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Fall of Rome - Decline of the Roman Empire

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Reasons for the decline of the Roman Empire.

It's not entirely arbitrary that Medieval / Renaissance History at About.com begins and Ancient / Classical History ends in A.D. 476. Edward Gibbon's 476 date for the fall of Rome is conventionally acceptable because that's when the Germanic Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor to rule the Western Empire. However, the people who lived through the takeover would probably be surprised by the importance we place on this event. And there are other, reasonably momentous dates for the Fall of the Roman Empire. Some say Rome fell when it was split into an eastern and a western empire ruled by separate emperors. The eastern half became the Byzantine Empire, with its capital at Constantinople. The western half remained centered in Italy. Many say the Fall was an ongoing process lasting more than a century. Since Rome still exists, it could even be argued it never fell. Some prefer to say that Rome adapted rather than fell. [For some more details, see End of Rome.] A related question, one subject to even more discussion is:

Why did Rome Fall?

There are adherents to single factors, but more people think Rome fell because of a combination of such factors as Christianity, decadence, lead, monetary trouble, and military problems. Even the rise of Islam is proposed as the reason for Rome's fall, by some who think the Fall of Rome happened at Constantinople in the 15th Century.

Causes of the Fall of Rome

Here are some of the explanations for the Fall of Rome:

Early Historian of the Fall of Rome

Those who want to look back at the first major historian to deal with the decline and fall of Rome should read about the fifth century historian Zosimus.

See Zosimus - The First Major Historian of the Fall of the Roman Empire.

Modern Books on the Fall of Rome

There are 3 books from 2005 devoted to the topic:
  • In 2007, an English translation of Alessandro Barbero's 2005 The Day of the Barbarians was published. Barbero blames the 4th century Battle of Adrianople and its aftermath for the fall of the Western Empire. After the battle, which was in the Eastern Empire, the successors of the loser, the Emperor Valens, managed to push the barbarians westward where they continued to look unsuccessfully for land and acceptance until they sacked Rome.
  • The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization, by Bryan Ward-Perkins, who believes that Rome fell and rejects the idea that Rome ended without catastrophe or decay. Ward-Perkins refers anecdotally to an odd German book, Der Fall Roms. Die Auflosung des Romischen Reiches im Urteil der Nachwelt, by Alexander Demandt, which contains "a compendium of verdicts on the fall of Rome." 400 of such verdicts occurred between 1800 and 1965. If you're interested in bizarre reasons, check out the list.
  • The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians, by Peter Heather

    Heather's thesis is that the various assaults on Rome had ripple effects. Rome lost territory and revenue, was spread too thin militarily, and the barbarians on the border kept growing stronger. One attack was not enough, but the cumulative effect caused the fall of the western empire.

    Review

Articles on the End of the Roman Empire

Rome and Roman Empire Maps

Decay, Christianity, Vandals, and Religious Controversy as Reasons for the Fall of Rome
 

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