Lesson 5: Decline of the Roman Empire

After 180 CE, the end of Roman expansion meant less wealth flowed into the empire. This created serious internal problems that weakened Rome from within, long before its final collapse. Key issues included:

• Widespread government corruption
• An economy that depended too much on slave labor
• A growing, uneducated, and restless poor population in the cities

These factors, combined with deadly epidemics, eroded the traditional foundations of Roman society and citizenship, making the empire vulnerable.

The period from 235 to 284 CE is known as the Imperial Crisis. During this time, Roman generals constantly fought each other in civil wars to seize the throne. This constant warfare had two disastrous effects:

• Economic Ruin: Emperors raised taxes and created inflation by making coins with less silver to pay soldiers.
• Weakened Defenses: Armies were pulled from the borders to fight internally, leaving the empire exposed to the foreign invaders discussed next.

While Romans fought each other, foreign enemies took advantage of the chaos. In the east, the Sassanian Persians raided Roman lands. In the north, Germanic tribes, which Romans called barbarians, attacked more frequently. The empire's huge size and slow communication made it impossible to defend every border at once. As a result, these invasions drained Rome's resources and manpower, pushing the weakened empire closer to its breaking point.

To stop the chaos, Emperor Diocletian made a bold change: he divided the empire into Eastern and Western halves in 284 CE, creating a co-emperor system to better manage its vast territory. Later, Emperor Constantine continued this division and built a new, heavily fortified capital, Constantinople, in the wealthier East. Ultimately, these reforms only delayed the collapse, as the Western half remained much more vulnerable than the protected and prosperous East.

The final collapse of the West was triggered by outsiders. The Huns, fierce warriors from Asia, swept into Europe, which in turn pushed Germanic tribes like the Goths into Roman territory seeking safety. The western army, which now relied on untrustworthy mercenaries, could not stop the invasions. Consequently, German groups captured Rome in 410 and 455 CE, and in 476 CE, a German general removed the last Western Roman emperor.

The two halves of the empire met very different ends. The Western Empire completely collapsed by 476 CE, leading to a decline in trade, safety, and learning in Europe. However, the Eastern Empire, with its capital at Constantinople, did not fall. Instead, it survived as the powerful Byzantine Empire, which preserved Greco-Roman culture and Christian orthodoxy for nearly 1,000 more years, showing the long-term success of the division for one half of the empire.