Why Did Rome: The Fall Of Rome

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Rome was not built in a day. This common phrase also applies to Rome’s downfall, as Rome did not fall at any given date; however, for the purpose of the investigation the Roman Empire dates will be from 27 BCE to 1453 CE (with Western Rome falling in 476 CE). One of the largest causes of Rome’s downfall was the falter in the economy and the high stress being put on this failing economy. One of the largest contributors to the economic recession was the reduced amount of gold in the Rome’s coinage.2 When the people of Rome realized this, Rome suffered high inflation rates and because of this, merchants were less willing to trade or do business with Rome. Another problem, as put by Arnold Jones, “…was that too few producers supported too many idle…show more content…
This quote demonstrates the major agricultural economic problem in the Roman Empire. In the 5th century alone Rome’s agricultural production dropped by 50%4. A third problem the Roman economy faced was the extreme taxes, so extreme that the “Roman taxpayers were driven to suicide…”5 because of the taxes. These taxes caused the gap between the rich and the poor to skyrocket6; the taxes were so high people started to join churches for the tax breaks it provided them7. Although the economic failings were a large internal factor to the fall of Rome, part of the reason the taxes were so high was because of the expense of a military to guard the Roman Empire from the many barbarian tribes. This expenditure (the growth of the military) caused the taxes to increase drastically as “…the fodder of a horse cost[s] as much as the rations of a man.”8. The military’s budget was far too large and forced the taxes much more than the people were willing to pay.9 The overall failing of this internal factor was that the economy was simply underdeveloped and many people in the Roman Empire were impoverished or
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