- 18 Jan 2016 15:57
#14643413
I took a year of Roman history in college and it was, of course fascinating. Everyone has their pet theory about why Rome fell but when you dig into the complexity of Roman history grand theories about lead pipes and immigrants seem too simple to explain the entire affair.
The first thing to note is that the Roman Republic created the Empire. The Republic (which one can roughly take to end with the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC) had conquered virtually all of its known world by that time - Italy, Hispania, Gaul, Greece, Carthage. Even areas that weren't formally part of the empire at that time like Judea and Egypt were client states of the Republic. Their incorporation into the Empire occurred due to being drawn into Rome's civil wars, but after the end of the reign of Augustus Rome had consolidated control over its entire region and the only civilized powers that could pose the least threat were on its eastern edges.
The Pax Romana began after that, when Roman expansion slowed (again, the most significant expansion occurred under the Republic). There was a civil war in AD 69 (Year of the Four Emperors). But things were relatively peaceful until the third century between 235 and 284 when the empire almost collapsed in decades of civil war (Crisis of the Third Century). There were repeated civil wars that followed that and ultimately led to the permanent east-west division of the empire. The Western Empire persisted until the 470s, though, and if you only look at maps, the empire was intact until very close to the end:
(395 AD)
Even in 450 AD, only a few decades before the demise of the Western Empire, and having been overrun by Vandals, abandoning Britain, and some other tribes, the Western Empire was still holding most of its ground:
The Eastern Empire of course persisted for another thousand years and did not collapse as swiftly as its Western brother had. The Byzantines made a good show under Justinian and retook North Africa, Italy, and parts of Hispania, but were cripped by wars with the Persians in the 600s leaving the Arabs to conquer much of their Empire. In fits and starts over the next few hundred years they withered and recovered and withered until in 1453 the Eastern Empire was a pitiful handful of territories around Constantinople and the Morea. But basically what happened in 100 years in the West took a thousand years in the east.
If I had to suppose a reason for the demise of the Western Empire, though, it would be its instability - after the third century the Roman world devolved into civil wars and chaos, leading to the east-west division. The west had been reduced to almost a client state of the East by the time of its end and much of its territory had been populated by unreliable foederati. The reason for needing the foederati was that the Roman territories had become depopulated and destitute and the Western Empire was no longer capable of populating or defending them (hence the abandonment of Britain). These territories were depopulated primarily because of relentless civil war in the third and fourth and fifth centuries and the decay of Roman governance.
One interesting contrast is the contemporary Han Dynasty in China, which lasted from 206-220 AD (ending just about when Rome's Crisis of the Third Century began). The Han Dynasty occupies a similar position in Chinese culture as Rome does in Western culture - the main ethnic group in China today calls themselves "hanren", Han people. Dynasties in Roman history don't occupy the same position as dynasties in Chinese history - although we do speak of them, we tend to think of the Roman state as more continuous than one dynasty and the next than one does in Chinese historiography. The Han dynasty came to power in China after the Qin dynasty (which had only two members, including Qin Shi Huang, the Napoleon of China). The Han Dynasty acquired an empire of comparable extent and prosperity to Rome's but was similarly wrecked by civil war until being broken up for the horrendously bloody Three Kingdoms period. China was reunited under the Jin dynasty later in the third century (much as Rome was), but like the Dominate Empire (the name given to the second half of the Roman Empire historiographically) was only a shadow of its former self. The Jin collapsed into Northern and Southern Dynasties in the fifth century, although this was not consensual as the Roman east-west division had been. The Sui dynasty finally reunified China (in brutal fashion) before giving way to the Tang dynasty, which from the 600s to the 900s was one of the most prosperous nations on earth.
The first thing to note is that the Roman Republic created the Empire. The Republic (which one can roughly take to end with the death of Julius Caesar in 44 BC) had conquered virtually all of its known world by that time - Italy, Hispania, Gaul, Greece, Carthage. Even areas that weren't formally part of the empire at that time like Judea and Egypt were client states of the Republic. Their incorporation into the Empire occurred due to being drawn into Rome's civil wars, but after the end of the reign of Augustus Rome had consolidated control over its entire region and the only civilized powers that could pose the least threat were on its eastern edges.
The Pax Romana began after that, when Roman expansion slowed (again, the most significant expansion occurred under the Republic). There was a civil war in AD 69 (Year of the Four Emperors). But things were relatively peaceful until the third century between 235 and 284 when the empire almost collapsed in decades of civil war (Crisis of the Third Century). There were repeated civil wars that followed that and ultimately led to the permanent east-west division of the empire. The Western Empire persisted until the 470s, though, and if you only look at maps, the empire was intact until very close to the end:
(395 AD)
Even in 450 AD, only a few decades before the demise of the Western Empire, and having been overrun by Vandals, abandoning Britain, and some other tribes, the Western Empire was still holding most of its ground:
The Eastern Empire of course persisted for another thousand years and did not collapse as swiftly as its Western brother had. The Byzantines made a good show under Justinian and retook North Africa, Italy, and parts of Hispania, but were cripped by wars with the Persians in the 600s leaving the Arabs to conquer much of their Empire. In fits and starts over the next few hundred years they withered and recovered and withered until in 1453 the Eastern Empire was a pitiful handful of territories around Constantinople and the Morea. But basically what happened in 100 years in the West took a thousand years in the east.
If I had to suppose a reason for the demise of the Western Empire, though, it would be its instability - after the third century the Roman world devolved into civil wars and chaos, leading to the east-west division. The west had been reduced to almost a client state of the East by the time of its end and much of its territory had been populated by unreliable foederati. The reason for needing the foederati was that the Roman territories had become depopulated and destitute and the Western Empire was no longer capable of populating or defending them (hence the abandonment of Britain). These territories were depopulated primarily because of relentless civil war in the third and fourth and fifth centuries and the decay of Roman governance.
One interesting contrast is the contemporary Han Dynasty in China, which lasted from 206-220 AD (ending just about when Rome's Crisis of the Third Century began). The Han Dynasty occupies a similar position in Chinese culture as Rome does in Western culture - the main ethnic group in China today calls themselves "hanren", Han people. Dynasties in Roman history don't occupy the same position as dynasties in Chinese history - although we do speak of them, we tend to think of the Roman state as more continuous than one dynasty and the next than one does in Chinese historiography. The Han dynasty came to power in China after the Qin dynasty (which had only two members, including Qin Shi Huang, the Napoleon of China). The Han Dynasty acquired an empire of comparable extent and prosperity to Rome's but was similarly wrecked by civil war until being broken up for the horrendously bloody Three Kingdoms period. China was reunited under the Jin dynasty later in the third century (much as Rome was), but like the Dominate Empire (the name given to the second half of the Roman Empire historiographically) was only a shadow of its former self. The Jin collapsed into Northern and Southern Dynasties in the fifth century, although this was not consensual as the Roman east-west division had been. The Sui dynasty finally reunified China (in brutal fashion) before giving way to the Tang dynasty, which from the 600s to the 900s was one of the most prosperous nations on earth.