The fall of the Roman empire had to do with politics, army, and diseases. The political reasons were that their government was very corrupt. senators would be paid lump sum amounts of denarii so that they would do certain favors for them. Also a series of very bad emperors who were crazy and made bad decisions. Also, emperor Constantine divided Rome into two halves. He declared Constantinople the new capital of Roman society, claiming rule over all Eastern provinces. The Western Roman Empire lost its power over towns in the East, causing a great reduction in profits from the treasury and weakening them dramatically in warfare.
By 300 AD the majority of the Roman army was barbarian trained soldiers- much less effective than the superior infantry that Rome had in previous centuries. This made the battles against enemies very difficult, Rome no longer had a firm grip or control over military situations. 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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