Did the Roman Empire fall?

There are many examples in history were a civilization that was far advanced in history suddenly disappeared. A good example is the Harappan civilization that had even created a sewage system way before the toilet was even invented. After a period of time historians lost complete trace of them. Great civilizations fall all the time, such as the Roman Empire. But, did the Roman Empire actually fall? The Roman Empire like the Ancient Egypt and the Greeks was very influential on modern society. Many of the discoveries that the Romans made are still being used today such as the Republic and certain war strategies. Rome was very successful in everything it did but all good things must end, such as the Roman Empire. Even though the Roman Empire is no more, most of everything that the Romans did is still present today, so did the Roman Empire really “fall”?
The way approach this question is to understand what it means for an empire to fall. According to Encarta Dictionaries the meaning of fall that pertains to the subject of this essay is come down suddenly. Politically it means to lose political power or be defeated. In the political aspect of falling, the Roman Empire did indeed fall. According to the viewpoint that “fall” holds regarding this essay, Rome did not “fall”.
Politically the Roman Empire did fall because while it was strong for a long time, the strength did not last long. The political system of the Roman Empire went downhill when Commudus became emperor in AD 180. Political institutions collapsed and because politics were basically the core of Rome everything else also went downhill. Another reason the politics fell is because emperors after Commudus started tormenting and oppressing those in the Senate. The reason Rome was so strong as an Empire was because although the Empire was widespread Rome still had power in its different regions. When politics collapsed so did power over residents outside of Rome. When Commudus died a civil war broke out. Politics was very important to the Roman Empire and without it politics Rome failed.
The definition of fall is to come down suddenly, the thing with the Roman Empire “falling” is that Rome did not fall suddenly. You can actually say that Rome reached a peak and after that it was all downhill. Rome was not built in a day and it did not fall in a day either. Rome actually went through a steady decline because of wild Emperors that ruled it. Rome’s empire started its deterioration when the government switched to Constantinople. The empire was then split in half, turning into the Western Empire and The Eastern Empire. The western emperor was eventually driven from his half of the empire by a military general and the Germans saw had their own uprising. A man by the name of Odoacer decided he would take the job as ruler and took away the senate’s right to choose an emperor. The actually decline of the empire started around AD 180 and the Western Empire collapsed in AD 476. It took Rome about 296 years to actually fall.
.Rome did not actually “fall” as some would say because it did not just crash in one day. The Roman Empire was one of the greatest in its day and such as all good things must come to an end, so did the Roman Empire. Augustus the first emperor of the Roman Empire saw a great future for Rome. He was right to see a great future, but not everything is perfect. The Roman Empire started out as a way to make Rome better; Romans were always interested in getting better and being great. The Roman Empire was indeed a great period in history and although it reached its peak to early it still has a great effect on the modern world.


Citation: Encarta Dictionaries
Mellor, Ronald J. "Roman Empire." Microsoft® Student 2009 [DVD]. Redmond, WA: Microsoft Corporation, 2008.
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