Plato's Cave

The fall of Rome

An empire is created when more power is put into fewer hands. Although seemingly imperishable nothing lasts forever, and the Roman Empire was not exempt from that statement. The Roman Empire, characterized by fame and ambition, was the largest of its time and thrived in its achievements but inevitably fell.

Many attribute decadence to the state of the Roman Empires society, contributing to its collapse. The moral fibers of Rome were falling apart, and slavery contributed to this. Many were discontent as told in the example of Spartacus who led the slaves in an uprising against the Republic. Entertainment, literature, sport and lifestyle were saturated with sex and violence. None of which enriched the ethical values of roman civilians. Gladiator fights in the Coliseum, and acts of adultery and incest are examples of their lack of moral conduct. The corruption in the lives of the people spread, and was the byproduct of the perversion of the wealthy that held most of the power.

The roman government kept becoming increasingly powerful, run by the rich and the military. As this happened, the people began to feel more distanced and lost interest. Rome’s borders were rapidly growing, making it more difficult to defend and control. Barbarians surrounded Rome on all sides, and with their expanding borders they began to feel their pressure even more. Some of the barbarians surrounding Rome included the Huns, Visigoths, and Vandals.
         At a time of such low ethics, the teachings of Christ would come as a shock to many. His teachings said that the Kingdom of God would belong to the poor and meek. He taught of love and forgiveness. This new wisdom gave the lowly hope and courage, changing the attitude of social classes. Christ’s ideas challenged Rome’s ideas, but didn’t contribute to its fall. All it did was bring forth a long awaited putting in perspective of their rambunctious lifestyle, which was headed towards failure. Sybils curse prophesized that Rome would be defeated by itself, and that was so.   

The fall of Rome wasn’t a single event, but a myriad that led to a steady decline. New virtues for the society brought by Christianity defied their moral decadence, which was one of the contributing factors to Rome’s collapse. Rome slowly became overwhelmed by its shear size, and began to lose control. Now, the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire has become an obsession to western culture, seeing how we can learn about our own eventual downfall from theirs.