The Collapse of the Roman Empire

The Collapse of the Roman Empire
Introduction
The Roman Empire was one of the most far-reaching political and well-organized structures during the times of the western civilization. It was established when the renown leader Augustus Caesar became the first emperor in 31BCE. The collapse of the empire was halted in the West when Augustus who was the last emperor was sacked by the Odoacer, the Germanic King, in the year 476CE. There were a number of reasons that led to the collapse of the Western Empire. Just to mention but a few, the corruption and political stability within the empire led to its collapse. The constant invasion by the Barbarian tribes weakened the stability of the empire. Also, the heavy military spending affected the economy of the Empire leading to its inability to govern itself. The paper endeavors to discuss the major reasons that led to the collapse of the Western Empire.
The Invasion by Barbarian Tribe
The Invasion from the external forces played a major role in the collapse of the renown and well established Roman Empire. During the above-mentioned invasion that was depicted by a high number of military loss. The discussed empire had invariably engaged in a constant war for centuries with Germanic tribes (Ward-Perkins n.p). This had an impact of weakening their military strength. Apart from this invasion, there was another similar invasion by the barbarian tribe, the Goths, which had gone beyond and encroached the borders of the empire; this further weakened the stability of the empire.

In the late fourth century, the Germanic uprising became a threat and a major challenge to the stability of the empire. In the 410CE, the Empire was under attack by Visigoth King Alaric who succeeded in sacking the city of Rome (Ward-Perkins n.p). Similarly, in 455CE, the Vandals raided the empire which followed by another invasion in 476CE by the German leader, Odoacer, who finally deposed the Emperor Augustus. The outlined attack by Odoacer marked the end of its rule.
Economic Challenges
It is important to the point that Rome Empire was facing a couple of difficulties. The discussed invasion in the previous paragraph had a financial impact. For the empire to engage in the constant war, it engaged in the military overspending military that leading to financial crisis. In resolving the financial challenges, the Empire was compelled to engage in oppressive taxation (Gibbon 61). Apart from this, the rising inflation widened the social gap between the rich and the have-nots. As a result, and as a way of avoiding the taxman, the rich, wealthy classes, escaped to the countryside where they established their farms. This was a big loss to the empire because it could no longer receive revenue from these wealthy classes (Gibbon 61). With the financial challenges, it was intricate for the empire to firmly establish its Kingdom and could not sustain the invasion from the external forces, barbarian tribes.
Overreliance on Slave Labor
One of the primary reasons behind the demise of the Roman Empire was an overreliance on the slave labor. During the first century of the Roman Empire, it was marked with the dramatic increase in the number of the slave labor. In an effort to take advantage of the cheap labor from the slave trade, the empire was faced with an absolute decline in morality and ethical values. Apart from this, since the slave laborers were unskilled workers, the level of technology went down impending the mass production of goods (LaFreniere 52). Worst to mention is that the empire entirely depends on the slave workforce to cater for all their needs. Consequently, this prevented the technological invention which led to its stagnant growth. Notably, it did not only depend on the slave manpower but also mistreated them. The mistreatment of the slave also played a role in the collapse of the empire. As a result of this ill-treatment, the slaves led a rebellion with a goal of freeing themselves from the Roman Empire. For instance, Spartacus together with other gladiators caused a revolt within the empire; this inside invasion weakened the empire. Additionally, the emergence of Christianity that preached against slavery changed the attitude of the empire making it abandon slavery (Winkler 24). The decline of slave labor reduced the manpower that the empire had over depended on, this weakened the power.
Corruption in the Government and Political Instability
The large size of the Roman Empire made it intricate to govern. This means, any emperor had to possess leadership skills to govern it. But worst to mention is that those who were at the helm of leadership were completely devoid of the necessary skills needed. As a result, they only offered ineffective and inconsistent leadership a factor that magnifies the problems facing the empire (LaFreniere 52). It was imperative to note that being a Roman Emperor was one of the challenging tasks because the empire was marked by constant civil war and overthrowing of the emperors. Interestingly, in a span of 75 years, more than twenty men took the throne. Also, the Emperor was faced with the assassination of the emperors. For instance, the Praetorian Guard who was the emperor’s bodyguards assassinated and put the new sovereigns anytime they desire. And at times, the mentioned bodyguards auctioned the position of the emperor to the highest bidder. The constant change of leadership coupled with assassinations significantly interfered with the stability of the emperor (LaFreniere 52). Conversely, the political rot and the high level of corruption among the Senate prevented them from reducing the excess power of the rulers. As a result, the Roman citizens lost their faith in the leadership. Therefore, the political instability, ineffective leadership, and lack of goodwill from subjects weakened the Roman Empire.
