What Caused the Roman Empire to Collapse
What Caused the Roman Empire to Collapse
What happens when an Empire fails to enforce its rule? Empires FALL! Check out today’s epic new video about the great Roman Empire and how a few wrong moves led to the Empire’s total collapse!
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Content
0.12 -> The Roman Empire seemed unbeatable at
its peak - one of the largest empires
4.44 -> the world has ever seen. It fended off
all of its military foes. It built a
8.52 -> complex administrative state that ruled
regions from Egypt, to Spain, to England,
12.6 -> and as far east as modern-day Iraq. At its
height, it seemed like it would rule forever.
17.58 -> And today, it’s a distant memory.
20.04 -> Why did the Roman Empire ultimately fall?
Did it meet an enemy too powerful to fend
24.78 -> off? Was it undone by internal conflict? Or did
it simply stretch itself too thin? The answer
30.24 -> isn’t any one of those - and the empire’s
downfall happened over hundreds of years.
34.14 -> To find the truth of the Roman Empire’s fall,
we have to go back to how it became an empire
38.1 -> in the first place - because initially, it was a
Republic with far less territory. The Republic had
43.68 -> taken over from the previously flawed monarchy,
but the people seemed to be calling out for a
48.12 -> more unified government. One man was more than
willing to answer that call - Julius Caesar,
53.16 -> the man appointed perpetual dictator
of Rome in the mid-first century BCE.
57.36 -> He started consolidating power, becoming
a popular and effective ruler who won many
62.28 -> military campaigns - and many of his rivals
realized he had no intention of giving up
66.66 -> his newfound power. The elites of Rome
assassinated him, setting off one of the
70.86 -> biggest political crises in Roman history.
Civil wars kicked off as many people sought
75.9 -> to claim power - and in the end the wars saw
Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar, take power.
81.84 -> He continued his father’s legacy, conquering
nearby territories including Egypt - ending
86.76 -> that country’s Hellenistic era. Soon, he
was more powerful than his father ever was,
90.78 -> and the Roman senate responded accordingly.
They granted him the title of Augustus,
94.98 -> allowed him to rule in perpetuity, and soon no one
would dare challenge his power. The plotters who
100.92 -> feared Caesar’s role as dictator had accidentally
crafted the rise of Rome’s first Emperor.
106.14 -> And he wouldn’t be the last.
107.64 -> From then, Rome would not only become
another monarchy ruled by a series of
111.72 -> hereditary leaders both good and bad, but
it would develop a hunger for conquest that
116.04 -> would envelop a large part of Europe and
parts of Asia and Africa. While Italy would
120.12 -> continue to serve as the center of the
empire, the other territories would be
123.54 -> organized into provinces - each administered
by a local governor with drastically different
128.22 -> approaches to leadership. The empire would
soon be so large that it would be impossible
132.6 -> for one leader to maintain full control over every
territory, which meant the provinces would still
137.7 -> maintain some level of autonomy - as long as they
paid their taxes and didn’t cause any problems
142.62 -> that would arouse the ire of the Emperor.
And the system seemed to be working - the
146.4 -> empire was stable enough that the next two
centuries became largely known as “Pax Romana”.
151.26 -> But under the surface, trouble was brewing.
153.66 -> During the first century CE, religious conflict
started brewing under the surface. The Roman
158.64 -> Empire largely worshipped the traditional pantheon
- led by Jupiter and heavily tied to the Greek
163.74 -> pantheon led by Zeus. This polytheistic faith
was characterized by ornate temples dedicated
169.08 -> to the individual Gods and a wild lore that
made the Gods seem rather petty and human.
173.94 -> Jupiter’s dalliances with human women, and gods
taking revenge for the most petty grievances,
179.28 -> were both common staples of the faith in those
days - and then came Christianity. Spinning
184.38 -> out of the teachings of the Jewish Rabbi
known as Jesus and his eventual crucifixion
188.58 -> by the Roman authorities, this new Abrahamic
faith was based of the often-persecuted faith
193.74 -> of Judaism - and largely received the same
treatment in the early days. While some of
198.42 -> the more dramatic stories like early Christians
being fed to lions have no historical backing,
202.98 -> the Roman Empire saw new faiths
as a threat to the establishment.
206.34 -> But religions aren’t easy to kill.
