For over a thousand years, the Roman Empire grew stronger and more powerful until it seemed like an unstoppable empire. It has been so successful for many reasons; their dominance in warfare, the stable structure of politics and the strong-headed Romans leading the way to the top. Not only were they practical and well organized, but the Romans were also very ambitious and aggressive to get what they wanted. Once they set their sights on a prize, they search for it until they get it. The Romans were always trying to improve what they already had. All their ideas came mostly from other cultures and they transformed them into their own until they became perfect in their eyes. But what were the main reasons for the fall of Rome? The following essay will try to answer this question. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original EssayWhile ancient Rome was ruled by kings, it only took a little while before the Romans decided to take matters into their own hands and rule their cities themselves. The institution of the Senate, or better yet known as the Roman Republic, was established so that the Senate would not advise the king, but rather choose a representative who would rule Rome as king. The chosen representative was supposed to rule fairly and not as a tyrant, knowing that if he did not do so he would be punished by the next representative. This ultimately led to an era of peace and prosperity as the Roman Empire sought to publicly address all matters of the state. Of all the emperors who ruled, only five were known for their thoughtful and reasonable policies. This period was best known for its peaceful methods of progression, in which each emperor chose his successor. The Romans progressed during this period of peace, often known as the Pax Romana, and the Empire was safe from external and internal threats. The same aspects that determined the success of the Roman Empire were the same ones that caused its collapse. Although many historians believe and agree about the year of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, 476 AD, and its consequences on Western civilization, they tend to disagree about its many causes. While it is commonly believed that the influx of barbarians from the north and west was part of the cause of the decline and fall, English historian Edward Gibbon believed it was due to the rise of Christianity and its effect on the Roman psyche. None of these are correct or incorrect. Rather, both of these theories combined with many other causes show the true reason for the fall and decline of the Roman Empire, not just one cause alone. The Western Roman Empire consisted of what we know today as Great Britain, France, Italy, Austria, Hungary, the Iberian Peninsula, and part of North Africa. The group of foreigners who began migrating to Rome around 300 AD, otherwise known as barbarians, played an important role in the fall of the Empire. Nobody disagrees with this. However, if one were to try to fully understand the barbarian involvement as an entire sequence of events, one would see an unacknowledged coherence with the story of Western imperial collapse. There are two main reasons why this consistency has never occurred before. The first reason is that most of the major barbarian groups, who later turned out to be the ones who founded the successor states of the Roman Empire in Western Europe, had initially crossed Roman borders around 410 AD. But the last Roman emperor of the West was deposed only about seventy-five years later, in 476 AD. The initial invasions cannot be separated from the full elaboration of thetheir social and political consequences. The long-term consequences of the barbarian invasions of the Roman population of Western Europe will also be examined. Although the Western Empire did not collapse quickly or easily, there is a clear historical line of cause and effect from the barbarian invasions of the late 4th and early 5th centuries to the deposition of Romulus Augustus. The second reason can be understood in modern terms, as what caused the migration of many different groups of foreigners into the Roman Empire in the first place. These population movements occurred over the course of thirty-five years (376 AD - 410 AD), not all at once as some might believe. A closer look at the evidence shows that these years of invasions were all interconnected as different phases of a single crisis. The two main phases of population movement, in particular, were directly caused by the invasion of the Hunnic power on the fringes of Europe. For the Roman imperial authorities, the first consequence of the arrival of the Hunnic tribes was the appearance of two substantial and separate Gothic populations. groups, the Thervingians and the Greuthungi, in 376 AD Both tribes landed on the banks of the Danube requesting asylum. A careful examination of the evidence shows that what was once thought to be the reason why the tribes were on the banks of the Danube has in fact been misinterpreted. The events that occurred in 376 AD show at first glance the frightened Goths fleeing towards the Danube River from a solid mass of Huns. However, this was not the case, just as they were not the case for the numerous Goths who arrived at the border of Europe. The tribes wanted to ask permission to settle in the Roman Empire and start a new life, as the Huns threatened and invaded their homelands. The Huns were a new factor in the strategic balance of European power starting in the late 4th century. They were seen as savages, going from one territory to another, invading and taking control. The emperor at the moment the two tribes asked for asylum, Emperor Valens, panicked and delayed the response, leaving the Goths homeless as winter approached. When the Goths finally had enough of waiting, they crossed the Danube without permission, and after a Roman commander planned an ambush, the Battle of Adrianople quickly followed suit and would last five years. The Emperor and the Romans were defeated and were not prepared for war, proving this when two-thirds of the Roman army was killed. The Goths remained on Roman territory and soon became allies of the Roman army. Alaric, a Goth and former Roman commander, one day decided to defend what had been promised to the Goths. Alaric asked the Emperor to give him and the Goths what had once been promised them; property to transform into their new home. As Emperor Honorius delayed his response, Alaric advanced his demands that the Goths also be seen as citizens of the empire, along with their promised land. After being told no on many occasions, Alaric gathered an army and crossed the Alps into Italy, where he would wait outside the city for the perfect opportunity to sack Rome. Alaric returned to Rome in August 410 AD, where he stayed for three days and completely sacked the city. It was only after six thousand Roman soldiers were sent to defend the city and were defeated that the Senate finally surrendered. At the time, some people saw the sacking of Rome as a sign from their pagan deities. St. Augustine, who died in 430 AD, said that the fall of Rome was not the result of the pagan gods abandoning the people, but rather a reminder to the city's Christians of why they needed to suffer. 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