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, Catholicism, and the constant changes and disagreement in the government. The Roman Empire did not fall and it evolved into something better and new; the barbarians, Catholicism, and changes in the government had noting do with this.
Catholicism 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. Catholicism 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 Catholicism 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
1. Yes, 5 paragraphs with 5-7 seven sentences.
ReplyDelete2. With the thesis statement, maybe try to explain a little more of how these issues affected the Roman Empire as a whole. Otherwise, good opinion that can be argued.
3. All of the quotes are there and the Works Cited is in proper APA format. Just include the year after the author in the in-text citation.
4. Good analysis after each quote, but the sentence in the fourth paragraph about how Barbarians made Rome into Europe is unclear. Try to explain that more.
5. Good Conclusion that sums up the essay.
6. The barbarians was good strong evidence and it is in the right place, the fourth paragraph.
7. No personal pronouns are used.
8. Good, clean essay with no slang or contractions.
9. The evidence provides a good argument and the information is specific to each paragraph.
10. The information was enough to write the essay.
11. The information is written in your own voice and the essay digs deep into the subject of your thesis.
1. yes
ReplyDelete2. good thesis
3. yes
4. yes four sentences
5. in thesis you say they did not fall and in conclusion you said they did.
6. yes
7. none
8. good work
9. not generalized
10. good info
11. this seems to be in a honest tone
Reviewers: please be more specific in your critiques.
ReplyDelete"The Roman Empire declined and fell at this time because of the barbarians, Catholicism, and the constant changes and disagreement in the government."
ReplyDeleteI'm not entirely sure of your argument about Catholicism. First, in Late Antiquity, the term would have been "Christianity" as much early terminology was still in flux. Second, you mention Constantine, but the empire itself expires long after his reign. Perhaps it would be better to look at where Christianity had gone in the generations after Constantine's reign.