Rapid Expansion of the Roman Empire
Another factor that led to the collapse of the Roman Empire was the sudden and rapid expansion of the territory of the empire. The empire was on the mission of continuous conquering of lands in with the aim of increasing its size. Consequently, it experienced a rapid growth in size (Gibbon 61). The increased size of the empire calls for the need to defend its borders and territories. With this need, it had to allocate a myriad of the military to guard its borders with fear of invasion from the tribes in which their lands had been conquered. Also, the Roman Empire heavily taxed the non-Romans as a way of stabilizing its kingdom (Gibbon 61). Barbarian Tribe, one of the tribes whose land was conquered and heavy tax, impose on them; they hated the empire an organized several rebellion to oust the empire. As a result, the empire was weakened, leading to its instability.
Barbarian Experience of Roman Military Tactics
The Roman Empire blundered when it incorporated the barbarian tribe in serving the Roman Empire. The tribe mentioned above had suffered humiliation from the empire, their land conquered and the heavy tax imposed on them. These mistreatments made them bitter and use the knowledge acquired from the Roman military to invade the empire. Learning these skills enabled them to turn against the empire and finally defeat it (Ward-Perkins n.p). It is important to mention that primary reason for the fall of the empire was the sacking of the Visigoths. Alaric who was an ex-military soldier effectively utilized the Roman military tactic to sack their emperor. If the Roman Empire did not involve the services of the barbarian tribe in their military, then it would have been difficult for them to engage in constant invasion of the empire and also to sack the Visigoths.
Decline of Morals in the Empire
Another major reason for the collapse of the Roman Empire was the tremendous decline in morals among the wealthy upper class, the emperors, and the nobility. This immorality had an adverse impact on the Romans. Notably, promiscuous sexual behavior had taken over the Roman Empire. For example, Tiberius who was an emperor kept some young boys for his sexual pleasure (Pearse n.p). Similarly, Nero castrated a male slave so that he can use him as his wife. Furthermore, Elagabalus compelled a Vestal Virgin to marry him. Worst to note is that a respectful leader that Romans expect to behave in decorum kept many concubines, and he sat in the arena of theater dressed in a woman garment. Immorality was not only in the upper class but it also spread and affected the lower class and slaves. Obnoxiously, the religious festivals were marked by sexual promiscuity (Pearse n.p). For instance, during Saturnalia and Bacchanalia festivals songs that depicted immorality were played, also, lewd acts coupled with sexual promiscuity were openly practiced in the course of the respected and religious festival. Additionally, in the Colosseum arena as a way of attracting and amusing the mobs, lewd and sexual immorality were openly exhibited. There was also a massive widespread of gambling among the chariot races and the gladiators. The immorality mentioned above played a role in destructing the emperor in focusing on strengthening its kingdom.
The Rise of the Eastern Empire
Another factor that played a role in the collapse of the Roman Empire was the rise of the Eastern Empire. In the later century, the Emperor Diocletian separated the empire into two halves. The Western Empire was laid on the city of Milan while the Eastern Empire seated in the Byzantium. At first, the division made the two empires easy to govern but with time they drifted apart (Winkler 24). The two empires failed to work in unison to forestall the external attack. Also, the continuous strengthening of the Eastern Empire played a role in diverting the Barbarian invasion to the West. Failure to work together and the stabilizing of the Eastern Empire weakened the Western Empire.
Conclusion
From the above discussion, it is clear that constant invasion of the empire by the barbarian tribe weakened the empire. Also, the knowledge that they had acquired from Roman military enabled them to sack the Visigoths. The financial crisis in the Roman Empire that was caused by heavy military spending was another factor that weakened the stability of the empire. Also, the empire had completely relied upon the slave laborer who had fewer skills; this hampered the technological invention leading to less produce of goods. Both the corruption and political instability led its collapse, due to corruption the Senate failed to tame the power of the emperor. The constant assassination of the rulers interfered with its political stability. Furthermore, the rapid expansion of the empire became a challenge to govern. In addition to this, immorality both in the wealthy class and poor made the empire to lost focus in strengthening its territory. Finally, the separation of the Empire into East and West weakened it and encouraged the Barbarian tribe to invade the West Empire.
Works Cited
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LaFreniere, Gilbert F. The Decline of Nature: Environmental History and the Western Worldview. Academica P, 2007.
Pearse, Roger. “Did Moral Decay Destroy the Ancient World? – Roger Pearse.” Decline and Fall, Diary, 17 Jan. 2014, www.roger-pearse.com/weblog/2014/01/17/did-moral-decay-destroy-the-ancient-world/. Accessed 1 Dec. 2016.
Ward-Perkins, Bryan. The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization. Oxford UP, 2005.
Winkler, Martin M. “A Critical Appreciation of The Fall of the Roman Empire.” The Fall of the Roman Empire, pp. 1-50.