These decrees ended centuries of persecution, but they may have also eroded the traditional Roman values system. Christianity displaced the polytheistic Roman religion, which viewed the emperor as having a divine status, and also shifted focus away from the glory of the state and onto a sole deity. Meanwhile, popes and other church leaders took an increased role in political affairs, further complicating governance.
The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon was the most famous proponent of this theory, but his take has since been widely criticized. While the spread of Christianity may have played a small role in curbing Roman civic virtue, most scholars now argue that its influence paled in comparison to military, economic and administrative factors.
But during the decline, the makeup of the once mighty legions began to change. Unable to recruit enough soldiers from the Roman citizenry, emperors like Diocletian and Constantine began hiring foreign mercenaries to prop up their armies.
In fact, many of the barbarians who sacked the city of Rome and brought down the Western Empire had earned their military stripes while serving in the Roman legions.
But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor Even as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis. The rise of the Eastern Empire The fate of Western Rome was partially sealed in the late third century, when the Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into two halves—the Western Empire seated in the city of Milan, and the Eastern Empire in Byzantium, later known as Constantinople.
Watch it now, on Wondrium. Another significant factor is Christianity. When Christianity became the state religion, the Church reduced the state resources by acquiring large pieces of land and keeping the income for itself. The society had to support various members of the Church hierarchy like monks, nuns, and hermits. Another impact of Christianity was a psychological one. It put a lot of emphasis on the next life and personal salvation, weakening traditional Roman values like service to the state and civic participation.
The power structure, social hierarchy, and the value system of the society changed by Christianity. Learn more about Roman literature. Another interesting interpretation of the Roman Empire collapse is based on a biological model. According to this model, all nations are biologically like human beings.
They are born, grow into maturity, diminish in strength, and finally die. Nothing can remain in the same state, and everything has to go through this natural progression. According to this theory, decay and decline are inevitable by-products of growth and prosperity.
Gibbon has expressed it in this way:. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and, as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight.
This in turn saw Romans fleeing to the countryside as a way of avoiding the taxman. Agricultural and commercial production declined as a result, which in turn affected trade. A series of weak emperors from the second century had seen more than 20 men on the imperial throne in just 75 years, thanks in part to the Praetorian Guard — bodyguards to the emperor — which was using its power to decide to promote, or kill off, would-be emperors.
The Senate, too, was rife with corruption and was unable, or unwilling, to rein in the excesses of its rulers. The people began to lose faith in its leaders. Civil war also weakened the empire. The third century had seen emperor Alexander Severus murdered by his own troops while on campaign — the ensuing political instability launched the empire into a crippling civil war, which saw dozens of emperors come and go.
This period of conflict was exacerbated by external threats from outside forces and continued well into the fourth century.
Although the move made the empire easier to govern, the two halves drifted apart and failed to work in unison to see off external threats.
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