Why did Rome collapse?

Answer 1

The term the fall of Rome refers to the fall of the western part of the Roman Empire, rather than the city itself, which was never conquered. This was a process which took several decades. The process was determined by several factors. It was precipitated by the invasions by the Germanic peoples (the Vandals, the Sueves) and the Alans (who were Iranian speakers) who invaded the empire and took over north-western Africa and part of Spain, the Alemanni who took over Switzerland and northwester France and the Burgundians who settled in east France The loss of the agricultural rich territory in Africa lead to a significant loss in revenue for the Roman government. The Visigoths, another Germanic people, who had been allowed to settle in the eastern part of the Roman Empire and then moved to south-western France, took advantage of the situation to take over Hispania (Spain and Portugal). The Romans lost political unity. There were usurpations and infighting which made it difficult to respond to the invasions effectively. There was also a failure by the combined fleet of the western and eastern part of the Roman Empire to dislodge the Vandals from Africa. It ended in disaster and was very costly. The Romans army became reliant on Germanic soldiers and two Germanic commanders-in chief of the Roman army and installed puppet emperors (three by Ricimer, one by Gundobad and one by Orestes. Amidst this political instability, the reign of the last emperors was short.

Answer 2

Rome had a powerful empire for some 700 years. The western part of the Roman Empire fell under the weight of the invasions by the Germanic peoples in the late 5th century. The eastern part of the Roman Empire was not affected by these invasions and continued to exist for another 1,000 years.

Other reasons for the collapse of the western part of the Roman Empire included the loss of political cohesion as a result of the mentioned invasions (there was infighting, a string of usurpations and an inability to respond to the invasions), the difficulty in recruiting enough soldiers to defend the vast empire and an increasing reliance of Germanic mercenaries and Germanic allies who were not always reliable, and the fact that the empire which had become too expensive. It had become difficult to fund an oversized bureaucracy and the enormous army which was needed to defend a very large empire. Taxation had reached oppressive levels, weakened citizen loyalty and hampered the economy.