208.8 -> The conflict stayed under the radar and
Christianity was mostly a small faith
212.76 -> during those early years, and a wise emperor
would have likely focused on maintaining the
216.96 -> empire’s stability rather than persecuting
heathens. But when you have a monarchy,
221.34 -> you’re often relying on the whims of birth
order and genetics - and in the year 177,
225.96 -> Rome’s luck ran out. The new Emperor, Commodus,
would soon become infamous for this exact reason.
231.3 -> The youngest Emperor ever at the age of
fifteen, his rule was dictated by his
235.8 -> emotions which led to recklessness. A teenager
making bad decisions when given too much power?
240.84 -> Perish the thought! As her was inheriting
the Empire built by many of his predecessors,
245.76 -> it was hard for him to screw up the larger things
- but back in Rome, he wasted no time throwing
250.38 -> things into chaos. He was known for his fickle and
dictatorial leadership style, as well as his love
255.24 -> of the gladiator matches in the Colosseum. He
would even participate in duels himself - which
259.86 -> largely meant anyone who faced off against him
would probably be expected to die quietly. He
264.72 -> built a cult of personality around himself,
and his reign was so chaotic that he would
269.16 -> eventually be immortalized by Joaquin Phoenix as
a villain in the Oscar-winning movie Gladiator.
273.96 -> And his reign ended as it began - with chaos.
277.2 -> Commodus was assassinated by a wrestler in
the Roman baths after fifteen years in charge,
281.7 -> and things would only get more chaotic
from there. The Roman Senate declared
285.48 -> him a public enemy and tore down
his statues, and he was succeeded
288.6 -> by a new Emperor - in what would become
known as the Year of the Five Emperors.
292.26 -> It was 193 CE, and civil war ensued. The next
emperor would be assassinated only three months
298.14 -> after taking office, his successor would
essentially pay off the guards to let him
301.98 -> become Emperor, and he would be ousted and
executed only weeks later. The chaos would
306.48 -> only die down when two emperors, Septimus Severus
and Clodius Albinus, ruled simultaneously despite
312.78 -> both considering the other to be a threat.
Rome’s political climate was in complete chaos.
317.4 -> And soon, people outside would start noticing.
319.8 -> Many of the provinces of Rome had been
semi-autonomous for a long time and
323.46 -> had developed their own cultures. So as the
Roman state spiraled into chaos, they started
327.84 -> to wonder - why not just make it official? As
the Romans struggled through a series of weak,
332.34 -> crazy, and inconsequential Emperors -
often in quick succession - territories
336.3 -> started to break away at an increasing rate.
First came the self-declared Gallic Empire,
340.92 -> which took most of the territory of
modern-day France and England with it.
344.46 -> Then came the Palmyrene Empire, which was led
by Queen Zenobia and took over much of Egypt
349.98 -> and the eastern coast of the Mediterranean -
including the many key sites in the Holy Land.
354 -> It was the biggest crisis in Rome’s history
- but it would bring many changes with it.
358.38 -> A series of three Emperors in the third
century would bring this crisis to the
362.4 -> end - but the Roman Empire that emerged from
it would not be the same. First was Aurelian,
366.84 -> who only reigned for five years
but had a huge impact. At the time,
370.02 -> the diminished Roman military was under attack
by Barbarian tribes and internal strife,
373.98 -> and it seemed like the Empire’s days might be
nearing an end. But Aurelian had risen through
378.24 -> the ranks of the military and knew its workings
well, and under his reign he fended off the
382.44 -> attacking tribes and conquered both the Palmyrene
Empire and the Gallic Empire. He surrounded Rome
387.48 -> with mighty walls, abandoned provinces that
were too much trouble to keep, and improved
391.74 -> Rome’s economy. Under his short tenure, Rome
started to look more like it did at its peak.
395.82 -> His successors would build on his work.
397.86 -> Diocletian would reign for twenty years and was
also a military veteran, but most of the military
402.96 -> work had been completed already. He would focus
his efforts on improving the empire’s stability,
407.28 -> which included creating a system of regional
courts that would give the empire more control
411.36 -> over its far-flung provinces. While the empire
had reclaimed the territory lost to the breakaway
416.22 -> provinces, Diocletian started expanding once
again - and by the end of his twenty years,
420.78 -> he became the first Roman emperor to abdicate
his position voluntarily, retiring to his palace.
426.42 -> But his successor might have
had an even bigger impact.
429.3 -> The thirty-one year run of Constantine the
Great would be among the most successful in
433.68 -> the empire’s history. He introduced a new
currency, expanded the empire’s territory,
438 -> and reorganized the army to be more effective.
But his most significant change was his conversion
443.1 -> to Christianity - reportedly spurred on by him
seeing a cross in the sky. As the Roman Emperor
448.2 -> converted, so did many of the citizens of Rome,
igniting Christianity’s rise to becoming a world
453 -> power religion. At the end of his reign,
the empire’s territory was near its peak,
456.72 -> expanding as far east as Byzantium. After his
death, Constantine left the empire to his sons,
461.76 -> starting a new dynasty which would rule over
Rome. The Roman Empire looked as healthy as ever,
466.92 -> and many people assumed that this was
the beginning of a new golden age.
470.22 -> So how could things go so very wrong?
473.1 -> The year was 337 CE when Constantine passed
away, and while Constantine’s reign had been
479.04 -> full of successes, there was trouble lurking
under the surface. His embrace of Christianity
483.66 -> had given the Church massive power in Rome, and
although many supported him in this decision,
488.04 -> there were some who didn’t wish for the empire to
fall under the grasps of Christianity. Enemies of
493.02 -> the state were executed, and their estates
were given to those he favored. The military
496.62 -> was paid well, but soon the soldiers seemed
to be engaging in blatant corruption. But the
500.88 -> empire was still the greatest power in the world,
and it was hard to imagine anyone challenging it.
504.9 -> But empire’s aren’t immune from internal strife.
507.42 -> In the aftermath of the death of Constantine,
the throne of the empire was once again open
511.68 -> for contest, and this era led to many conflicts
over who would take control. His sons initially
516.48 -> ruled jointly, but chaos would follow and
Rome would be plunged into civil war. Many
521.28 -> territories were taken over by local leaders,
with territories going back and forth at the
525.36 -> whims of military victories. Despite this,
the core of the empire was unchallenged,
529.62 -> and by 379 a new emperor named Theodosius had
risen. A proven general, he would become one
535.62 -> of Rome’s greatest military leaders and
would put an end to this era of strife.
538.98 -> But far greater threats were
brewing beyond the borders of Rome.
542.58 -> As far-reaching as Rome’s borders were at the
time, it was hard to believe that a nomadic people
547.02 -> from a continent away would throw the whole thing
into chaos. But the Huns were no ordinary nomads.
552.96 -> Fierce warriors, they had been making inroads into
Asia and Eastern Europe - and where they went,
557.64 -> people fled. Their mass takeover of territory led
the local Gothic tribes to flee towards the Roman
563.4 -> Empire. Suddenly, the Romans had a huge influx
of barbarian warriors fleeing across their border
567.87 -> - and Rome’s lack of management in their border
states came back to haunt them. A well-organized
572.82 -> government may have been able to resettle these
new residents and incorporate them into the
576.66 -> Roman state - even using their warrior smarts
to reinvigorate the military. Unfortunately,
581.4 -> the corrupt local officials instead chose to
exploit them, assuming they weren’t a threat.
585.84 -> They would be proven very wrong.
587.64 -> Now the Romans had a large number of outside
warriors within their borders. These guests
592.38 -> had seen Roman hospitality was lacking, and
they quickly took up arms. They were joined
596.94 -> by other tribesmen heading over the
border, and what started as a refugee
600.3 -> crisis quickly turned into a guerilla war. While
Rome had a superior military force, it was also
605.22 -> spread out and concentrated in the cities, and the
forces that were sent to confront the Goths found
610.08 -> the invaders fought much harder than expected. The
elites felt very little of this crisis - they were
615 -> kept safe in their walled cities - but across
the massive expanses of the Roman countryside,
619.14 -> the Goths quickly gained territory and claimed the
land of former Roman subjects across the Balkans.
624.48 -> And Theodosius may have neglected
this problem a bit too much.
628.14 -> The Emperor may have restored Rome’s
military in some ways, but the coffers
632.58 -> were still looking kind of bare after decades
of patronage under his predecessors. He raised
637.08 -> taxes to confront the barbarians - and was met
with rebellions from the people he ruled over.
