The mighty Roman Empire spanned millennia, sent kings, defeated empires, but was no match for the forces of history. With the threat of Christianity, barbarian hordes, and an increasingly hostile environment, Rome eventually came to an end. An examination of the end of the Roman Empire reveals the harsh truths of an unstable entity. Its professed strengths became a fatal weakness as a decline in patriotism, morality and character combined to destroy what a people had been built to build. Over the many centuries of their great empire, the Roman people had built a vast culture that was the center of their successful imperial system. Once upon a time this great system was able to help them prosper in the field of education and become a mecca for science, art, philosophy and many other significant subjects. Thanks to this they were also able to strive as military, agricultural, political and economic leaders, an influence that can still be seen today in many modern practices and beliefs. The Roman culture that was at the center of the Empire's success was progressively eroded due to the influence of Christianity, the barbarian invasions, the decrease in the population of Roman citizens and the failure of the Imperial System, which together led to the end of the powerful Empire Roman. To understand the modern interpretation of ancient Roman history, you need to study Edward Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of Ancient Rome. First published in 1776, for over 250 years it has been considered the resource par excellence for all studies on the fall of the Roman Empire “As a literary masterpiece and a mirror of 18th century attitudes towards the ancient world, The Decline and the Fall , as a contemporary said: “it can only perish with the tongue… in the middle of the paper… or. Over a period of 75 years more than 20 men held the office of emperor, often murdered by their own Praetorian Guard after having reigned for only a few years. Political instability also extended to the Senate, which failed to moderate the excesses of the emperors due to its own incompetence and corruption. This extensive corruption throughout the Roman Republic also had a great effect on Roman culture and their trust in leadership. With the ever-increasing and evident abuse of power plaguing the Republic, many citizens lost faith in their government. They in turn lost the patriotism that had once been a defining factor of Roman society. With this loss of pride their culture became much more susceptible to other influences. This contributed greatly to the decline of the Roman culture that had helped hold the empire together.