The Fall of the Roman Empire Sample Essay

The Fall of the Roman Empire Sample Essay The Roman Empire occupies a distinct place in human history, as academic, scientific, philosophic, artistic, and other contributions made it one of the greatest civilizations ever. Stretching from westerns borders of present-day Europe to eastern Asia and northern Africa, the Empire boosted human development on a large territory with major historic events of that time associated with Ancient Rome. The empire’s rule lasted from 753 B. C. to 1453, although, in fact, Rome lost its power and authority a thousand years earlier. Indeed, the fall of Rome year is attributed to 476, when it was defeated by Germans (Heather, 2007). The scholarly community lacks consensus regarding the exact date of the fall of Rome, since some historians claim that the rule of the empire terminated in 395. It was the year when the Empire clashed into western and eastern parts and stopped uniting people of Europe, Asia, and Africa under a unified mandate. Another version concerns the fall of the city of Rome in 410, which ended its 800-year experience of being the center of the Roman governance. Similarly, the exact date of the empire’s foundation is subject to infinite debates. Hence, the rise and fall of the Roman Empire timeline is complex, which allows an ambiguous interpretation of these historic facts. In the pursuit to clarifying the issue, one need to answer the questions, when did the Roman Empire start, how did it contribute to modern science and art, and why did that brilliant civilization fall. The foundation of the city of Rome in 753 B. C. laid the ground for the rise and development of the Roman civilization (Markel, 2013). After a sequence of governance by seven Roman kings, Romans developed a constitution and established a new rule. The elected senate was appointed to perform governance over the newly established republic. The constitutional rule lasted for several centuries until Julius Caesar took the sole control and authority of Rome in 45 B. C. After Caesar’s assassination, Rome entered the era of emperor’s rule with the self-appointment of Octavius as the first leader of the empire. For around three subsequent hundred years since that, the Roman Empire had only expanded its power and authority in Europe gradually moving from the west to the east. By conquering new lands and people, it enforced significant changes in those societies, cultures, and communities. The Roman conquest of Greece in ancient times is believed to influence not only the political independence, but also the socio-cultural life of Greece, which was evolving in its withdrawal from the divine-driven rule. For about two hundred years, Greece was exposed to the rule of Gods commonly referred to as the Greek Gold Age date. Described through five Ages of the Gods’ governance and life on earth, the period was characterized by harmony, prosperity, peace, and stability. That period of good and noble existence as discussed in the Greek mythology experienced a decline by the arrival of Romans. The annexation of the Greek peninsula by the Empire destructed the last remnants of the Golden Age culture in Greece, as the conquerors imposed its values, traditions, and regulations. However, the inclusion of Greece into the content of the Roman Empire produced a detrimental effect on the latter. For centuries of its governance, Roman rulers relied on the ideological support of polytheistic religion. The advent of Christianity in Greece challenged the religious doctrine of Rome as well as the overall public worldview. Given credit to Greece giving the origin to Christianity, one may attribute the conquest of Greece to fall of the Roman Empire causes. The rise and spread of Christianity influenced the Roman ruling in terms of cultural, social, and political domains. Despite severe persecutions by Rome, Christianity occupied a solid position and authority in the ancient society steadily becoming the main religion of the Roman Empire. In a while, Christianity was granted with the sole religious authority in the empire, which strengthened social and political tensions within it. In the end, the large-scale empire clashed into the Western and Eastern Roman Empires. The split strengthened problems faced by Rome for centuries while weakening its ability to cope with them. Christianity produced a drastic impact on traditional values of the Roman Empire displacing the traditional religious doctrine of Rome. Furthermore, for centuries before Christianity, the Roman Empire had led an aggressive foreign policy, which required substantial military spending. Along with the government corruption, overinvestment in military caused severe financial crisis in the Roman Empire. Besides, the invasions by the foreign tribes contributed to social, economic, and political instability within the empire. The rise of Christianity affected the military policy of the Roman Empire, which led to the arrival of foreign soldiers in emperor’s legions traditionally constituted by Romans solely. Foreign recruiters expressed low loyalty to the Empire, which reflected in their frequent performance against interests of the empire. When the Roman Empire lost its eastern part in 395, it faced a variety of problems and numerous enemies, both internal and external, alone, which streamlined the successive fall of Rome. The timeline after the fall of Rome, however, covered another thousand years of the great civilization known as Byzantine Empire. Called after the ancient Greek colony, the Byzantine rule was established in Constantinople. After the clash of the Western Rome, its eastern counterpart survived for about eleven centuries gaining its own fame in the human history. The key Byzantine Empire facts include the birth and spread of Greek Orthodox Christianity, original Byzantine cuisine, which has not lost its popularity today, and a rapid economic development, which boosted development in science, art, architecture, and trade. Strategic geopolitical location of the empire and the wise ruling of Justinian I allowed Byzantium to reach an unprecedented wealth and prosperity in the world in the period from 500 to 1200. The fall of Eastern Roman Empire occurred in 1453 when Ottoman Turks conquered Byzantium and renamed Constantinople in Istanbul. References Heather, P., 2007. The fall of the Roman Empire: A new history of Rome and the Barbarians. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Markel, R. J., 2013. The fall of the Roman Empire. 2nd ed. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books.