The Downfall of Rome .

The Downfall of Rome .

The Roman empire was a wonderful, prosperous place . But then it was destroyed . How was the Roman empire destroyed? It had the best military of its time and it had strong walls around its cities . I will tell you how .

It began with the Barbarians (cool fact : Barbarians were named after the sound they made . the Greeks and Romans only herd "bar bar bar") . Barbarians surrounded the Roman empire and they all wanted it. it was very hard for the Romans to defend their empire. The Barbarians also destroyed aqueducts which stopped the Romans supply of water . This made the Roman soldiers weaker and weaker. Barbarians swarmed the countryside defeating the weak roman Soldiers . The Emperor found it difficult to defend his enormous empire against the invading tribes. Then one smart roman emperor came along , his name was Diocletian . Diocletian found that his empire was too big so he divided it in two , on half ruled by him (the western half ) and the other half ruled by Maximian.(the eastern half) Now it seemed this would work . The Romans had divided their army and now they fought of Barbarians more effectively. But their water was still running out and the Emperor did not know how to fix the problem. The western Roman empire became weaker and poorer . While the eastern half ( also called the Byzantine empire ) became richer and more powerful , Constantinople the capital became the best city in both half's. Why did the east prosper while the west declined ? well first of all almost all of the Barbarians fighting the Romans fought the western half . So the people of the western Roman empire found very little food and water ,thus making its armies weaker and then the cycle starts over. Two of the most famous tribes that fought the Romans were : the Huns and the Visigoths . You most likey have heard of the Huns . Don’t get them mixed up with the Mongols though they are to seprate people . The Huns shared some characteristics with the Mongols though like : Archers on horseback , nomads , eating raw meat , teaching babies to ride horseback before teaching them how to walk  and they both came from Asia. The Huns had a deadly Leader named : Attila the Hun . Attila and his warriors came from Asia creating destruction and havoc wherever they went. The Roman Emperor's sister was bored of being a great lady she wanted to be free. So she sent a letter to Attila asking him to rescue her from rome and marry her. When Attila got the message he set his eyes on Rome .This is my chance to take the Roman empire and its gold he thought. So he sent a message back saying i will come and get you and all your kingdom now ! And With that he set off Conquering rome little by little. When he got to Rome the Emperor gave him a large amount of gold in exchange for sparing Rome. Atilla said he would come back but he died of nosebleed after he left! The second famous Barbarian tribe were the Visigoths . The Visigoths were a Barbarian tribe that came from Germany . The Visigoths Attacked the Roman Empire and took some of it . Some of the Visigoths settled down in  the Territories they took and adopted the Roman way of life . One of these Visigoths married a Roman . There sons name was Stilicho . Stilicho was half Barbarian but he believed himself as a loyal Roman citizen. He joined the Roman army and rose in the Ranks. The Emperor Saw Stilicho and appointed him General. Stilicho fought and fought against the Visigoths but his army was too weak and afraid . The Visigoths pushed his army back and he lost most of his battles. Stilicho himself was a Great general but his army was not so great . THe Romans said Stilicho was a traitor for he was half Barbarian. The wanted to behead him. Stilicho said it wasn't his fault but the armies. In the end the Romans beheaded him. Wrong move! Wrong move!! Wrong move !!! this was a wrong move . Stilicho was the only General who could have stopped Rome from being taken. After Stilicho died the Visigoth moved in destroying and sacking everything in their path . When they came to Rome the Emperor and most of the Army had evacuated . The Visigoths easily killed the weakened army that was left. they sacked Rome and took it over.

it goes to show that even the biggest empires can be destroyed.