Fall of the Roman Empire
1. Constantine and the Rise of Christianity
2. Invaded by the Visigoths
3. Diseases
The rise of a new religion, Christianity, was one of the many factors that led to the fall of the Roman Empire. The Romans persecuted the Christians because of their beliefs, which were popular among the poor. Since Christian's only believe in one god, the emperor lost power and authority because he was not considered the god. In 324 CE, Constantine the Great's army defeated the forces of the emperor of the east. In 330 CE, Constantine the Great separated the empire into two parts; the western half centered in Rome and the eastern half centered in Constantinople, a city he named after himself. Constantine was the emperor of the entire empire.
In 410 C.E., the Visigoths, led by Alaric, invaded Rome and destroyed the capital of the Roman Empire. The invasion lasted for three days. For the first time in nearly a millennium, the city of Rome was in the hands of someone other than the Romans. That incident was the first time the city had ever been sacked but definitely not the last.
Starting around 165 AD, the Roman Empire suffered the severe Antonine Plague. For about twenty years, different diseases swept through the empire and killed almost half of the population. They also suffered from different epidemics such as the Plague of Cyprian which also occurred in the 3rd century. The severe fall population led to further economic and social decline which inevitably killed the Western Empire.
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