "barbarianized" army, there wouldn't be any order in the army. When these barbarians realized this, they turned on Rome and invaded their cities, leading to the downfall and destruction of the Roman

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