The Fall of the Roman Empire Essay -- Ancient History

The Fall of the Roman Empire A reason that leads to Rome's inability to remain self-sustaining as an Empire was its lack of technology. Technological advance did not increase at a rate proportional to the increase of the people per square mile. This lead to the inability of the Romans to become self-sustaining. Once again the slave trade was a reason that their technology levels failed to increase. The bulk of work done in the Roman Empire was always carried out by the slaves. This provided very little need or incentive for new discoveries. By neglecting the important technological advance, there was no increase in the efficiency of running Rome. Therefore, it was left behind from the start. What then started out small grew to a life threatening wound. With all of these stumbling blocks stacking up, the Roman juggernaut began to falter. The epitome of this problem rests in the Roman economy, which was now staggering drastically. As the Roman rulers of the time noticed this problem they slowly but increasi ngly moved back to their country estates. One of the main causes of disunity was the tension between the Emperor and his generals (Grant-1978-pg.437). By doing so, they left the offices of business in the city which out of this neglect began to disappear. This trend, although very strong in the west was comparably weak in the east, where the cities were older and more schooled and prepared to deal with economic recession. The final action of the Roman rulers to retreat to the country, resulted not only in the empires economy being weak, but moreover a general failure to function. A major reason for a weakening in the Empire was the inability to resist its invaders (Grant-1990-pg.60). It was the combination of these a... ...e. New York: Time Incorporated, 1965. Grant, Michael. The Fall of the Roman Empire. Pennsylvania: Annenberg School of Communications, 1976. Grant, Michael. The History of Rome. New York: Charles Scribners Sons, 1978. Nardo, Don. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. California: Lucent Books, 1998. Roberts, J.M. A History of Europe. New York: Penguin Books, 1996. Starr, Chester. A History of the Ancient World. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974. Stobart, J.C. The Grandeur that was Rome. New York: Frederick A. Praeger Incorporated, 1961. The Roman Empire. Massachusetts: Houghton Mifflin, 1967. Boak, Arthur. A History of Rome to 565 AD. New York: The Macmillan Company, 1947. Gibbon, Edward. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. New York: Random House Publishing, 1952. Hadas, Moses. Imperial Rome. New York: Time Incorporated, 1965. Grant, Michael.