What Caused the Fall of the Western Roman Empire?

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Forwarded Message:

Subj: DBQ

Date: 11/3/2005 10:15:59 PM Eastern Standard Time

From: Xo CuTie 1213 oX

To: Num1AllStar35

What caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire?

Rome faced many problems in the third century, internal and external. There are many causes and points of view of what caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire. For example, some writers said it was because citizens were excluded from political responsibilities. Others say it was because of religion and the large size of the population. Yet, some say it was because of economic reasons and barbarian invasions, also because of high taxation.

In Document 1, Strayer, Gatzke, and Harbison are authors of The Course of Civilization. They say the problems facing the Western Roman Empire were that many people of the empire believed the old civilization was not worth saving. Also the majority of the population was excluded from political responsibilities and they could not serve in the army. According to the textbook, World History, other problems were losing its sources of prosperity, like trade, gold and silver, and agriculture. Later inflation occured. This happened because pirates distrupted trade, money was not spent wisely and farmland was destroyed during wars.

In Document 2, there were two causes of the fall of Rome according to Gibbon in The Decline and fall of the Roman Empire. One was the large size of Rome, but it was natural and inevitable. Another was Christianity. Christians discouraged the active virtues of society, didn't continue a good military, and a lot

of demands were made of charity and devotion. According to the textbook, the population was also a cause of the fall of Rome, as it said in Document 2. Dioletian, a Roman emperor, attempted reformation. Yet, he felt Christians were threats to people believing he was a descent from the Roman gods.

In Document 3, Muller said there are