Throughout history, the decline of powerful empires can be due to a variety of reasons, such as financial collapse, military and technological backwardness, the outbreak of discontent at the bottom, and the rivalry between the elites at the top. No matter what system is adopted, what cultural tradition is rooted, and what great ideals are found, almost no one can escape the shackles of time and fate.
Corruption, by contrast, permeates almost all problems in their own right. The resulting multiple contradictions often limit the integration of internal resources and create opportunities for external forces. The fall of the ancient Roman Empire will be almost entirely based on the classic script described above.
Corruption prevails in the empire
After several reforms, the number of administrative officials in ancient Rome increased dramatically
In the 3rd century AD, the administrative system of the Roman Empire underwent major changes after the reforms of Diocletian and Constantine. The number of administrative officials, which was originally small, suddenly soared from a few hundred to 30,000. The reasons for this change are quite complex, and the result is obvious: a bloated system with a lack of checks and controls, which has led to a sharp increase in corruption.
Constantine's father, Constantius, warned his subjects to avoid the marauding, insidious and vicious servants of Caesar.
Constantine himself mentioned the greedy nature of Caesar's servants and procurators, and the cunning of those people who usually broke all rules.
Constantine's son, Constantius II, said in his decree that the special assistants were better at stealing chickens and dogs, and were not good at accepting them openly, and it was impossible to completely curb their greed!
Due to the cost problem, a large number of Roman officials were the first to consider how to recoup their costs
In fact, successive emperors condemned officials in decrees, but they were powerless to deal with corruption. After all, the reports submitted from various places have to be selected by the internal officials. They would take special bribes to keep some of the reports from being seen by the emperor, thus achieving a degree of overthrow of the monarch.
At the same time, the phenomenon of buying official titles has been steadily increasing, and the concept of society has also changed. In 362 A.D., the Romans were already asking judges in court to protect their money-bought qualifications. Later there were even more of them, filling almost all kinds of court records of the late empire. So much so that even the Roman Emperor Theodosius followed suit and openly peddled the official positions around him.
In order to amass wealth, the Roman emperors personally sold their official positions
Of course, much of the corruption is the taking of ordinary subjects. Courts that used to be free of fees now have to pay a fee to court officials before they can be convened, and the law has to recognize that officials can take a commission from public funds. Tax collectors would create more excuses to loot the people, and the corps commanders would take bribes by allowing taxpayers to default on the supply of munitions. Thus, the Italian tax collection of the writer Symarcus is the state of affairs: the trickery of the plundering Italian treasurer is heart-wrenching. They are naked bullies, and they can knock the weak down in one fell swoop. The more resilient will also be extorted in a bit-the-tongue court action.
It is not only the officials who take the lead in corruption, but also the clergy, who are not exempt from vulgarity and become an abomination of exploiting the people. In Asia Minor alone, six bishops were dismissed for embezzlement and bribery. However, they did not show the slightest remorse when they were punished, and after a few years, they were reinstated by various means. As a result, in some places, corruption is no longer seen as a scandal to be ashamed of. Both the emperor and the law had to make concessions, and filling their wallets was the priority!
Both civil and military Rome was rife with power-for-money transactions
Corruption Weak Imperial Competence
The winds of corruption in Rome soon spread from the administration to the military sphere
With the corrupt so unscrupulous, it is inevitable that the power of the empire will be severely weakened. Among them, the most intuitive embodiment is in the military field, resulting in a serious decline in the combat effectiveness of the troops, and a large territory has fallen into the hands of barbarians.
The first is logistical supply, which is often susceptible to serious erosion by corruption. In the early days of the Empire, soldiers stationed on the Rhine were able to obtain Italian leather and eat Spanish food. Therefore, he is energetic and energetic, and often participates in road construction, fortress construction, etc., or gathers into 100,000 expeditionary pioneers. By the end of the Empire, no more than 60,000 soldiers participated in the campaign, and only half of them were combatants.
The size of the army in "Hundred Officials" is more like a big bad debt
Although the imperial army in the "Hundred Officials" should have 600,000 standing troops, that is an out-and-out lie. Commanders would make up rosters and turn them in to the central government, and then eat the empty salaries of soldiers who didn't exist. Even if there are real personnel, they are not well-equipped and adequately supplied, and their daily needs are among the deductible of logistics officers.
Because of this, the soldiers of the late Roman army were often deserted, poorly equipped, drunk, ill-drilled, and undisciplined. Although they do not want to admit it, the writers of the time recognized that the most combative soldiers came from abroad, including Celts, Germans, Huns, Saracens, and Goths. No general wanted to recruit pure Romans as soldiers.
Because of corruption, the Roman Empire could not stop the barbarians, and had to use them as soldiers
Secondly, due to the widespread phenomenon of buying official titles, many incompetent people have climbed to high positions as generals. They are either bloated, short, ruthless, and selfish, but they are usually timid and unconcerned about the Empire's wars.
Whenever a border city is besieged by enemy troops, it is more willing to hide in the rear and live a pampered life, waiting for the enemy to leave before going to triumph. Moreover, they will make full use of the opportunity of the war to demand a large amount of supplies from the locals free of charge. If the demand is not met, it will be left and no longer concerned with specific things. As long as there is a harder backstage, some lucky people are unharmed when they are reported and exposed, and they continue to use the army to enrich themselves.
The generals of the late empire were more willing to collect money and wait and see than to fight
Since the military power is so weak, it is no wonder that the barbarians always come to the door to find trouble. They were in a no-man's land within the empire, described by contemporaries as more like dancing than going to war.
Even some barbarian leaders wondered why the soldiers of the Roman Empire were so shameless: they could only be slaughtered like sheep in battle, but they still boasted of victory, but they did not dare to show their heads in the neighborhood where they were stationed.
Corruption eventually forced the Romans to abandon half of the west
In the long run, the entire Roman Empire was corrupted from within, and it was destabilized by external threats. Finally, in 476 A.D., half of the western half of the country was ceded, and the corruption factor must not be ignored!
Some people may wonder why the eastern part of the country, centered on Byzantium, has survived? The reason is that the eastern region is more abundant in resources and can withstand all kinds of tosses. When the Empire decided to abandon the west in order to shrink its defenses, it saved a lot of money in an instant. Later, a similar script was re-enacted......