How did the germanic tribes overcome the late Roman Empire?

Question

in this question I'm not that concerned about the corruption within Rome and civil wars. I want to know how did the various tribes managed to defeat the roman armies on the field. For instance, if the Visigoths were only a few hundred thousand men in total, how did they sacked Rome, when only the city itself was said to be with 1 million population. Surely any militia force could have outnumbered them a lot. But this is just one example. The real question is how wasn't the Empire ( 80 million ppl. in total ) able to beat the puny small tribes?

Answer 1

The Roman legions of the late empire were just as formidable in comparison to the early Republic or Legions of Caesar. The latter day legions had many 'civilized' barbarians among them. A standing army like the early Republic or the professional Imperial army during Caesar's time were equal to the late Roman army, even with the 'barbarization'.

But why were such barbarian groups in the Empire in the first place? The direct cause was not the loss of the battle of Adrianople in 378, but the failure after this to destroy the Goths who were in the Empire. After their settlement in 382, the external threats did not diminish, but the Goths created an additional internal threat.

The second major problem was the loss of Africa to the Vandals, which reduced the financial basis of the western empire. Without money to pay for troops, the military capacity of the west decreased, though the eastern empire remained intact. Loss of territory and financial crises, not a failure in military effectiveness, led to the sack of Rome and collapse of the Roman West

Answer 2

It was a gradual process. Most of Roman Empire consisted of "barbarians" with more barbarians on the outskirts. The Roman Army was broken up into few batalions which hung out in different places inside as well as along the border. And it would take a while to gather them back to Rome. In fact, most political coup de tat in Rome happened exactly for this fact. So the Visigoths, just like other goths etc. had a better geographical position. Then they just busted into the Empire.

Answer 3

I really don't think you can separate the issues of Rome's internal struggles and its ultimate downfall. The size of the tribes was ultimately unimportant, because the Roman empire had ceased to function. Most of the people in the empire, as in most empires, were not citizens, and so could not participate in the government. When they were unhappy, they simply ceased supporting the system that was failing them. The figure you quote may be the population that lived within the Roman empire, but it certainly wasn't the number of people who supported it. On top of the infighting among the Roman elite, and the Germanic invasion, they were dealing with a whole slew of "natives" in their various colonies who were no longer willing to live under Roman rule. It was a combination of forces, not just the invasion of the Germanic tribes, that lead to the empire's defeat. Hope this helps!

Answer 4

The Roman empire became too spread out for the Roman army to defend. The barbarian armies were smaller, but they were hungry and motivated.

Answer 5

good question--when the Barbarians came to Rome, Rome already fell, no strength to defend themselves--The Barbarians practically walked into Rome, with little resistance--