There are many different things that contributed to the fall of Rome. The fall of Rome is still not completely clear on how it really happened. Even though it happened thousands of years ago, we still aren’t entirely sure. There are many ways that it could have declined and some are more curtain than others but one of the major factors that seen very clear to have contributed would be the high taxes and unstable prices because of the tough economy. The Roman people began to suffer because of the increasing taxes that many could not pay and because they could not pay they would either loss everything or you could be thrown in jail. This was not a good sign for the Roman Empire. Emperor Diocletian was hoping that if he passed a law that would insure that merchants and traders could not raise their prices on goods, this would at least help the citizens who are buying the goods. If any of the merchants were to raise their prices higher than the law then he or she would have to be punished. This punishment usually meant death. This also goes for the people that buy the good from the merchant that is selling the good that is overpriced. Diocletian’s plan did not turn out as he was hoping and instead of things getting better they just got worse.
Another defeat of Rome would be the possibility of the wide spread of disease. Sicknesses could be very harsh in Roman times because of the fact that there were no cures or treatments to help sick people. The Roman Empire was also so widely populated that sickness and disease could spread quickly and easily throughout the Empire. One of the most precious things to Rome would most likely be its military and when their military collapsed in the fifth century things went downhill for Rome. Without their military Rome lost all protection, any chance of gaining any more land, or fight and the thing that would affect them the most would be the lack in protection because they were left extremely vulnerable to any enemies that would try to take any of their resources, land, or citizens. Another theory that historians believe is a reason for the collapse of Rome is the conversion to Christianity that when Constantine converted to a Christian it created an unstable component in the lives of the Roman people.
Even though all of these bad things happened to Rome and seemed to have been the cause of Rome’s defeat, the Roman Empire really began to crash when the once strong Roman Empire split into a Western and Eastern empire.
The life of the Roman people in Western Europe was much different. The citizens had a very difficult time adjusting to what just happed and trying to form a new life. Because of the fall of Rome this did not just affect the people in Rome but the people that interacted with Rome as well. Rome was the center of trade and now because of its collapse trade was never the same from that time forward. As Rome was lost so was its religion and because of the fall of Rome the church did not know what to do…and this marked the beginning of the Dark Ages.
