The collapse of Roman Empire

The empire began with the reign of Julius Caesar as the ruler, though more of a dictator than an emperor. Julius Caesar, the dictator, was labeled by the Senate owing to the supreme military and political power that he exercised during his reign. In actual sense, Julius’ nephew became the first ever emperor of Rome, leading the empire into prosperity from the onset of his reign. After his succession of Julius Caesar, Augustus Caesar, formerly Gaius Octavian Thurinus, earned the title of Emperor (Ward-Perkins, 212). The Senate considered him the first emperor, having destroyed the enemies of Rome and bringing the much-needed stability in Rome. The Empire further survived as a divided empire up to the 15th century. Considerably, no other empire lasted for as much time as the Roman Empire did.

The level of civilization depicted by the Empire makes it even more remarkable, considering that the world that emerged from its ruins appear more primitive by contrast. Most countries, could not build such an extensive network of the all-weather road until the 19th century while others had to wait till the 20th century to achieve infrastructure depicted by the ruins of Rome in its vast provinces. The sophistication, further illustrated by the monuments, built by the 2nd century, but still cannot be established by countries in the 21st century makes the Roman Empire remarkable and elicits interests at knowing the causes of its collapse. Some of the emperors, including Caligula, Claudius and Nero apparently partook of meals tainted with lead due to the plumbing system that had lead lining across the empire.

The general plumbing that spanned significant units in the realm provided an essential feature of the aristocratic lifestyle in Rome, especially among the royals on the empire. The water drank from lead pipes possibly resulted in the elevation of gout syndromes among the emperors at that time. Romans also drank legendary amounts of wines at the time. Wine brewery in Rome seemed like a culture that they adopted and thrived in. Military, Political and Economic Decline With the fall of the most stable empire in history, many historians tend to try looking for outside factors that may have influenced the fall. Adrian Goldsworthy, however, has looked at the possibility that the resultant pressure that led to the crumbling of Rome could have emerged from within the empire itself, being posed by the tribes that lived within the confines of the empire.

From the 3rd century onwards, civil wars became frequent, with only a few decades without violent power struggles witnessed from 217 AD. Reportedly, some of the rebellions involved less severe fighting while others lasted for years, resulting in significant battles and possible sieges (Goldsworthy, 331). Diocletian, for example, secured a spot as an emperor through winning a civil war. With divided attention among the armies, attack from outside forces became inevitable, finally resulting in the fall of the empire. Adoption of Christianity During the era that the Roman Empire thrived, Romans wanted it to continue as they could not imagine a world without it. However, the empire faced a lot of challenges at that moment, and its crumble became inevitable. According to Gibbon, the empire struggled because the inhabitants lacked the virtues that the founders of the Empire had at the beginning of the Empire.

The desires to make Rome great had diminished with incoming generations. They termed the decisions as having long-reaching consequences. However, the articles did not attempt a coherent analysis of why the empire, which spanned a vast portion of the world in 200 had reduced to only a fraction by 500. Conclusion Out of the three mentioned theories, Adrian Goldsworthy’s argument seems to hold much water as to why the Roman Empire collapsed. The civil war did not only wedge rifts among citizens in past nations and empires, but also continue to wedge divisions in the current century. Unity in thoughts and arms strengthens values and cohesion in nations. How Rome fell: Death of a superpower. Yale University Press, 2009. Nriagu, Jerome O. "Saturnine gout among Roman aristocrats: did lead poisoning to contribute to the fall of the Empire?.