Question: Did the Roman Empire 'decline and fall' or did it evolve into something new?
The Roman Empire had been in its glory for a long time. They had conquered most of the known world and became a wealthy and diverse empire. The Romans were masters of the trade routes and trained an army to be ready to fight any time, any place. There were many rulers whom the people loved and praised. The others were hated until they left the office or assassinated. After the Roman Empire split into the east and west, things started to decline. The “decline” of the empire was about a 320 year period. Rome was not politically unified and the Eastern Roman Empire started to gain more power. These changes influenced the different groups of people to evolve into something new. Parts of the Roman Empire itself declined while others developed into something new.
The Roman government went through a lot of hard times. There were years of good and bad emperors. For example, the crisis of the third century tested Rome to its limits as the rulers almost caused Rome to fall apart at the seams. “The Romans had dealt with all of these in the past and survived. The trouble was that in the third century many problems surfaced at the same time, some of them on a grander scale than ever before, and they proved more difficult to eradicate.” (BBC History, 2011) After Diocletian took the throne, he took part in a plan that he thought would help control the amount of power one ruler has. The development of the tetrarchy pulled the empire farther and farther apart. The four main rulers of the empire all fought for power. This caused the Roman Empire to split in to two major parts and the move of the capital. Constantine won the Battle of the Milvian Bridge and in return, made Christianity legal. He also moved the capital to Constantinople, which is present day Istanbul. This was the rise of the Greek speaking Eastern Roman Empire, or the Byzantine Empire.
After the practice of Christianity was legalized, people were more outright with their faith. “Thereafter, Christians were tolerated at best—but often tortured or killed—until the reign of Constantine I (312–337). In 313 an edict of toleration for all religions was issued, and from about 320 Christianity was favoured by the Roman state rather than persecuted by it.” (1994-2009 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.) Before Constantine made Christianity legal, people practiced the faith in secret. The Romans persecuted the Christians and died for their faith, making them martyrs. The Romans did not like the Christians because they would not pay their tribute to the Roman gods. This angered the Romans and caused many disputes. Constantine saw the sign of the Ki Ro in the sky the morning of the battle and made his men write the symbol on their shields. He wanted to thank the Lord for winning the battle and let anyone practice the Christian faith. This caused more people to convert to the faith and it soon became a popular, worldwide religion.
Many different kings tried to rule the “empire” all at once. “Since the Crisis of the Third Century, the Empire was intermittently ruled by more than one emperor at once (usually two), presiding over different regions.” (Wikipedia, 2011) Rebellions and armies were unorganized and there was a lot of miscommunication. The Huns were headed to invade Gual but the efforts of the Roman and Germanic forces stopped them. Battles between tribes were occurring everywhere and after 476 AD, Rome was under a barbaric rule. There was no control for the Western Roman Empire.
The Roman Empire flourished and created a name for itself for a while. After eras of bad rulers and battles, the empire faded and other places started advancing into something new. The spread of Christianity was a major turning point for the world because it started advancement in new empires or nations. Many powerful men taught they could rule and were thirsting for power. Tribes of people soon became “empires” of their own. The world is constantly evolving and the Roman Empire was ready for a new change. The development of countries and nations shaped Europe into what it is today.
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Two big things: while you do a good job of setting things up, it's really difficult in such a short paper to really handle an argument that sort of argues the middle ground. For the sake of getting used to the kind of argument style used in an academic paper, I'd strongly suggest taking a position on one side or the other. Think of it as if you were invited to take part in a debate.
ReplyDeleteSecond, your bibliography is not in proper APA format; please fix. 80