Cultural Contributions to the Fall of Rome
Rome was the world’s largest, most powerful empire for approximately 500 years before it fell. Multiple factors contributed to its decline including the spread of Christianity and social changes resulting from economic and political circumstances.
Throughout the years, the Roman Empire conquered large area of lands whose people had many cultures and belief systems. Rome usually let conquered people keep parts of their culture as long as they lived under the laws of Rome. Alexander the Great made one of the Greek languages the common language of the east. It eventually became the language of the west. A common language through large portions of Rome allowed ideas including religious beliefs to spread in Rome.
In the classic civilizations, religion was part of one’s national identity. Polytheism was common and the people associated victory and defeat with their local god. When Rome conquered a region, the people often lost faith in their gods. The Roman Emperor was promoted as a god to them, but many did not want to worship someone who just conquered them. Many people felt a void and many needed a sense of belonging and purpose and turned to new belief systems to fill that void.
Judaism was the first monotheistic religion. Its followers believed that they should live under a strict moral code that was based on the Ten Commandments. Christianity followed much of the same principles on living an ethical life based on the Ten Commandments. Christianity appealed to the peasant class because it emphasized compassion and promised eternal life regardless of class. The practice of Christianity spread primarily among the poor and was known as the “religion of the slaves”. Many Christians were brutally persecuted. They were publically executed for sport including brutal deaths like being attacked by dogs or being set on fire. Over time, there were some people that became defenders of the persecuted people. After the 200-year period of Pax Roma, Rome was in a period of decline caused by fighting off invaders and economic problems caused by high taxes, inflation, and trade disruption. Political leadership was failing due to corruption. As the centralized government got weaker due to these internal and external problems, citizens looked more toward local leadership for protection. When Diocletian became emperor in 284 AD, he tried to strengthen the empire. He doubled the military to defend the borders. To do this, he mandated that soldiers’ sons had to become soldiers and created a new social class. Mercenaries were used to build the army. Peasants who were unable to pay taxes often left the land to go to urban areas. Diocletian made it illegal for them to leave their land and making them more like slaves. The growth in poverty and increase in mercenaries weakened the Roman Empire.
Diocletian also spilt the empire into West and East and created two capitols to better protect the empire. This ultimately contributed to the fall of the Western Empire, as the East got stronger with more concentration of wealth and better protection from invaders. Diocletian believed that people should continue with the pagan beliefs where the emperor is seen as a god. He continued the persecution of Christians. The result was a people less invested in a strong Roman Empire.
In 305 CE, Constantine became emperor. He signed the Edict of Milan that allowed freedom of worship and became a defender of Christianity. After Christians were no longer persecuted, the religion was more accepted and spread. With the polytheistic Roman system, the Emperor was worshiped and the focus of the religion was the glory of Rome and of the emperor. Christianity was monotheistic and its focus was on the one true god. This shift weakened the authority of the emperor and contributed to the further decline.
The fall of the Roman Empire is a complicated topic with many factors contributing to its downfall. The spread of Christianity and other social changes were both significant factors that weakened the empire making it more vulnerable to attacks.
Throughout the years, the Roman Empire conquered large area of lands whose people had many cultures and belief systems. Rome usually let conquered people keep parts of their culture as long as they lived under the laws of Rome. Alexander the Great made one of the Greek languages the common language of the east. It eventually became the language of the west. A common language through large portions of Rome allowed ideas including religious beliefs to spread in Rome.
In the classic civilizations, religion was part of one’s national identity. Polytheism was common and the people associated victory and defeat with their local god. When Rome conquered a region, the people often lost faith in their gods. The Roman Emperor was promoted as a god to them, but many did not want to worship someone who just conquered them. Many people felt a void and many needed a sense of belonging and purpose and turned to new belief systems to fill that void.
Judaism was the first monotheistic religion. Its followers believed that they should live under a strict moral code that was based on the Ten Commandments. Christianity followed much of the same principles on living an ethical life based on the Ten Commandments. Christianity appealed to the peasant class because it emphasized compassion and promised eternal life regardless of class. The practice of Christianity spread primarily among the poor and was known as the “religion of the slaves”. Many Christians were brutally persecuted. They were publically executed for sport including brutal deaths like being attacked by dogs or being set on fire. Over time, there were some people that became defenders of the persecuted people. After the 200-year period of Pax Roma, Rome was in a period of decline caused by fighting off invaders and economic problems caused by high taxes, inflation, and trade disruption. Political leadership was failing due to corruption. As the centralized government got weaker due to these internal and external problems, citizens looked more toward local leadership for protection. When Diocletian became emperor in 284 AD, he tried to strengthen the empire. He doubled the military to defend the borders. To do this, he mandated that soldiers’ sons had to become soldiers and created a new social class. Mercenaries were used to build the army. Peasants who were unable to pay taxes often left the land to go to urban areas. Diocletian made it illegal for them to leave their land and making them more like slaves. The growth in poverty and increase in mercenaries weakened the Roman Empire.
Diocletian also spilt the empire into West and East and created two capitols to better protect the empire. This ultimately contributed to the fall of the Western Empire, as the East got stronger with more concentration of wealth and better protection from invaders. Diocletian believed that people should continue with the pagan beliefs where the emperor is seen as a god. He continued the persecution of Christians. The result was a people less invested in a strong Roman Empire.
In 305 CE, Constantine became emperor. He signed the Edict of Milan that allowed freedom of worship and became a defender of Christianity. After Christians were no longer persecuted, the religion was more accepted and spread. With the polytheistic Roman system, the Emperor was worshiped and the focus of the religion was the glory of Rome and of the emperor. Christianity was monotheistic and its focus was on the one true god. This shift weakened the authority of the emperor and contributed to the further decline.
The fall of the Roman Empire is a complicated topic with many factors contributing to its downfall. The spread of Christianity and other social changes were both significant factors that weakened the empire making it more vulnerable to attacks.