What is the military reason for Rome's fall?

Answer 1

Some people blame a breakdown in training in the legions which meant in later years Legionaries were not as disciplined. Other people say that the late empire relied to much on Foederati, foreign soldiers, who would use Roman tactics against Rome. King Alaric the man who sacked Rome was originally a Roman soldier. One final theory was that making citizenship universal upset the balance of the Roman army, where non-citizen auxiliaries would be in the first line of battle.

These theories try to find easy, but unsatisfactory explanations for supposedly military decline. In reality the two main military problems during the fall of the empire of the west had been around for centuries.

One was the army being overstretched, with troops for areas of the empire being redeployed to places which were under attack, leaving these areas vulnerable. The invasion of Gaul by the Vandals, Sueves, Alans and Burgundians occurred at a time when the legions in Gaul were moved to Italy to fight an invasion there by an Ostrogoth warlord.

The Western Empire had a very capable general, who was half Roman and half Vandal. He defeated Alaric attack in Italy and reached a political agreement with him which would have solved the grievances which had led this Visigoth ally to rebel. With his treacherous murder the army lost a great leader. Moreover the young and incapable emperor, Honorious, mishandled Alaric who continued his rebellion.

At this point the second age-long problem resurfaced. There was a number of military leaders who became usurpers with the support of the lregional egions they commanded. This led to internal infighting which further weakened the position of the empire. This situation had already occurred in the 3rd century AD.

Answer 2

The Roman Empire was exhausted from civil wars, from Germanic invasions, and from wars with Persia. The Roman army was largely made up of foreign soldiers and was largely lead by foreign generals, none of whom had any particular reason to be loyal to Roman traditions. The invading peoples founded their own kingdoms within the Roman Empire, but they had their own armies, separate from those of Rome. The West Roman Empire fell apart, and the date usually given for the fall of Rome is 476 AD, when the last emperor of that half of the Empire recognized as such by modern historians was deposed.

There is a link to an article on the Fall of Rome below.

Answer 3

The barbarian invasion, and failure in government lead to the fall of the roman empire.