Some people say the Roman Empire fell and others say that it did not. It is believed both ways that it did or did not fall. People believe that it did fall because it is not the same empire today, and because does not carry out the same traditions. There are many other reasons that lead people to believe the Roman Empire fell. Some people say it did not fall because it is still alive today and there was not much proof or reasoning to go behind that it did fall. I believe that it did fall. The concern is how and why did it fall?
It is said that the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD. Someone who supported this date was Edward Gibbon.
This is a date he came up with because that was when the last Roman emperor ruled. There is no proof to prove this but many people believe this date by their knowledge of the Roman history. (
http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/romefallarticles/a/fallofrome.htm).
When it fell the Romans did not know and kept it going for another two years. People believe that it fell for many reasons and to this day we are not so sure the exact reasons. There are many possible reasons like the people became corrupt, Christianity, it got to big, and many other reasons. It wasn’t just one of these but a combination of many and more. (
http://www.tamos.net/~rhay/romefall.html). Some people also say that there was a mass migration and everyone migrated at one time to find new homelands. This happened while Rome was in power and greatly contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. The rulers toward the end before the fall of the Roman Empire were said by many people to be “bad” emperors. These emperors were not very successful and people blamed them for the fall of the empire. (
http://www.roman-empire.net/diverse/faq.html#romefall).
The Roman Empire grew and the power was split. This caused problems because they power was so greatly spread that they had trouble controlling everything. Hidden attacks were planned on Rome and added to the fall.
The people saw new emperors and realized they were young and naïve and easy to attack on. This was bad because they set up many attacks and the young emperors didn’t know how to react as well as the previous emperors who had more experience. The spread of Christianity could have led to the fall because it made the power spread. With the beginning of Christianity the Church was opened the government now had power in the state and power in the Church. This led to problems and contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.
These are all possible reasons in which the Roman Empire fell. This are reasons that people have considered and used to back up their belief that the Roman Empire fell in 476 AD.
It is not just one of these reasons that led to the fall of the Roman Empire but a combination of all of them. The empire just had so many problems it could not handle all of them and began to crumble. There is no proof of this or anything that shows exactly what happens but from basic knowledge we can infer that the date of the fall was in 476 AD. Some people believe it is just one of these reasons but to me it is a combination of them. It is a controversy whether or not the empire fell. To those who believe it did, it is a bigger controversy to why or how it fell.
"Fall of Rome - Why Did Rome Fall." Ancient / Classical History - Ancient Greece & Rome & Classics Research Guide. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .
"The Fall of Rome." Tamos (portal). Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .
"Frequently Asked Questions." The Roman Empire. Web. 12 Mar. 2010. .
Image from flickr.com
