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What caused the Roman Empire to weaken? Three reasons supported by research.

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The fall of the Roman Empire was the subject of countless studies and debates . Culling from these numerous views , here are three major possible causes . From these , it could be said that the decline of the Roman Empire was due to combinations and synthesis of multifarious causes

The first possible cause was-

The Autocratic Roman system of government became outmoded with the times . Imperial Rome , Imperial China , Imperial Russia , Imperial Japan and others , with similar form of governments , faded into history and were replaced by

more liberal systems . These empires and dynasties declined and fall , confirming the principle that nothing lasts forever (Law of Change . Like any technology , its use and importance were superseded by more advance technologies The second possible cause was-

Some say Rome fell when it was split into an eastern and western empires , and ruled by separate emperors . The eastern half became the Byzantine Empire , with its capital at Constantinople . The western half remained centered in Italy . Many said that the fall was an ongoing process , lasting for more than a century . Heather , Peter . HYPERLINK "http /erclk .about .com ?zi 9 /qBD " The Fall of the Roman Empire : A New History of Rome and the Barbarians , New York , NY " Oxford University Press , 2006

HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Edward_Gibbon " \o "Edward Gibbon " Edward Gibbon , placed the blame on a loss of HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Civic_virtue " \o "Civic virtue " civic virtue among the Roman citizens . They gradually entrusted the role of defending the Empire to What caused the 3

HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Barbarian " \l "Modern_academia " \o "Barbarian " barbarian HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Mercenary " \o "Mercenary " mercenaries who eventually turned on them . Gibbon considered that HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Christianity " \o "Christianity Christianity had contributed to this , making the populace less interested in the worldly here-and-now , and more willing to wait for the rewards of HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Heaven " \o "Heaven heaven "[T]he decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness . 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 www .fordham .edu /halsall /source /gibbon-fall .html

HYPERLINK "http /en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Adrian_Goldsworthy " \o "Adrian Goldsworthy " Adrian Goldsworthy , a British military historian , sees the causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire , not in any decadence in the make-up of the Roman legions , but in a combination of endless civil wars , between factions of the Roman Army fighting for control of the Empire . This inevitably weakened the army and the society upon which it depended , making it less able to defend itself , against the growing of numbers of Rome 's enemies . The army still remained a superior fighting instrument than its opponents , both civilized and barabarian But , says Goldsworthy "Weakening central authority social and economic...

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