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The Roman Empire at its peak governed over most of the Eastern world. After the death of Julius Caesar, who had destroyed the Roman Republic, an empire was the easiest was to keep the state going (Kagan- 1998 -pg. 92). An empire is rule by an emperor, whose range of power is virtually unlimited (Grant- 1990 -pg. 164). Because of the Emperors supreme power, careful selection of these persons is necessary. Changes in the Emperor selection process lead to a selection of leaders who were distracted with tasks other than the development and continuance of the Empire. These changes in the selection process and the irresponsibility in many emperors was a major factor in the decay and collapse of the Roman Empire.
After the death of Julius Caesar, the Roman Empire was born. His successor was Octavian, his adopted son, who was titled Augustus. The tradition was to keep the position in the family. However, this was not always a wise move. Chosen as Emperor at age seventeen, Nero was the last Emperor of the Julio-Claudian family (Gibbon- 1776 -pg. 63). He brought the Julio-Claudian dynasty to an ignominious end. (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 147) His reign was officially stricken from the record by members of the Roman Senate, and his descendants were prohibited from ever taking the position (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 148).
Nero involved the whole empire in his ruin. (Gibbon- 1776 -pg. 65) He was more concerned with art, drama, and games that ruling the Roman Empire (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 148). There were other problems with selection as well. At one time, the position was auctioned off to the highest bidder, a man named Julius Didianus (Gibbon- 1776 -pg. 93). This is not exactly a model of executive authority. The enraged public rejected his authority, and his liberality (Gibbon- 1776 -pg. 94). Unless public liberty is protected by intrepid and vigilant guardians, the authority of so formidable a leader will soon degenerate. (Gibbon- 1776 -pg. 92) The publics immediate uprising was fatal to Julius, but at the same time the public peace was greatly disturbed (Gibbon- 1776 -pg. 95).
Selection of Emperors for hereditary reasons and other foolish methods proved to be unsuccessful for the most part. A position of supreme authority deserves more attention. However, this never happened. By about 250 AD, the old custom of the Senators appointing the Emperor was long forgotten (Grant- 1978 -pg. 363).
An empire was the easiest way of keeping the state going and preventing a final breakdown. But this goal could only be achieved if the army provided necessary support. (Kagan- 1988 -pg. 92) However, there were many unsound spots in the makeup of the Empire (Stobart- 1961 -pg. 246). The weakness was at the center. (Stobart- 1961 -pg. 246) In addition, very few emperors were impressive enough to live up to the gigantic responsibilities of the purple robes. The Roman army was a main reason for the early success of Rome. Eventually, it was the army who selected the Emperor, completely oblivious of the Senate (Grant- 1990 -pg. 62). This may be argued to be a good connection, but the Emperor was not always on the side of the army (Kagan- 1988 -pg. 95).
In addition, the main motivation for a military Emperor was greed, not the success and continuance of the Empire (Grant- 1978 -pg. 363). If the Emperor was skilled in military matters, some important aspects of Roman government were overlooked, such as economics and the preservation of Roman cities. The unstable situation of the Emperor led to a paralysis of the Empires defenses and finances (Grant- 1978 -pg. 363). One of the main causes of disunity was the tension between the Emperor and his generals (Grant- 1978 -pg. 437). This created many problems in itself. One of the primary reasons for a weakening in the Empire was the inability to resist its invaders (Grant- 1990 -pg. 60).
That, in turn, was caused by the army's lack of respect for the autocratic power of the Emperor (Grant- 1990 -pg. 60). The Empire struggled through many army-government conflicts. Between 218 AD and 268 AD, there were about fifty different Emperors (Grant- 1978 -pg. 363). All but one of these emperors were murdered, the remaining one dying of natural causes (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 196). There was obviously no respect for these emperors from the Roman Public. Between 235 AD and 284 AD there were many claims to the throne by military generals.
It is obvious of the instability of the Roman government at this time. The emperors gradually began to sway towards totalitarianism, struggling to maintain law, order, and security (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 196). The Roman Senates power was reduced to that of a measly town council (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 198). This caused a lot of confusion in the Empire. First of all, military generals declared themselves emperor. Less than half of these claims were legitimate.
Secondly, these requests for the throne were completely oblivious of the Senate. This created many civil wars amongst the different legions of the Roman army. Again, failure to select a worthy leader and faulty leadership was the cause. As stated earlier, the army was one of the main reasons for the Empires success.
Once a servant of Rome, the army became its master. (Brooks- 1972 -pg. 195) During this time, invaders from the Northeast were pressuring Rome (Nardo- 1998 -pg. 30). Immediately there was a problem. Roman rulers and generals were spending their time fighting amongst themselves. Who was to defend the Empire? Despite the danger of the situation, they continued their civil wars and feuds. Foreign invaders, who without resistance waltzed right in, destroyed many of the Empires most important towns and seaports (Nardo- 1998 -pgs. 30 - 31).
