On this day we did an assigned blog: why id the Roman Empire fall?
One reason is political corruption. Unlike the Greeks, finding a new Emperor after each one would die never had a process for how to pick the next Emperor. The picking of the Emperor relied heavily on the opinion of the senate, the Praetorian Guard, and the army, and sometimes the old Emperor. Soon the choice of Emperor was up to money as the throne would be sold to the highest bidder. As a sign of how poorly this helped the Empire, there were 25 Emperors who were assassinated.
Another reason is inflation. After the rule of Marcus Aurelius, prices skyrocketed. Gold flow decreased. Because of this, the gold supply they could put into coins went down, so the value of coins went further down. And due to this, the cost of valuables went up. It was so bad at one point salaries were paid in food and articles of clothing, and the taxes taken by the government were paid in fruits and vegetables.
One final reason is military spending. Many barbaric attacks would come upon the borders of Rome, causing the government to have to spend quite a bit of money to have weapons ready. Due to the inflation, as well as other things, fewer resources were available for public housing. Soon Romans became so frustrated at their government that they refused to defend the empire. So now with all of this, the Emperor had to raise taxes almost daily to try to defeat the inflation.
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