why did rome fall? will america fall just like rome will?

Answer 1

Are there barbarians at our frontiers??

Answer 2

A main factor why Rome fell was because of the spread of Christianity. There are many more. If you are interested you should check out Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. It is 6 volumes. :)

It can also be argued that Rome did not fall until the Turks seized Constantinople in 1453. The Western Empire fell in 476, but you must realize that Diocletian divided the empire. Whether an emperor ruled in the west or in the east, they were still the rightful rulers of Rome. When the West fell, the East showed little interest in reclaiming those lands. Justinian, however, was successful for reconquering the majority of the Western empire for a brief time.

Answer 3

The traditional date of the fall of Rome is 476. The last emperor, Romulus Augustus was dethroned by Odoacer, the head of a German tribe.
There were a series of economical and social reasons:
1) German barbarians invaded the Empire. That had 2 results:
a) Germans destroyed whole cities and areas like Rome (410), Gall, Hispania, Africa. It weakened the Empire a lot.
b) It led to the "Germanization" of the Empire: Barbarians entered the Roman legions as mercenaries. Guess who they were loyal to... This happened because Rome wanted to please the barbarians. If they willingly entered the Empire there was no need for an invasion.
2) There was no moral fiber in roman citizens: they were corrupt, with no loyalty to the state.
3) Christianity - Christians were not violent. They refused to fight...
4) Economical decadence in Italy.
5) The Empire split during Theodosius (395): there was no more strength in the west.
6) The death of Aetius, the last great roman general. No one ever replaced him. He could have made a difference.

No comment on the last part of your question (you figure it out! :) )

Answer 4

The three fundamental reasons for the fall of ancient Rome are:

1. Unrestrictred immigration - barbarian invasions

2. Second class citizens became first class citizens - slaves and women became were emancipated.

3. The ruling class became disaffected: the Emporers and senators became self-absorded and ignored the empire.

Or more simply, Rome self-destructed because of too much: Sex and drugs and rock n' roll! Rome was a nation of soldiers, lawyers, and engineers. Rome fought alot while Greece thought alot. Greece was conquered by Rome in 195 B.C., but Rome was never conquered, it just decayed internally.

Historians are observing that the same thing might happen to the USA, it will self-destruct from within.

Answer 5

Rome fall because the Romans commited suicide. They became week, hiring barbarians to protect them. A little like Europe, nowadays!! And yes, America will fall, like the British Empire did half a century ago. But probably it will remain a great power, adopting an isolacionist politic (like China did, beetween the XIII to XIX centuries).

P.S.: Rome was a superpower for 800 years (!). The US were a superpower only in the last sixty years.

Answer 6

Every empire falls eventually. The best we can hope for is to make ours last as long as we can.

Athens was for a short time the most advanced civilization the world has ever seen. But when they became rich and powerful they started dominating other states with their wealth and their unmatched strong naval power. It is my take on their rise and fall that they began to decay when they became imperialists.

However, a major blow to their survival was an epidemic. If you want to see America survive you need to give some thought to the fact that from time to time plagues have wiped out civilizations.

Rome too extended itself all over the map as an imperialist power. Meanwhile, it rotted internally. Spending its resources on foreign adventures while neglecting the needs of its suffering people at home, Rome eventually left itself weak and rotten at the core, with its population in the capital not well motivated to build and defend their domestic society.

Today you might well wonder about an America which spends so much of its wealth on maintaining hundreds of military bases abroad, while it cannot defend its own borders at home from illegal immigrants.

The administration trumpets the goal of building democracy in the Middle East, while ignoring the reality of crime on our streets and the fact that the US has proportionately more prisoners in custody than any country except China.

You can rude the "el" in Chicago and see mile after mile of wasteland where inner city neighborhoods have become uninhabitable. When Germany was in ruins after WW2, they energetically rebuilt it. Today Americans talk about fixing Iraq while conveniently ignoring the needs of its own people and the devastation of its own inner cities. Not to mention the countless towns in the Dakotas pretty much abandoned because of the loss of the small farms.

Most ironic of all is the fact that part of the plan to rebuild Iraq at American expense included establishing a universal health care system - the very thing denied to the American people.

America's collapse is being accelerated because of the neglect of its own people, while its rulers try to play "world cop" and waste so much of America's resources abroad.