However, the damage done by the foreign invaders was equally as crippling as the damage don by the Romans themselves. For example, one group of the invaders was the Barbarians. Rome was mostly defenseless because the soldiers were out fighting against other Roman soldiers (Cairns- 1974 -pg. 93). This caused the emperor to lose his authority over the vast territory of the Roman Empire.
To make matters worse, because of the expenditures of the invasions and the civil war, the Empire was experiencing heavy inflation (Nardo- 1998 -pg. 33). To compensate for this inflation, the soldiers went and looted neighboring nations, sometimes even their own Roman provinces (Nardo- 1998 -pg. 33). The many civil wars, the inflation, and the havoc from the neighboring nations were caused by the foolishness, carelessness, and irresponsibility of one man: The Emperor. Another problem the Empire experienced with unpracticed emperors was the economy. Because the army elected most emperors, the army requested more and more money and expected more attention.
Many were even bribed to remain loyal to the Empire. The foolish and inexperienced emperors spent money on spies, secret police, and bribes. This caused taxes to greatly increase, which caused tension between society and the Emperor (Grant- 1990 -pg. 193). However, to further complicate things, this economic drought occurred around 275 AD, which was a time of a great decline in trade for the Romans (Cairns- 1974 -pg. 95).
The trade was bad and the Roman Public could not afford to compensate for the loss of money with heavy taxes (Cairns- 1974 -pg. 95). These actions of heavy taxes and secret police increased the gap between the emperor and the people, which raised doubts as to his credibility. Of course, most of these doubts were within good reason and logical. But now each successive Emperor continued to turn the screw a little tighter still. (Grant- 1978 -pg. 441) Because of the inflation, emperors such as Constantine and Diocletian attempted to pull Rome out of the economic drought. They enforced laws restricting the amount of pay someone could receive in one day, and how much certain goods could cost (Nardo- 1998 -pg. 46). Laws were also made so that people remain in their present occupation for life.
These laws came down especially hard on town officials in the Empire, who were already under financial burdens (Nardo- 1998 -pg. 47). Social unrest was the consequence of the presiding economic situation. Despite Diocletian's and Constantine's reforms, Rome continued to undergo a slow and subtle economic decline. (Hadas- 1965 -pg. 45) The economic decline was also a major factor in the deterioration of the military. Because of the presiding financial situation, the soldiers were paid little, as well as infrequently (Nardo- 1998 -pg. 76).
The soldiers then began to fight inadequately, because of morale and the unsubstantial equipment, such as swords, spears, and armor (Hadas- 1965 -pg. 53). Along with the other problems of the military, the Empire had taken a rather large step towards collapse. The government had dug itself into a pit, of which it was to never return. The date that historians agreed on for the actual fall of Rome was in 476 AD.
There were too many conflicts and divinities to continue. Since the emperor was the center of the Roman government, the whole Roman government deteriorated with the faulty leadership of the emperors. The military condition was beyond repair, so the Empire did not have any defenses. Barbarians constantly bombarded the Empire on the frontier. The social conditions were not acceptable; there were conflicts between the government and between the different social classes. The Empire had been hanging by a thread, and on one summer day in 476 AD, the thread finally snapped.
In just three-hundred years, the status of the emperor went from a highly revered, God-like Augustus Caesar (Octavian), to Romulus Augustulus, the final Roman Emperor who watched the Empire fall apart before his very eyes. This new emperor was not able to defend Rome against the invaders (Grant- 1978 -pg. 461). Augustus was regarded as a deity, while Romulus Augustulus was an inexperienced youth unaware of his responsibilities. Nevertheless, in its prosperous times Rome was an example for many governments today. Many aspects of American Government today are branched off from Republican Rome. Overall, the success of the Romans can be summed up in the words of Julius Caesar: Bibliography: Asimov, Isaac.
The Roman Empire. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1967. Book, Arthur. A History of Rome to 565 AD. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947. Gibbon, Edward.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. New York: Random House Publishing, 1952. Hadas, Moses. Imperial Rome. New York: Time Incorporated, 1965. Grant, Michael.
The Fall of the Roman Empire. Pennsylvania: Annenberg School of Communications, 1976. Grant, Michael. The History of Rome. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1978.
Nardo, Don. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. California: Lucent Books, 1998. Roberts, J. M. A History of Europe.
New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Starr, Chester. A History of the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
Stobart, J. C. The Grandeur that was Rome. New York: Frederick A. Praeger Incorporated, 1961.
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Research essay sample on The Fall Of Roman Empire
