What could have been done to prevent the Roman Empire from falling?

Question

I am a freshman in high school, and my AP history teacher gave my class a college level assignment. I know this because he did it in college as well. He said we are allowed to get sources through email, so if anyone has some ideas to point me in the right direction that would be great. Thank you.

Answer 1

You can probably find online that part of the Roman Empire's fall was due to the fact that it over extended itself. Others say it was Barbarian rule. However, there's a unique answer that you could give that might give you some credit for being out-side the box:
Conside Agriculture and its economy.

1. Slavery
Slaves were the backbone of the Roman republic, and Rome had increasing difficulty trying to accomodate them. THey lived in really bad conditions, and they weren't the major concentration of the Roman Repub. So what would they do? revolt. stop working. etc etc.
2. Free Distribution of corn
The majority of people were supported by corn, which was given more as a right than as a privilege. It was in essence a welfare state. Parents didn't have to make any effort to feed their children, so why work? This led to decay.
3. Soil Deterioration
Rome had a cheap food policy. And they forced farmers to pay taxes that they couldn't afford. Farmers were gang up together and plant a lot of stuff in one area to beat teh tax loopholes. But this deteriorated the soil quality. NOrth africa was once a grainary storage system for Rome, but after the Carthrage sack, it didn't work out. Land shortage was a big problem for rome, that's why they kept expanding. They stripped their forests of lumber, so they had poor weapons when it came to the Punic Wars.


These are just some rarely considered ideas.

Answer 2

The united states is following the same path, power, greed, supremacy, being the dominant one, check similarities.

I AM

Answer 3

well there was the plauge, there were too many people and it was kinda doomed from the beginning actually.

Answer 4

This are good sources to start with:

http://www.utexas.edu/courses/rome/210reasons.html

http://killeenroos.com/1/Romefall.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Decline_and_Fall_of_the_Roman_Empire
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/gibbon-fall.html

Answer 5

lead poisoning