Fall of Roman Empire

Introduction

Historians consider a number of factors responsible for the decline of the great Roman Empire. There were social, political and economic reasons along with external threats that lead to the decline (Hadas, 123). All these factors were interrelated and interconnected. The size of the empire considerably increased after huge conquests by its rulers. The Emperor enjoyed absolute powers within his jurisdiction. He acted as commander in chief of army, high priest, source of law and highest court of appeal. “This worked well with good emperors, but incompetent ones could do great harm”.(Kamm, 4)

Economic Factors

The economy of Rome was mainly based on Agriculture. The elite invested their wealth in land and cultivation increased when Romans learned new farming techniques and brought plants from Mediterranean. Wealthy landowners mostly lived in cities and servants managed their estates. These estates had lower labor costs which gradually undermined/weakened Italian agriculture. As a result, Rome started importing wheat from Egypt and Africa, oil from Spain and wine from France (Gaul). Similarly, the Roman industry did not include mass production. Small units were manufacturing pottery, metalwork, glass etc (Isaac, 45).

The Roman Emperors introduced silver coins with different weights and values. Merchants used the coins but these were mostly used to pay the troops. When an Emperor was short of finances, he used to raise taxes on his subject, seize properties or finally melt down existing coins and mint new ones with lesser weight and smaller amount of precious metal. Early coins were made of pure silver but as the economy weakened, the coins, by the 3rd century, contained only one percent silver.The Roman Empire levied heavy taxes especially upon the conquered people in the empire. Roman citizens and their lands were exempted from taxes, but they had to pay 5% inheritance tax, 1% sales tax, a custom or import duty and a tax on freed slaves. Tax contributed to 10% of the empire's gross national product (GNP). The empire, on the other hand, was providing minimal services against these taxes. The citizens who were hardly living on survival level were to pay 10% of their income to the government, which was a considerable burden. As the troops demand for supplies increased the tax collector made harsh demands for funds (Gill, 11). Farmers who were hardly surviving could no longer pay taxes and some of them left their lands and joined large landowners while others turned to robbery. “The roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the Romans to pay for luxury items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter ...