Introduction
In the history, there is much to learn and explore to be able to understand some of the features that are being experienced today. One aspect that always usually comes to mind when history is mentioned is the era of the Roman Empire. This is the most well-known era all over the world, and it is considered as the most influential periods of history due to some crucial reasons. For instance, it was known to be the home of many famous and influential leaders of the past, like Julius Caesar all the way to Jesus Christ. During this time, the Roman Empire was recognized as one of the biggest empires with control of over 60 million people which was equivalent to one-fifth of the overall population at that time (Holland, 2017). However, it is believed that some of its activities and surroundings, as well as a treatment towards their conquered people, is what contributed to both the rise and fall of the Roman Empire.
The Rise of the Roman Empire
Many aspects contributed to the rise of the Roman Empire, but this essay only focuses on three main factors which include the Roman military, leadership and society. The roman army has been the most substantial reason why it was very successful because it was purposely fashioned to protect the city of Rome and eventually conquering a massive empire. The military was mainly composed of volunteers who were highly willing to defend their city and most started being paid professionally after they reached 20-25 years old. Other people who were recruited in the army were those conquered from different regions, and the presence of a well-trained army made the citizens feel secure, especially from invasion (TimeMaps, 2019).
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The second major factor is leadership which consisted of great and wise leaders whose powers were seen through the way they controlled and ruled over the Roman people. These great leaders included people like Julius Caesar and Emperor Trajan, to mention a few of them. Thirdly, the well-organized societies contributed to the growth of the Roman Empire. All the people in different communities were divided into two major groups which consisted of citizens and slaves. For the division of citizens, they were also grouped according to ranks and equipped with exclusive rights and duties (Holland, 2017). These unique treatments were not offered to non-citizens. On the other hand, slaves were war prisoners and were denied significant privileges.
The Fall of the Roman Empire
As much as the Roman Empire appeared to be strong, there were also other factors that contributed significantly to its downfall. The three factors include the invasions by the Barbarian tribes, overreliance on slavery and economic troubles. Other factors include political volatility and government corruption. First of all, the collapse of Rome started when they were invaded by the Barbarian tribes who had trespassed past Rome's borders. The success of the Roman Empire was further weakened when the Visigoth King Alaric fruitfully sacked the city of Rome, where the city spent many years under numerous threats.
The second factor was the ever-growing economic troubles from within and the overdependence on slave labor (Andrews, 2014). Despite multiple attacks from outside forces, Rome was already suffering due to the financial crisis. Overspending and increased wars, as well as oppressive taxation, made many people flee to other countries hence making it weak and poor. Finally, corruption from government agencies and political instability was another key factor that led to disintegration of Rome in a significant way. Most of the Roman leaders started becoming corrupt, and it almost became difficult to govern Rome (Andrews, 2014). This leads many people losing trust in their leadership; hence, the Empire was further weakened.
Conclusion
Overall, it is clear that Rome was the vastest Empire during that era, and it was almost difficult to bring it down. They had the greatest leaders of all time, and they owed their existence to the military genius skills of leadership to Julius Caesar. However, as much as they were highly organized and difficult to challenge, overconfidence and poor leadership were later the cause of its fall. The division of citizens and slaves continued to widen, and high taxes made people relocate. However, for as much as history will continue to be studied, the Roman Empire will always be of great importance to many generations to come.
References
Andrews, E. (2014). 8 reasons why Rome Fell: Find out why one of history's most legendary empires finally came crashing down. History Stories . Retrieved on 3 December 2019, from https://www.history.com/news/8-reasons-why-rome-fell
Holland, B. (2017). History vault: Rome: Rise and Fall. History Stories . Retrieved on 3 December 2019, from https://www.history.com/news/history-vault-rome-rise-and-fall
TimeMaps. (2019). The Roman Empire I: the Rise of Rome. Time Maps . Retrieved on 3 December 2019, from https://www.timemaps.com/encyclopedia/rise-of-the-roman-empire/
