Why Rome Fell

When we talk about the fall of Rome, we mean the western part of the empire. The eastern part, commonly referred to as Byzantium, lasted for another 1000 years after Rome fell, and can be used as a reference when we try to find out what caused the western part to fall into decay.

The cultural, legal and economic differences between Rome and Byzantium were relatively minimal when the original empire was divided into two parts, roughly 200 years before the fall of Rome. The biggest difference was that Romans spoke Latin while Byzantines spoke Greek. For the rest, things were more or less the same. There was a budding new religion called Christianity in both regions. Both regions used slaves. Both had bread and circus for the masses. To cite any of these factors at the reason for Rome's fall is therefore suspect. Why would something that existed in both regions be a determining factor in the fall of Rome when Byzantium managed to flourish for another 1000 years?

Using this line of reasoning we can further rule out a number of other factors. Both regions were large with exposed borders. Both regions had to deal with invaders. Both regions suffered the occasional bad harvests and disease. None of this can have been a determining factor in the fall of Rome. Nor could the use of mercenary troupes be the reason, despite the fact that Rome eventually fell to a group of mercenaries. Proof of this lies in the fact that Byzantium was saved from a serious political crisis in the 6th century by the same type of mercenaries that sacked and eventually took over control of Rome in the 5th century.

The big difference between Rome and Byzantium was that the mercenaries were paid in full by the Byzantine emperor, while the Roman emperor defaulted on his debt to his mercenaries a century earlier. The fall of Rome was a bankruptcy of the state. Unable to pay its soldiers, the soldiers took over control in much the same way creditors take over a business that is unable to pay its debt. The fall of Rome was not so much a fall as it was a transfer of control. The western part of what had once been a single great empire fell into the hands of various factions similar to the way an over extended business ends up sold off in parts to whomever is willing and able to take control.

While Byzantium had leadership willing and able to do the right thing, Roman leaders were constantly stuck in a Status Quo. The Romans looked for quick fixes like monetary debasement and credit where the Byzantines raised taxes, cut costs and remained on a gold standard.

By Geuiwogbil at the English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link