The Roman Empire is one of the greatest empires to have ever existed. The Roman Empire was powerful, wealthy and built one of the strongest and vast empires ever seen in the world. The Roman Empire came from a tiny cluster of villages to become of the greatest empire of all time. It prospered for more than seven hundred years, but just like many other empires, it collapsed in 476 AD, ending the dominance of the Roman Empire. Various reasons including strong military, its architectural structure and good leadership are some of the causes attributed to the rise of the Roman Empire while over-spending on the military, over-reliance of slave labor and political corruption have been attributed to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The rapid expansion of the Roman Empire can be attributed to the Roman army. The Roman military was formed to defend the city of Rome but went on to conquer a massive empire. Initially, the Roman army was made up of volunteers, but soldiers between the 20-25 years became paid. Also, people from areas conquered by the Romans were recruited into the military. This boosted the army and made the Roman citizens feel proud and secure (Le Bohec, 2013). The army helped defend the Roman Empire and protect the newly conquered lands while invading other territories, thereby expanding its rise.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Architecture also played an integral role in the rise of the Roman Empire. Romans were renowned for their engineering and architectural prowess with their buildings still surviving up to today. They include roads, bridges and aqueducts, among others. Roads were vital in the prompt transportation of the army in the empire (Bunson, 2014). Roads were also crucial in trading. The Via Appia, built in 312 BC, was the first main road in the Roman Empire. The Romans constructed sewers and constructed the first type of concrete made from volcanic rock and rubble (Huskinson, 2013). Creating these magnificent architectural structures gave the Roman citizens a sense of unity, thus enhancing the expansion of the Roman Empire.
Good leadership also played a significant role to rise of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had able leaders that showed their strength through their rule over the Roman people. Some of the notable rulers in the Roman Empire were Julius Caesar, Emperor Trajan and Hadrian (Wallech, 2013). Emperor Trajan ruled from AD 98-117. His reign was successful as the Roman Empire vast areas in the East to reach its greatest size. When Hadrian succeeded him, he halted the empire’s expansion and focused more on improving the leadership and administrative structure of the Roman Empire (Birley & Birley, 2013). The leaders helped to maintain peace in the Roman Empire and expand the empire by extending the Roman Empire’s territory.
Over-expenditure on the military was one of the main contributions to the collapse of the Roman Empire. This was attributed to the constant funding of the war. For the Romans to invade and conquer territory, they had to invest in the army heavily. The Roman armies overstretched leading to soldiers being recruited from Rome into other regions. High spending on the military resulted in inflation and limited resources for the Romans and other essential government projects such as public housing (Garnsey & Saller, 2014). The over-expenditure on the military made Roman citizens decline to adhere to government policies, thus contributing to the collapse of the Roman Empire.
The over-reliance on slave workers also led to the decline of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire had experienced a dramatic increase in the number of slaves during its first two centuries. The dependency on slave labor contributed to a decline of morals and a stagnation of new machinery that would be used to produce goods and products (Wallech, 2013) efficiently. The slaves were oppressed by the Romans, which resulted in their revolt, thereby leading to the Servile Wars. The rise of Christianity during the last centuries of the Roman Empire led to the slaves being set free as they became socially acceptable in Roman society (Garnsey & Saller, 2014). This hurt the Roman economy, which largely depended on slave labor. The over-dependence on slaves slowed the Roman Empire’s need to invest in technology and machinery, thereby leading to its decline as an economic powerhouse.
Widespread political corruption in the Roman Empire contributed to its fall. Corruption was prevalent in the upper ranks of the Praetorian Guard, whose influence and dominance grew to the extent that they planned to overthrow Emperor. The Praetorian Guard overthrew Emperor Tiberius and placed the thrown on auction for the next 100 years. Political corruption also contributed to civil conflicts in the Roman Empire (Wallech, 2013) . The decision on the new emperor was dependent on the Praetorian Guard, which chose someone who would give the guard the greatest reward. The third century saw the title of the emperor changed 37 times, whereby 25 of the emperors were assassinated. This led to the weakness and the fall of the Roman Empire.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the Roman Empire was one of the major empires to have ever existed. Several reasons contributed to its rise, including a formidable army, architectural expertise and effective leadership. Just like all other great empires that have fallen before, the decline was also inevitable for the Roman Empire due to various reasons such as over-expenditure on the army, reliance on slave workers and widespread political corruption perpetuated by the Praetorian Guard. The rise and fall of the Roman Empire can act as a reference to powerful countries today in sustaining their dominance.
References
Birley, A. R., & Birley, A. R. (2013). Hadrian: the restless emperor . Routledge.
Bunson, M., (2014). Encyclopedia of the Roman Empire . Infobase Publishing.
Garnsey, P., & Saller, R., (2014). The Roman Empire: economy, society and culture . Univ of California Press.
Huskinson, J., (2013). Experiencing Rome: culture, identity and power in the Roman Empire . Routledge.
Le Bohec, Y. (2013). The imperial Roman army . Routledge.
Wallech, S., (2013). World History: A Concise Thematic Analysis, Volume One . John Wiley & Sons.