Answer 7

All civilizations evolve or degress. Rome had a long run but suffered from bad leadership for a long stretch in the later days of its existence. People cared little about the outside world or more about themselves. They had an army made up of troops from conquered lands and few from roman heritage.
Which didn't fight hard to save the empire. The barbarians were outside of the gates of Rome and were starving and looking for rome to help. They got none. In short, it was all the ingredients needed for a collapse.
The U.S. has to always be on its guard since they try to send money and supplies to help nations but in my opinion, althought this is important, need to look within and help our own people also. That is even more important since we can collapse within if we ignore our own peoples needs.

Answer 8

The fall of Rome:
During his reign, Emperor Aurelianus (270-275) re-unites the Empire. In Gaul, many troops are at hand because of outside pressure on the borders ("Limes"), most of all by the Franci and Salii, who try to invade the Empire. In lots of places, traces of destruction are being found.
Politics with respect to the invaders changes, and they are gradually being accepted in the Roman Empire. The intruding Germanic tribes are being used by the army, and are divided into two groups: the first are the Laeti. These are low-rank (only one step higher than slaves) and are under the rule of a Roman commander. They are often moved so that they can't get attached to some land. The second group are the Foederati. These are free Germanic people with whom the Romans made a pact (="foedus"). They're commanded by a Germanic commander, but their higher officers are still Romans.
This system remains intact for almost a century. The Laeti are being used as cheap labourers, but some of the Foederati become members of the elite.
In Gaul, a new uprising begins with Carausis (287-293), the commander of Boulogne-sur-Mer, who founds the "Imperium Britanniarium" (Germania Inferior and Britannica). After this, the concept of defence of the Empire changes completely: the defensive system now works in depth. This concept was elobarated in 5 points:
1. Renewal of the Rhine-limes
2. Official defence of the coast (Litus Saxonicum) (the source for this is the "Notitia Dignitatum")
3. Re-enforcement of the roads
4. Forts are being build at strategic places
5. Cities are being fortified by a wall.

Constantine (305-337) breaks the treaty which states that there are 2 Roman Empires with several sub-Empires (the tetrarchy), and strives for a single Empire. He also makes christianity the state-religion.

In the following years, pressure on the Empire increases. The Franks are being mentioned as living in Batavia. Under Julianus Apostata (360-363) there are again conflicts wiht the Salii, who are by then living in Texandria. The statute for Germanic people is being changed, so that they can also settle more to the south. From 390 onwards, attacks become more intense. The Romans strive for a shorter front, and in 410 the "Colonia Claudia Ara Agripinensis" (Cologne) is given up on. In 414, the Romans leave Britannica. This all happened under the reign of Honorius (395-425). During his last year of reign, all Roman troops are being withdrawn to Rome, and the Medieval time begins in Gaul.
In 410, Rome is pillaged by the Goths under the rule of Alerik. The "Vandals" cross the Mediterranean from Africa in 455, and plunder Rome. In 475, the emperor Romulus Augustus leaves his throne. The commander of the Germanic guard, Odowacker, does not kill the emperor, but sends his emperial attributes to the Eastern Roman Empire. By doing this, he ends the Roman period for all of Western Europe, after which the Medieval period begins.

The fall of the USA:
The USA will not fall in the same way Rome has fallen, because the same situation can never happen twice. Although there are some Southern Americans who try to migrate to the USA, the country is not endangered by this: there are no barbaric attacks on the borders.
The USA, however, is already in decline: it's starting to loose its allies (partially because of the unjustified war in Iraq), and the states lost their importance in world economy.
I'm not saying that the USA will fall in a couple of years, but every great nation has its cycle of rise and fall, and it seams to me that the period of decline has arrived. Maybe this period of decline may end when a next (smarter) president is being elected, but president Bush will surely not do this, because he makes to many dumb decisions (like more money for wars in foreign countries that can never harm the USA, less money for the sick, invalid and old people in his own country).

Answer 9

romes fall was influenced by many unfortunate circumstances.
most important of all were the 'barbarian', or germanic tribes deciding to settle in the roman empire. their 'invasion' was something the huge empire just couldn't deal with. it was just too big to man the borders. also, it came to depend on men from conquered countries to fill in the thiner army ranks. that, of course weakened the army.

also, many civil wars fought between the powerful roman generals, and the fact that the legions were no loger loyal to the empire (republic in earlier years) but to their generals.

growing decadence and lust for power was too much for any society to overcome, even such a great civilization that was antient rome.

the usa, huh...
it definetly has some similarities with rome, the lust for power, for one.
nobody can tell...

Answer 10

Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republic by Chalmers Johnson

I'm reading it right now myself. It may help you.

Answer 11

the similarities are astonishing. i think it is tending that way. lets face it, we aren't living under the same demcracy that the founders established. we have the progressives to thank for that.