Essay # 1 

 

After 200 AC, the Roman Empire started to fall. However, the process of the Roman Empire's decay had not abruptly happened. The Roman Empire lasted 300 years more. Inside the empire, there were three main problems. The first problem was the invasions by the Germanic people in the north. The second issue, that Romans have to deal with, was the problem inside government, and the last Roman Empire's difficulty was the economic one.

The Roman Empire reached a long extension at the time of Marcus Aurelius. However, the empire' cohesion was difficult to keep. Many problems arose from the Roman Empire's west part. Because the west region lacked in resources and enough people, the Roman Empire's east part had to deal with the necessities of the west. In order to solve some of the west problems, the roman government in turn had to rise high taxes to the common citizens in the whole empire. And this brought discontents among the roman citizens.

Following the death of Marcus Aurelius, the Roman Empire faced many revolts. Marcus Aurelius' son could not governed well the empire. Among emperors, there were fights against each other for the throne. In addition, military forces were looking for power in the government. The chaos reigned at high levels in the Roman Empire, making the empire weak. And this was an opportunity for the barbarians to advance into roman territories.

But the main problem, at this time, for the Romans was the barbaric people of the north. These people were mainly farmers, warriors, and livestock breeders. They lived in villages and had their own political and military institutions. In each tribe, among the warriors, was chosen a chieftain to whom each warrior has to defend, even with his life.

In the beginning, these people occupied the Scandinavia region. However, they were advancing little by little, conquering vast territories in the north and east of the Roman Empire bounds. The Romans called them the Germani.

The Germanic tribes had been in contact with the Romans for long time. Either at time of peace or war, Germanic people were always sharing and acquiring new resources. In the long extent, these resources were well managed by the Germanic.

Germanic people, little by little, were gaining some roman territories, starting with the north. One of the reasons why Germanic barbarians moved toward the Roman Empire was that the barbaric chieftains wanted to copy the roman emperors' high life. Tribe chieftains were fascinated for their way of living. Not only the tribes' leaders were looking for this status, but they wanted also fortune. At this time, because the Roman Empire was a very civilized empire, the Germans put Romans as a main target for conquest.

Around 284 AD, Diocletian became emperor of the Roman Empire. Among the other emperors, he was a kind of successful one. He made a lot of changes inside the empire. First, he divided the empire in two sections, the west and the east. Diocletian thought this would be the best decision for the empire, in order to manage it properly. Second, Diocletian made changes in the roman army. He reduced the old legions into small units. This decision allowed handling better the soldiers in time of war. Soldiers could move easier along the long territory. And the budget would be lowest. Third, the emperor Diocletian imposed on the citizens heavy taxes in order to cope with the economic problems in the empire. Last, the emperor assumed a divine status. He called himself Jupiter, in human form, god of the universe. Diocletian thought, that if he has a sense of deity, the roman citizens would respect him as an imperial authority. Furthermore, citizens will obey any law made by him.

When Diocletian retired from the Roman Empire's throne, he had already made arraignments for his succession. However, many revolts did not let to continue his plans. It was not until 324 AD that a new successful emperor took the empire. He was Constantine. In spite of the fact that Diocletian was a pagan emperor, Constantine was not. Constantine tried to unify the whole empire under one god. He spread Christianity into the empire.

Constantine mainly followed Diocletian reforms. In addition, he fought and won many battles in the name of this new only God. The citizens soon recognized him as the God's chosen instrument. But the empire problems still existed. However, Christianity brought a new philosophy into the empire. The Church and the bishops were important influence among citizens. They started to deal with problems inside the empire. The Church worked hard in order to convert still pagans people. The Bishops soon made changes in the empire' social classes. The wealth and the nobles soon started to work for the Church. Nevertheless, they did not separate from the government. If the emperors were looking for the benefits of the empire's elite, the Church worked for social welfare. This new force, bishops and landowners, brought a new kind of elite inside the empire. And from here, a new European society began to appear.

The Roman Empire still did not know how to handle the problems inside its territories. At this time, the Huns, which were nomadic tribes, started to move westward across the steppes. They pushed in their way Germanic tribes. The Huns destroyed some Germanic tribes. The Visigoths, which was one of the many Germanic tribes, after many struggles in Europe, won an important battle, which let them to invade Rome. At this time, several Germanic tribes crossed the frontier on the Rhine River. The Huns, also, took big areas in the Roman Empire. They settled in a vast region of the eastern borders of the Roman Empire. The Vandals had taken the Africa part from the Roman Empire. And this new situation let the powerful, at one time, Roman Empire, collapsed.