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After hundreds of years of controlling the Mediterranean, the Roman empire came up against many internal and external dangers, some of which were financial issues, attacks by foreign powers, and deterioration of morality.
 * The Long Decline **

**The Roman Empire **** Divides ** The Pax Romana came to an end with the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 AD, ushering in a 100-year-period of political and economic crisis.

Political Violence Becomes Common During this era, politics experienced repeated upheavals. Empires were toppled cyclically when aspiring generals and traitors took power from antecedent rulers. These insurgents would govern the kingdom for a scant year or two until the pattern repeated and another insurrection occurred. Throughout the course of 50 years, no less than 26 emperors reigned; only one had a natural death. Normalcy had been redefined as political hostility.

Social and Economic Problems Arise Simultaneously, disconcerting social and economic tendencies rocked the empire. Business people and small farmers were substantially burdened by exorbitant taxes levied to support the army and the government. Farmers' debt spiraled out of control due to a decreased output in crops that was caused by over-cultivation.

As a result, many indebted farmers had to abandon their property and move to wealthy estates, where they were employed by the landowners, who would not allow them to resign, even though their workers were free by law. Emperor Diocletian Shares Power Diocletian, the emperor in 284, aimed to reinstate order in his empire. To ease the strain of governing the expansive empire, he bisected it, leaving the more affluent eastern half for himself and putting the western provinces under the jurisdiction of his newly appointed co-emperor, Maximian. Furthermore, Diocletian took action against the empire's economic problems, which entailed setting fixed prices for many commodities to prevent inflation and making it obligatory for sons to take up their fathers' occupations to guarantee the continuous production of food and other products.

Emperor Constantine Makes Further Reforms Constantine, a brilliant general, ascended as ruler of the Roman Empire and brought continuity to Diocletian's reforms. To effectuate these changes, he carried out two tasks that altered the course of European history. To begin with, he declared Christianity an accepted form of religion. Second, the timeworn city of Byzantium, renamed as Constantinople, the capital, was established by Constantine as the new seat of government. By doing this, the emperor was able to make the eastern Roman empire the new center of power.

Improvements Prove Temporary Diocletians' and Constantine's reforms had diverse results. The two revitalized the economy, and by giving the government more authority, they were able to keep the empire from disunity for one more century. Despite their honorable attempts, Diocletian and Constantine could not hold off the overall decline. Finally, an amalgamation of domestic problems and foreign assaults led the empire to collapse.

**Invaders Threaten the Roman Empire ** For hundreds of years, the Germanic tribes east of the Rhine and north of the Danube rivers attacked Rome. When Rome was still formidable, border patrols were able, with moderate effort, to inhibit conquering parties. Some Germanic peoples who lived on the peripheries of the Roman empire acquired a knowledge of Roman ways and forged alliances with the Romans.

Migrating Nomads Attack Around the year 200, conflict in East Asia set in motion a series of events that would ultimately inundate Rome. Those conflicts sent the Huns, a migrant people, to migrate from central Asia toward eastern Europe no later than 370. Germanic tribes hindering them were ousted by the Huns' skillful riders. Many of these Germanic peoples, such as the Visigoths and Ostrogoths, sought safety in Roman territory. The Roman troops' effort to hold off the aggressors was complicated by the empire's decay. One after another, Britain, France, and Spain were surrendered to the Huns -- a simple forewarning of the invaders' march into Italy and takeover Rome.

Rome Is Sacked When a Roman army attempted to rout the Visigoths at Adrianople in 378, it sustained a crippling defeat. Rome's strength was dwindling -- an open invitation to additional conquerors, a large concentration of which were on Rome's western borders. In 410, Rome was pillaged by Alaric, a Visigoth general, and in the meanwhile, out of Gaul and Spain came the Vandals, a Germanic people, who migrated into North Africa. Little by little, the western Roman empire was being settled by groups of Germanic peoples.

Rome still hadn't seen the worst of their troubles. Embarking across Europe in 434, the Huns' leader, Attila, set out on a brutal campaign of conquest. The Christians' name for Attila was the "scourge of God" because they deemed his assaults to be retribution for humanity's sins. Still more Germanic tribes were displaced by the Hun incursion, causing them to be forced into Roman territory. The Germanic leader Odoacer finally ousted Rome's emperor in 476; this event was viewed by future historians as the "fall" of Rome. By then, a large portion of Rome's territories had been seized and western Roman power had ended.

**Many Problems Cause Rome to Fall ** A decisive moment in the history of Western society was the collapse of Roman authority. What brought about Rome's "fall"? Numerous interrelated causes have been discerned by present-day historians.

Military Attacks Foreign invasions were conceivably the most apparent reason for Rome's fall. A large part of the success of these assaults was because of the late empire's army's lack in discipline and training. So, to match the necessity for soldiers, mercenaries, or foreign warriors who served for money, were hired to protect Rome's borders. Many were Germanic soldiers who probably had little allegiance towards Rome.

Political Turmoil Politics played another part in the decay of the Roman empire. Faith in the government was lost as the government became increasingly despotic and domineering. This disbelief was helped along by the rising amount of amoral officials and periodic disputes over the line of succession to the Roman throne. Opposing armies constantly struggled in the attempt to secure for their respective commanders to have the imperial throne. But possibly the most damaging was the division of Rome while it was besieged as the more prosperous eastern empire scarcely aided the west.

Economic Weakness Prevalent in the empire was financial difficulty. Taxes meant to sustain the immense civil service and massive military were continually increased and simultaneously, the exploration of modern technology was hindered by the Romans' dependence on slave labor. Due to the spread of war, epidemic, and a fade in agricultural productivity, the population and wealth of the empire declined.

Social Decay The demoralization of Rome was brought to attention by worried citizens. Foundational values such as patriotism, self-restraint, and steadfast devotion to duty were slowly vanishing. The decline of patriotism was testified to by the necessity of hiring mercenaries in place of citizen-soldiers. Instead of the upper class's previous adherence to duty, the rich pledged themselves to luxury and status. Even the self-reliance of the Roman people may have been compromised by the provision of "bread and circuses."

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