The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires known to man. Their sheer size and influence made them feared and respected throughout the world. They ruled most of Rome from 31BC to 1453CE. Nobody really knows how they fell because there is not a single record that shows the cause of the destruction of the empire. There are quite a lot of theories though. One of them is that they were invaded by Barbarian groups all around the world. Personally I don't believe it because the Roman Empire was so huge at the time and they had a lot of allies so they could probably survive a war with Barbarians. Another theory is that there economy crashed because of their reliance on slave labor. This could be possible and I could see how the Romans crumbled from the inside due to rebellions. There is also a theory about how the Romans had corrupt leaders and had started rebellions inside of the major cities. This could also be true and I wouldn't doubt that a politician would want the empire to fall because it was so big.
A famous Roman Monument called the Pantheon. Supposedly it was used as a temple to worship the Roman gods.
Personally I think it might have been due to lead poisoning. During the end of the Roman Empire the Roman's used lead cups and silverware to eat. This could have caused lead poisoning which can kill you and can cause you to go mad. This could have easily caused the Roman Empire to fall quickly if their politicians and wealthy citizens all of a suddens started dieing and going crazy. I looked into it and turns out this is an actual theory that is considered to maybe be true. A lot of historians agree with this theory which really surprised me.
How do you think the Roman Empire fell?
Do you think it was an enemy empire that destroyed them or they were destroyed by their own governemnt or citizens?
Replies
I wish you would have kept this topic for next year(if you have me in World History) as it focused on World History and not US History. There are many reasons why the Roman Empire fell and they are pretty much known. Where did you read that it was more of a mystery?
I think the theory with the lead cups is the most belaivable one, but I would also beleive that the leaders may have been corrupt. I don't think that they were taken down by another country/countries because of all of their allies. and I don't think the citizens would have been able to take over that empire.
I agree with you because the lead could defintiely cause all of rome including the common citizens to go crazya nd by then all of the Roman empire would go crazy and probably lose allies.
I think that they were probably weaker because of conflicts caused by the Roman themselves, goverment and citizens. The enemy empire that attacked and destroyed them took advantage of it and that weakness made it easier for them to conquer it. This is why I think it was because of both romans and barbarians.
That definitely could have happened, You have a point on the romans destroying themselves with the help of the barbarians.
Well, as we all know one of the best emperor of Rome was assassinated by members of the Senate (Julius Caesar). For this very reason I would not be surprised if there were corrupt members. But if we do know something, it is that many barbarian peoples were attacking small cities and even more so at the time when Carlo Magno died since he was one of the best strategists in history. This makes me believe that it was not one thing in general, but that many things both internal and external came together.
You have a point of a bunch of different problems stacking up and bringing down the empire. The corrupt leaders could easily take down Rome if there were a lot of them
I think that the lead was a big component in the falling. If you are using lead cups and lead silverware it will definetly cause lead poisoning. Mixing anything to do with food and lead is not a good idea. I think it was a multitude of contributions in order for the biggest empire to fall.
I agree with you completely because lead poisoning could ahve easily taken them down and they still believed in sacrificing people for the gods to heal the sick so they probably wouldn't be able to fight it off.
After reading this, the theory that made most sense to me was lead poisoning also. Since lead poisoning can lead to death or insanity, it is easy to assume the politicians of the Roman Empire could've gone crazy. The politicians and wealthy (with the most power) dying and going crazy easily could've caused the fall of the Roman Empire.
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