The Roman Empire collapses...?

Question

What were its external weaknesses? hopefully this makes since..

i meant external threats not external weaknesses.
i know one of them is barbarian invasions. i just need one more. yes this is homework.

Answer 1

what you are asking could fill volumes. But the reality is that there were numerous problems which failed to be addressed.

unstable political system. The Emperorship became very much a one-man-take-all, and with no clear rules of succession. This led to frequent civil wars, which sapped Rome of economic and military strength.

economic collapse. Costs had risen dramatically in the Empire. To pay for this, it took to inflating the currency and floating the difference with war booty. Around the time Rome ran out of foes to conquer, its inflation spiralled out of control. Hyperinflation wracked the economy, and people began fleeing the cities in search of places to work in exchange for food. Later laws made it illegal to quit your job or get fired, which basically tied people to their land, building the foundations of feudalism.

military strength; without firm economic backings, Rome could no longer afford to keep an army of well equiped heavy infantry. Thus it turned to conscript hoardes and, increasingly, German mercenaries. This caused massive amounts of wealth to flow into the German hands and empower them to form larger tribes capable of competing with Rome. By 400 A.D, there probably wasn't a single Italian in the entire army.

it should be known that by 476 A.D the collapse had really already happened. The collapse lasted centuries, and it was only in 476 A.D that the facade of imperial supremacy was dropped.

EDIT: You want another external threat besides the Barbarians? The Sassanid Persian Empire for many centuries was the biggest thorn in Rome's side. It tied up much of the military resources of the Eastern Roman Empire. At one point in time, it was so pronounced that the ERE had to leave the Balkans and Greece undefended, allowing it to be ravaged by invading Avars, Bulgars, and Slavs. Some go so far as to say that because Rome was so dependent on trade that the rise of the Sassanids inadvertently caused its downfall by cutting off these vital trade routes.

Answer 2

OK heres a very good one for you teacher. The external threat of new diseases. The Antonine plague of the late second century CE about the time of Marcus Aurelius greatly weakened the Roman population base. This may have been the emergence of smallpox or measles, but there is no way to know for certain exactly what the infection was. There were a number of epidemics in the latter years of the Roman empire - disease probably spread to Roman areas from elsewhere such as the middle east - so this would be an external threat for your homework assignment. Hope this helps. Look up the Antonine Plague on a search engine.

Answer 3

Which end of the roman empire? The circulate of the capital to byzantium? The final roman emperor interior the west? the autumn of constantinople interior the late fifteenth century? The 'fall' of the roman empire wasnt an experience, nor become it a straight away highway from capability to break down. It become centuries of historic past, with successes and reverses. in basic terms in hindsight ought to a tale of the 'fall of rome' be written. additionally, the roman republic and empire have been solid via leaders with low morals who gained repute wealth and glory battling wars out of the country.

Answer 4

Your use of the word "collapses" leads to a conclusion of short period after some sort of defeat. The Empire declined but did not collapse. Internal decay was probably the biggest reason. Some say it was lead poisoning from the water system which used lead pipes.

Answer 5

infrastructure began to claps and in reality they simply moved to Constantinople creating two empires... little by little barbarians from the north began to take advantage of Rome weakness which created a power vacuum in west but in reality power just changed hands... but the region was never that strong again and as many believe that the east gain key insights and influence in the region due to the books of Aristotle and Euclid. in a nut shell the became to massive for their own good.