Greatness belongs to Rome?
The glory of the Roman Empire in Europe lasted for 500 years, during which the Romans fought all kinds of barbarians on the european continent. But what the Romans could never have imagined was that 500 years later, the defeated generals would join hands to send themselves to hell.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > internal causes of the decline of the Roman Empire</h1>
The aristocracy and bureaucracy within the Roman Empire were so numerous and so lavish that in order to satisfy the extravagant desires of the ruling class, the Empire had to levy heavy taxes on the commoners. And the commoners who have been exploited for a long time can imagine how much they hate the aristocratic masters of the ruling class. It can be said that before the barbarian invasion, there were already many contradictions within the Roman Empire, and the class contradictions had reached a very sharp point.
The Romans convened a parliament
Economically, the Roman Empire practiced private ownership of land, and when the Empire stopped expanding abroad, it meant that there was no newly expanded land as a supplement, but the land annexation in Rome was very serious, so that countless self-employed farmers had to become tenants of large landowners after losing their land due to debts or taxes. On the one hand, more and more peasants lost their land, and on the other hand, the land of a small number of large landowners increased, resulting in a widening gap between the rich and the poor in the Roman Empire, which was difficult to bridge, and the dissatisfaction of Roman citizens with society and the country began to grow rapidly like a cancer cell.
The Poor of Rome
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > second, the invasion of European barbarians</h1>
The harassment of the roman empire's borders by the Barbarian Germans in Europe has a long history. But the harassment in the past was mainly due to the expansion of the Germanic population, which had to cross the border to plunder the supplies of life, but also for the purpose of small-scale land expansion. However, the Roman Empire at that time was strong and well-fed, so the Expansion of the Germans often ended in failure.
Roman cavalry
However, after 375 AD, the previous situation of victory and defeat had undergone earth-shaking changes, at which time the European barbarians, represented by the Germans, began to invade the Roman Empire with their clan strength. The situation is so because in the east of the barbarians of Europe, a more fierce nomadic people, the Huns, has emerged. Under the attack of the Huns, the Germans and other barbarians had to abandon their original lands and expand into the Roman Empire instead. Second, because the Roman Empire was in decline at this time, in 378 AD, the barbarian Goths defeated the Roman legions in Adriaburg, and even the Roman Emperor Valence was killed.
Barbarian army
The death of Valens gave great encouragement to the barbarians of Europe. They found that the Roman Empire at this time was already at the end of the crossbow, and there was no need to be afraid, so they flocked to the Roman Empire.
The nightmare of the Romans began.
In 410 AD, the Visigothic leader Alaric led an army to invade the Italian city of Rome, although the Visigoths did not carry out a large-scale plunder of the city, but the prestige and glory accumulated by the Romans in Europe for hundreds of years had been wiped out with the fall of the city of Rome.
Ancient Roman ruins
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" > the invasion of the Huns</h1>
The Huns came from the far east, and when they expelled the Germanic barbarians, they were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a richer and more prosperous Roman Empire in the land further west. So they rode on horseback and, after the Barbarians such as the Germans, launched another predatory war against the Roman Empire.
Hun cavalry
The leader of the Huns was named Attila, who was a man of great talent, and under his command, the Huns were strong and powerful, and the Roman Empire was defeated in successive battles. The fear of defeat hung over the city of Rome like a mist, and the Romans believed that Attila was sent by God to punish themselves, so they called Attila the "Whip of God". But fear turned to fear, the empire still had to survive, just as the so-called enemy of the enemy was a friend, and the Roman Empire, which was forced by Attila, turned to the Germans and other barbarians to seek unity. The Germans had also suffered from the Huns before, so the enemy on the battlefield was immediately matched. In 451 AD, the Combined Forces of the Roman Empire and the Germanic and other peoples fought a great battle with Attila's army at Chalons (present-day northeastern France), resulting in a crushing victory for the Roman Empire.
The Romans won a crushing victory
Not content with defeat, Attila led a large army south to Italy, preparing to capture the city of Rome once again after the Visigoths. Unfortunately, attila died soon after.
As for Attila's death, some people say that he died of illness naturally, while other conspiracy theorists say that he was poisoned by a Roman princess who came to kiss him. In short, there are all kinds of statements, but none of them can give people a perfect explanation. After Attila's death, the Huns began to split and eventually became fully integrated into the peoples of Europe. Unexpectedly, this once powerful nation was only a flash in the pan in history.
Attila
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" > IV. The Roman Empire was divided</h1>
In 395 AD, the Roman Emperor Theodorius, unable to cope with the increasingly complex domestic and international political situation, simply divided the Roman Empire into east and west, and appointed his two sons to become emperors of the two empires.
After the division of the Roman Empire, the rulers of the Western Roman Empire were incompetent, so the barbarian officers who served in the Roman Empire often regarded the emperor as nothing. In 476 AD, Germanic soldiers serving in the Roman army unreasonably demanded that Emperor Romulu Augustus give them 1/3 of the land of Italy. This unreasonable move was categorically rejected by Emperor Romulu Augustus. The barbarian warriors then angrily staged a coup d'état and expelled the Western Roman Emperor.
Germanic wars
At this point, the Western Roman Empire collapsed, and the once powerful Roman Empire was left with only the Eastern Roman Empire under the siege of barbarians.
Of course, the eastern Roman Empire did not have a good life, in the face of the strong invasion of the barbarians, the Eastern Roman Emperor had to reward the barbarians with property while allowing the barbarians to encroach on the empire's land. At this point, the Roman Empire was officially in total decline, and the powerful empire that had traversed Europe for 500 years was gone.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > Wen Shijun said</h1>
The barbarian invasion of the Roman Empire was initially forced by the strong attack of the Huns to seek a space for survival. However, later, the barbarians discovered that the old Roman Empire was actually strong and powerful, which strongly stimulated the aggressive wars of the Barbarians in Europe against Rome. This was really the beginning of the Nightmare of the Romans, because if it was just to survive, the Roman Empire only had to sacrifice a part of its land and wealth to satisfy the desires of the barbarians. But if it was because of greed and lust, then even if the Roman Empire were rich, it would not be able to satisfy the bottomless desires of the barbarians.
The decline of the Roman Empire was ostensibly due to the large-scale invasion of the barbarians, but fundamentally speaking, the barbarian invasion was only a fuse, and the real powder keg was the Roman Empire itself, before the barbarian invasion, the political situation in Rome was already rotten, and the decline was only a matter of time.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > resources</h1>
The Complete History of Europe, He Bingsong, Taiwan Straits Publishing House, 2019.
Shiono Shino: The Story of the Romans, CITIC Publishing House, 2016.
(Author: Haoran Wenshi Kan Xiang)
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