JON LEAB

Causes Of "The Fall" Of Rome

Political Economic Social
  • Poltical Problems started when Emperor Commodus, Marcus Aurelius's son.

  • Like Nero, he spent all his empires money for his own pleasures. He bankrupted the treasury.

  • In A.D. 192 Commodus's own troops plotted to kill him

  • From A.D. 192 to A.D. 284, army legions installed 28 emperors, only to kill them in rapid succuession. During this time Rome was busie fighting each other than defending Rome's enemys. Which was Germanic, Goths, the Alemanni, the Franks, and the Saxons.
  • Political instability led to economic decline.

  • Trade and production was disrupted bu warfare. For some artist and merchants, they went out of business because of profits decline. Farmland was also destroyed by warfare, cause of food shortage which sent prices sky high.

  • To cope with this prices rising the government minted more coins. It hoped the increase would make it easier to pay its soldiers. Sience the government took all gold and silver or of stores the new coins didn't have as much precious metals in it. To continue getting the same return for their goods, merchants raised prices. Do to this the government policy sparked severe inflations or a rise in proces corresponding to a decrease in the value of money.

  • The spiraling decline in wealth affected almost all parts of the empire. To have a fighting force, the Rome government had to keep rising soldiers pay. To do this they rasied Taxes, so that made the farm landowners less profitable and abandoned their lands. As a result, the output of crops shrank even more, worsening the food shortage.
  • They had to get merchanaries to be the fight force, because of the Roman's quiting. The new Fight forces where not as loyal or serious because the only reson why they joined was because of the fee they got to be in the army.

  • And another Social cause of The Fall Of Rome is because their was alot of deases

  • After all these problems people nolonger felt loyal to the emporers of the empire.