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The fall of Rome occurred over many centuries and was caused by several factors including military decay, barbarian invasions, and the failure of the government to respond to these problems. ... The result was less manpower available for Rome. ... Not all of these were friends of Rome, or potential recruits. ... Barbarians who became a part of Rome in this way were given “federate status,” which meant that they were under their own rulers, paid no taxes, and were allowed to carry arms among mostly disarmed Romans. ... Besides clothes, shelter and the other necessities of life, some barbarian groups were also given weapons factories by Rome. However, this left the Romans susceptible to attack by the now well-armed barbarian groups within the Empire, who were becoming stronger as a result of Rome’s own actions.
By the 4th century AD, the Roman military had become noticeably weaker, especially to those barbarians who had for years been penetrating Rome’s borders. ... This was the beginning of the Germanic kingdoms; many of whom were within Rome’s own borders. The empire was becoming less and less organized and, as time passed, the Germans began to assert themselves more and more, the Empire was beginning to fall apart. ... Rome’s weak border forces could not prevent this migration, and the mobile armies were usually too far away to react in time, and could not react to all threats at once. As a result of the multiple challenges across a broad front, Rome’s army needed to grow. Unfortunately for Rome, it had become very hard to get Roman recruits. ...
A series of civil wars helped destroy Rome from the inside-out during the later centuries of the Roman Empire. The centralized mobile armies over time had become loyal to their general first, and then to Rome. Warring generals were now using their armies against one another in contests of power, often for the imperial throne of Rome itself. Sadly for Rome, this meant that they were unavailable to control the massive civil unrest or respond to multiple incursions on the Roman frontier. The civil unrest during the latter centuries of the Empire was caused by several things, among them the political turmoil that was going on in Rome and the breakdown in trade due to barbarian incursions (itself brought on in part by the weakening of the army at the border).
Approximate Word count = 1810
Approximate Pages = 7.2
(250 words per page double spaced)
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