Final Draft: Weekly #6

Did the Roman Empire 'decline and fall' or did it evolve into something new?

The Roman Empire is not seen as evolving into something new. The Roman Empire fell because of the issues within its empire. They had many enemies which caused many more people to turn against them. Romans could not agree on many things. People in Rome wanted one thing, and the emperors wanted something different. The Roman Empire declined and fell at this time because of the barbarians; Christianity, and the problems it caused with the non- Christians and the rulers; and the constant changes and disagreement in the government.

Christianity caused a large issue in Rome. A huge part of this was because of the rich people donating money to charities. Edward Gibbon stated that, “The clergy successfully preached the doctrines of patience and pusillanimity; the active virtues of society were discouraged; and the last remains of the military spirit were buried in the cloister; a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers' pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes, who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity” (Gibbon,1). This caused an issue because the rich people were using their money towards their new religion and taking it away from the soldiers. This left the soldiers poor. This ended up in many bloody fights and the upsetting of the emperors. Everything was very bad until Constantine came into the Roman Empire and helped to bring the violence down and started to end this confusion. The problem was, Constantine came much longer before this happened. It shows that his reign may have helped, but it obviously did not stay after many years. Christianity was a positive additive to the Roman Empire, but it ended up causing many problems and creating further decline to the Roman Empire.

One other major problem was them emperors. Gibbon recorded that, “The emperors, anxious for their personal safety…” (Gibbon, 3). They began to not worry as much about the people as they were about Rome. Obviously Rome was not getting better, and it could not and would not get better until the people formed together as one. The emperors were also fighting about powers. Things like tetrarchy, when four people try to work together to rule, and giving the people power, were not working out in the Roman Empire. There were else many disagreement issues. Because there were so many issues with Christianity and the Barbarians, the Romans really needed to form as one.

Gibbon also said, “The endless column of Barbarians pressed on the Roman Empire with accumulated weight; and, if the foremost were destroyed, the vacant space was instantly replenished by new assailants” (Gibbon, 2). This was a huge problem for Rome. When the Romans were already trying to deal with their other problems, they were being taken over by the Barbarians. The Barbarians end up making Rome into Europe. This especially shows how the Roman Empire fell because they could not even defend themselves. Countries, especially ones who want to change their government, should be prepared for tragedies such as this one. Sadly, Rome was not and resulted in this downfall of the country and the overtaking by the Barbarians.

In conclusion, the Roman Empire did fall. The Christians upset many of the Roman people. It caused a lot of conflict and did not go well with many of the powerful people. The emperors caused a huge problem because they were too worried about their power rather than the interest of the people. They did not try to make things work and they were one of the biggest parts of the falling empire. Finally, the barbarians wreaked havoc in Rome. They took over Rome and turned it into Europe. Rome was not prepared for this quick downfall, and did not work hard enough to achieve getting Rome back to a more stable place.

Works Cited

Gibbon, E. (n.d.). Medieval Sourcebook: Gibbon: The Fall of the Roman Empire .FORDHAM.EDU. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gibbon-fall.html

Heather, D. P. (2011, February 17). BBC - History - Ancient History in depth: The Fall of Rome. BBC - Homepage. Retrieved April 12, 2011, from http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/a