Reasons for Fall of Roman Empire Decline in

Reasons for Fall of Roman Empire

Decline in Morals and Values Roman Poor Political Corruption Reasons for Fall Military Problems Agricultural Decline Inflation

Decline in Morals and Values • Crimes of violence made streets unsafe • Prostitution • Wasted money on lavish parties • Gladiatorial combats

Agricultural Decline • High taxes caused abandoning of farms • Farmers could not compete with low prices and lost or sold their farms • Farmland destroyed by warfare • Cheap labor discouraged technology improvements • Overworked soil

Inflation • Rise in taxes • Romans stopped conquering lands; flow of gold into Roman economy decreased. • Gold being spent to pay for luxury items. • Coins became less valuable. • Merchants raised prices. • People stopped using coins.

Military Spending • Maintaining an army to defend the borders from attacks was draining • Frustrated Romans lost desire to defend the Empire • Empire began recruiting soldiers from unemployed city mobs or foreign countries.

Political Corruption • Never created an effective system to determine how new emperors would be selected • Praetorian Guard gained complete authority • Selling throne to highest bidder

Roman Poor • Most Romans were not rich; they lived in tenement buildings. • One-third of all Romans were slaves. • Loss of farms filled cities with unemployed people

Fall of the United States? ? ? Give a present day example of: * Decline in Morals and Values * Political Corruption * Agricultural Decline * Inflation * Unemployment * Military Spending