The Fall of the Western Roman Empire

The idea of the Roman Empire falling in one great apocalyptic battle or singular event, typically involving a furious horde of barbarians besieging the mighty marble-clad city of Rome is false. This Lord of the Rings style of grand battle is appealing to think about. However, just like J.R.R Tolkien’s work, it is a fantasy.

 

There are a number of crucial factors that led to the slow erosion and collapse of the Western Roman Empire. The official date for the fall of the Western Empire is the year 476AD. In this year the Gothic King Odoacer forced the last Western Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, (an ironic name as the founder of Rome was also called Romulus) to abdicate. With Odoacer’s sack of the city there was no longer a central Roman senate or government and as such the remaining Roman states fractured and split into their own entities under Odoacer and later the Ostrogoth’s in Italy. This is the nearest to a singular event that dealt the final blow to an already weakened Empire.

 

There are a number of factors that caused the Empire to decay to such a point that a foreign army was able to sack and then control the eternal city of Rome. Firstly one of the longest lasting but most significant causes of Roman downfall was the adoption of Christianity under the Emperor Constantine, a full two centuries before the final collapse of the West. Early Christianity was much less religiously tolerant than the Pagan religions it sought to overrule. This led to a number of civil issues and conflicts within the empire with the Christians eventually winning. Christian bishops, over the centuries, began to erode the authority of the Emperors which led to their increasing lack of control and respect throughout the Empire. This occurred prior to the idea that a ruler was appointed by divine law so therefore the church and state had a separation of a kind. This would’ve further eroded the power of the Imperial Court. None of this would have been an intentional weakening but the mere rise to power of Christianity caused these divisions within Roman society.

 

Secondly, the rise of the Vandals and other tribes like the Visigoths who after being pushed from their native Germanic homelands by Attila the Hun conquered and settled in Roman territories in Spain and North Africa. These two areas provided a great deal of wealth to the Romans which would lead to a lack of funding for the Roman armies and the garrisons needed to maintain control across Rome’s increasingly weakened and extensive borders.

 

Thirdly, a decay had grown within the Empire by the 5th Century. This can be attributed to the fact that Rome had grown too quickly and too easily. This decay led to decadence of the elite within the Empire causing mass spending and wealth divides. It also led to people living outside the Italian peninsula feeling less and less connected with ideals of Rome. As a result many great generals on the frontiers would constantly be declaring themselves emperor at the behest of their overly politically powerful armies, further weakening Rome internally.

 

These are three of the biggest reasons I have been able to identify as to why Western Rome fell.