641.34 -> He also cracked down on other faiths, doubling
down on Constantine’s embrace of Christianity,
645.78 -> and even persecuted believers of other
variants of Christianity. Soon he was
649.98 -> facing new rebellions in the west seeking to
end his rule, with rebel leader Magnus Maximus
654.96 -> declaring himself emperor in 383 and taking over
the territory of Gaul. This led to significant
660.78 -> losses in territory and troops until Maximus
made a failed attempt at defeating Rome itself
665.46 -> and was ultimately defeated in 388. Rome once
again became the greatest power on the planet.
670.44 -> But soon this would all change.
672.18 -> By 395 CE, Theodosius I would die, leaving behind
him a weakened army and no clear successor. His
679.14 -> two sons would each claim the empire, but neither
was a capable leader - leaving their ministers to
683.88 -> essentially take charge of the situation. Rather
than go to another brutal civil war only a decade
688.5 -> after the last, the two halves of the empire
essentially went their own separate ways - one
692.82 -> emperor, Arcadius, took the eastern Roman Empire,
which would become known as the Byzantine Empire
697.74 -> in the future, while the other son, Honorius,
would take the western part including Rome itself.
702.78 -> It was the biggest loss of territory for Rome yet
- and this time, there would be no going back.
707.82 -> The Byzantine Empire would endure, lasting
for another thousand years with a power
711.72 -> base in the city of Constantinople - but
it would never reach the world-defining
715.86 -> power of the Roman Empire. As for Rome, it
still ruled much of Europe - but its days
720.96 -> were drawing short. Without the massive
territory now owned by the Byzantines,
724.62 -> administering the empire was much more
manageable - but it also meant the massive
728.76 -> barbarian invasions were harder to control. The
leader of the Huns, Attila, was one of the most
733.62 -> feared military leaders of all time - and now
he placed his full attention on taking Rome.
738.18 -> It would be a death of a thousand
cuts for the Roman Empire.
741.12 -> Over the next eighty years, the Roman Empire dealt
with brutal attacks from the Huns on their fringes
746.04 -> and the Gothic population throughout the empire.
The Roman military was a shadow of what it used
750.42 -> to be, and it frequently found itself in retreat.
The territory of the empire shrunk piece by piece,
755.46 -> and Rome started to look less like a powerful
empire and more like a city in decline. Some
760.2 -> leaders would manage to restore the military’s
strength, but none would get it back to the level
763.92 -> where it could reclaim significant amounts of
territory. The empire would limp along until 476,
769.32 -> where one ambitious king decided it
was time to strike the final blow.
773.1 -> His name was Odoacer - and the
mostly-forgotten figure may have
776.94 -> been one of the most important people in history.
778.56 -> The last Emperor of Rome, Romulus
Augustulus, had a mighty name but
784.14 -> was only a sixteen year old boy when Odoacer
invaded. The barbarian king, surprisingly,
789 -> dealt kindly with the young king as he sacked
Rome - accepting his surrender and allowing the
793.5 -> boy to remain alive. He sent him away to live
with relatives, even granting him a pension,
797.7 -> before declaring himself the ruler of Italy.
Probably the most dramatic firing from a first
802.2 -> job a teenager had ever experienced! But now, the
Roman Empire was over - or was it? That depends on
808.02 -> how you define it, because Odoacer now ruled what
was left of it - but he was considered a foreign
812.82 -> occupier. The Roman Senate didn’t consider him a
legitimate Roman ruler and instead transferred the
817.68 -> seal of Rome to the eastern empire. And so the
greatest empire in history passed into legend.
822.12 -> Or did it?
823.38 -> The Roman empire as a government was no more,
but its greatest institution still remained - the
828 -> Roman Catholic Church. It was still in its
infancy, less than five hundred years old,
831.9 -> but its faith had spread very quickly and would
soon grow its roots in most of Europe. As the
836.64 -> Church spread, so did its power - and for
the best part of the next thousand years,
840.66 -> it would be the de facto government in much
of Europe. Even kings would answer to it,
844.92 -> and few would challenge the Pope’s
power until Henry VIII would start
848.4 -> his own religion when the Church
wouldn’t let him get divorced. So,
851.52 -> while the Roman Empire did not control Europe
anymore, the Church’s legacy far outlive it.
