Fall of Rome

In the period from 200BC to 120AD new lands were conquered by the Romans, and the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire spread through Europe. Gradually, however, the strength of the Roman Empire declined. The fall of the Roman Empire was caused in part by the decline in power and effectiveness of its army, and in part by public health issues, as well as political instability with many different emperors. It has also been suggested that the economic impact of unemployment and inflation along with a decline in public morals and values weakened family life, upon which the Empire had been built.

During the period between Marcus Aurelius dying in 180 AD and Diocletian becoming emperor in 284 AD the army’s Auxilia became disloyal and showed lack of discipline  . When Diocletian became emperor the legions were split into smaller groups so that each general commanded fewer men. This greatly improved the moral of the army. Also frontiers were made stronger and provinces made smaller to stop each governor getting too powerful. After Diocletian’s retirement more troops who were defending the borders of the empire had to be moved back to Italy because of civil war and rebellions. This meant the government had to pay even more money and soon the economy of the Roman Empire fell to pieces.

When Septimus Severus marched into Rome, defeated his rivals and became emperor, taxes were raised and prices went up. This increased the number of poor people. In 301 Diocletian tried to fix maximum prices for all goods and wages in the Empire  . He made a long list that included everything from wheat and grains to mice and sparrows  . This did not succeed though as goods stopped being sold in public markets where prices were controlled. Instead they were sold in secret sales which developed into an illegal form of trading known as the black market . When this did not work Diocletian accepted the ruin of the economy and retired not long after that. Slowly, due to inflation, more people became poor and were forced to live on the streets.

When soldiers returned back from fighting in Seleucia in 161 AD they unknowingly brought back a disease known as the Antonine plague. The plague killed up to one-third of population in some places and greatly weakened the army . In 180 AD Marcus Aurelius contracted this disease and died . Also, many wealthy Romans had water taken directly to their house through lead pipes. This made the death rate of healthy people quite high and some emperors were known to die from lead poisoning