Rome questions?

Question

How did currency and weather possibly lead to Romes demise?

How did geography ironically lead to Romes fall?

How did the reliance on mercenaries eventually lead to Romes military downfall?

Which of the three reasons do you believe and why?

What is the official date given on Romes fall? Why is this date chosen?

Answer 1

Currency was de-valued, but the economy itself was weakened because of the stagnant agrarian state of the West, as opposed to the East, which became more urbanized, and survived another thousand years.

Geograph was important only in the sense that Rome did not have natural borders or protection, whereas Constantinople did by being surrounded on three sides by water. Also, the West was surrounded by the Germanic barbarians, whereas the East was not; until the later periods when it was surrounded by Turks, Arabs, Vikings, Slavs, and Hungarians.

The reliance on mercenaries is asked in another question a few posts up. I gave the answer there. Look for it because I don't want to type it all again. It's an important issue though.

As for the reasons, the mercenaries and the economy were the central reasons. Weather was peripheral.

Rome 'fell' in AD 476 because this is when the German chieftain (himself a Roman mercenary) deposed Romulus Augustulus (the last Roman emperor) and replaced him with himself under a new Germanic (Ostrogothic) kingdom.

Answer 2

Currency is money. The Roman Empire depended on taxes. Insofar as theEmpire could not collect taxes, it had to fail. Weather had nothing to do with it.

Geography ironically led to Rome's downfall. In particular, in the third cenrtury, a new Sassinid Persian empire arose in the East. The Roman Empire had to raise taxes very much to support a new enlarged army. This was to protect provinces in the East. The biggest item in the Roman budget was always the army.

The taxes came from all parts of the Empire, including the West.

Reliance on mercenaries did not in any way lead to Rome's downfall. The foundation of the Roman Empire was to subdue new peoples and then to admit them to the Empire, scattered over different places, of course! The trap was that in AD 378, Valens admitted a band of Goths over the Danube. Valens was involved in a war with the Persians and could not transfer soldiers to the Danube in time.