856.26 -> But why did the empire actually fall?
858.36 -> There is no one reason why the Roman Empire
crumbled, but many factors played a role - few
863.28 -> bigger than the collapse of its military. Rome’s
army was once the most powerful in the world,
867.54 -> and it attracted the best with good pay. But as
the empire’s coffers declined, it soon struggled
872.4 -> to recruit new troops effectively. This led
to Emperors filing out the ranks with foreign
876.54 -> mercenaries, who neither had the skills nor the
loyalty of previous armies. Many even came from
881.34 -> the invading armies they were fighting, and the
effectiveness of their fighting forces suffered.
885.36 -> They tried to make up for the personnel
problem - but that just made things worse.
889.02 -> Many emperors consistently overspent on
the military, but that didn’t make it any
893.28 -> easier to manage. The huge territory they
had to govern made it near impossible to
897.54 -> communicate effectively, and with no e-mail
or teams groups to share important memos,
901.98 -> it was often a matter of weeks or months before
key changes in policy were communicated. As the
906.54 -> empire got larger and larger, this became a
bigger problem - and soon the empire was more
910.68 -> focused on protecting its key cities than
effectively managing its whole territory.
914.28 -> But inside Rome itself, things
weren’t doing much better.
917.16 -> One of the biggest problems with Rome in its last
days was the lack of strong leadership - right up
922.14 -> to the top. Being Roman Emperor was not a
great job. Given that it was an appointed
926.82 -> position that came with near-unlimited power,
a lot of people wanted it - and that meant that
931.08 -> getting the job came with massive risks. At one
point between the second and third centuries,
935.28 -> over twenty men held the title in less than
75 years - and the most common way to be fired
940.44 -> from this job was with a knife between
your ribs. Turns out Julius Caesar was a
944.64 -> trendsetter. When an Emperor did manage
to hold onto power for years, there was
948.36 -> a good chance they would essentially turn the
empire into their own personal patronage mill,
952.38 -> appointing their allies to powerful positions. And
the Emperor’s bodyguards, the Praetorian Guard,
957.3 -> would often take matters into their own hands and
assassinate emperors when they became more trouble
962.28 -> than they were worth. With a government like this,
is it any wonder that the empire began crumbling?
966.3 -> All of these factors came together,
spelling the end of the Roman Empire.
969.54 -> For centuries, the Roman Empire had
been unchallenged on a military level.
973.08 -> Their expeditions would face little to no
opposition, and their army could largely
977.1 -> sweep into a territory and take it over as
they pleased. Conquering new territories often
981.6 -> meant having to build new infrastructure that
would increase quality of life in the region
985.32 -> in some way as well as enforcing the rule
of the Roman Empire on its newly acquired
989.28 -> citizens. So the army wound up being more of
an enforcement arm of the Roman government,
993.06 -> and it was no longer prepared to deal with
major military conflict. So when outsiders
997.74 -> such as the Goths came calling after being
pushed out of their territory by the Huns,
1001.52 -> the Roman military wasn’t forimdable
enough to maintain its borders.
1004.94 -> And it all came down to one fatal mistake.
1007.4 -> If the military was well-prepared for this
invasion, the odds are they could have defeated
1011.3 -> the Goth armies and defended their territory. They
were better trained and had superior weaponry than
1015.92 -> the Goths. But once the Goths had managed to
enter the fringes of the empire, it was going to
1019.82 -> be much harder to displace them without a major
military operation. The Romans ultimately chose
1025.1 -> the worst option of all - they didn’t aggressively
repel the Goth invaders and defend their borders,
1029.66 -> but they also didn’t welcome them into the empire
and take advantage of this new manpower like they
1034.58 -> could have. Instead, they exploited them and hired
them while never letting them develop any loyalty
1039.2 -> to the empire. This led to constant civil wars
and small military skirmishes, growing tension,
1044.72 -> and a slow but sure loss of territory. And
it all could have been avoided if the Empire
1049.1 -> coordinate a better response to the Goths seeking
refuge within the borders of the Roman Empire.
1053.36 -> Want to learn more about the end
of empires? Watch “Real Reason
1056.72 -> Ancient Egyptians Went Extinct”,
or check out this video instead.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tilhR0C6DY