Did Rome fall, was it pushed, or did it just go on to become the byzantine empire ?

Answer 1

How about all three?

First of all, in the fourth century Constantine moved the seat of government to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople after himself (the Roman emperors seemed to be real ego trippers), hence the term 'Byzantine' to describe the eastern portion of the Roman Empire, which did manage to hang on till 1453, nearly 1000 years after the collapse of the western Roman Empire.

The western part of the empire was beset by nomadic tribes pressing in on it. Some of the predecessors of these tribes had actually been permitted to settle within the empire. Eventually these tribes turned to invasion, actually reaching Rome itself on at least two occasions that I can recall from my world history classes. This is what I'd describe as the 'push,' but it must be remembered that the empire carried within it the seeds of its own destruction--it had conquered enormous tracts of real estate and imported thousands of slaves over the centuries, many of whom (or at least their descendants) attained citizenship. Unfortunately for the Romans, this proved to be more than they could successfully defend, and the facts that the birth rate had declined steadily since the time of Augustus and that the old ideals of patriotism and service also grew unpopular, the emperors found themselves with a shortage of troops to maintain their frontiers. A solution was to extend citizenship to aliens who would serve in the military, which led to more and more 'barbarians' infiltrating into the empire.

As time went on, Rome began to recall armies from the frontiers in order to protect the homeland itself. Ultimately, Rome collapsed.

So, for the reasons outlined above, I feel that the western empire was pushed, then it fell, and the Byzantine Empire carried on.

Answer 2

1. Rome overreached itself in its conquests - the outlying provinces simply became too distant to control, and the expense of military intervention became a burden on an already shaky treasury.
2. Corruption ate the empire from within - the likes of Nero, Caligula and Commodus were merely symptoms of the sickness that brought down the Roman empire.

Answer 3

It was pushed. Constant warfare to defend it boarders by successive waves of attackers, even after it stopped expanding, weakened it economically and corrupted its political institutions. Though the Byzantine empire survived it was more Greek than Roman.

Answer 4

Rome fall, because it became to big to control, and the people in charge on controlling the country became lazy. so they lost power, & neighboring countries seized the oppertunity to take control, & gain power.