Writing Homework Help

In chapter six of the textbook we explore the fall of the Roman empire. In Gibbon’s influential 18th century account of Rome’s Fall found here – What does he argue is the reason for Rome’s fall?  Based on what you have read about Rome’s decline in Chapter 6, do you agree with his argument?  Explain why or why not based on specific historical evidence.  Rome’s fall is complex, and arguments can be made for many causes.

Response:

Why did Rome fall? In Edward Gibbon’s influential 18th-century account of Rome’s Fall, he argued that the reason for Rome’s fall was the loss of civic virtue among Rome’s citizens. Gibbon also said that Christianity was influential to the downfall of Rome. The state religion became Christianity, in which the church began to reduce the resources of the state. The church did so by conquering more lands and they kept the income for themselves. Resources that were valuable were spent on rivalries among the sects of Christianity and the effort of the church in order to suppress paganism. Gibbon’s said “immoderate greatness” in his influential which means Rome was too great, it was not moderate in how big it expanded. By Gibbon saying “causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest” he means Rome conquered many lands in which caused the fall of Rome to be exacerbated. Chapter 6 proved what Gibbon argued about. According to chapter 6, the rise of Christianity caused dramatic changes in the empire in which led to the fall of Rome. Citizens who converted to Christianity when against the morals of Rome. The churches used the money of the government which made both the military and government purged. In 324 A.D. when Constantine became an emperor, he reunited both the west and the east under his own ruling. He named it Constantinople in which he wanted his city to be a Christian one and not pagan. The people saw that there was no need to work hard because there was no chance of being ahead. This then slowed down the process of Rome’s collapse but after Constantine died the entire empire broke apart. The Roman empire encounter a high percentage of poverty, it received many threats because of being a state of war constantly and even the government of Rome had a high tax rate on the citizens in which made the poor poorer and the rich richer. The solider did not protect Rome because they were not getting paid. There were food shortages. The Citizens lost hope in Rome because of the revolts with the poor and rich. The economy of Rome was crying because Rome was mostly importing goods from its own colonies but in return, they were not exporting a fair exchange. Large estates became self-sufficient, further hurting manufacturing and trade. This then led to an imbalance within trading.