Several years after the estimated date when Rome fell, the empire remains legendary and historically famous for its civilization in the military, political, and social institutions. Scholars and other historians justify the unsustainable challenges that promoted the empire’s fall. However, philosophical deconstructions of the socio-political challenges before and after Rome fell result in parallel arguments, some blaming external attacks for the annihilation, whereas others take on moral decadence. This paper argues that continuities and discontinuities that promoted Rome’s fall were multidimensional, implying that all justifications are theoretically significant for understanding the empire’s decimation.
Attacks by the Barbarian tribes resulted in a chain of military losses that culminated in the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 C.E. External attacks were consistently deliberating to the defense system practiced within Rome. A letter by Jerome decrying the fate of Rome disclosed the impacts of military aggression on the renowned empire, noting that Barbarians made consistent attacks by bursting Danube barriers and waging war at the empire’s capital (Jerome, “The Fate of Rome”). The Ostrogothic, Visigothic and Frankish kingdoms were adversaries of the name of Christ, whose idea of continuity was to obliterate Roman emperors while maintaining the empire’s dominion (Augustine 4). Therefore, in light of what I have read, Jerome’s and Augustine’s explanations seem to be the actual accounts of events that led to Rome’s downfall.
Continuities and discontinuities between Rome and its successor kingdoms exacerbated the weaknesses exposed by the relentless attacks. Transformations in regional imperial frameworks and integration between social classes and economic exchange networks characterized continuity dynamics. However, the Byzantines shifted power balances between peasants and aristocrats, marking the discontinuity between the Roman administration and the Eastern empire’s political models (Augustine 46). Leadership changes from centralized power in Rome to Charlemagne’s rule over the Holy Roman Empire from the Frankish Kingdom was an obliteration of Rome’s dominance.
In conclusion, attacks on the Roman Empire led to its fall, where historical accounts reveal that multiple aggressors decimated Rome’s military strength. Rome fell in 476 C.E. after fighting over three decades of the Barbarians’ invasions. Jerome and Augustine’s accounts provide the most credible accounts of the empire’s downfall, factoring in external and internal forces that overpowered Rome. Government reforms and other discontinuity factors that shifted power from Rome to the Frankish and successor kingdoms sealed the empire’s downfall to end its historical influence.
Works Cited
Augustine, Aurelius. “The City of God: Volume I.” Gutenberg. 2014. Web.
Jerome, “The Fate of Rome” c. 409. Web.