Reasons for Fall of Roman Empire

1. Reasons for Fall of Roman Empire

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

4. 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

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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

8. 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

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