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What Caused the Roman Empire to Collapse

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The Roman Empire seemed unbeatable at  its peak - one of the largest empires  

the world has ever seen. It fended off  all of its military foes. It built a  

complex administrative state that ruled  regions from Egypt, to Spain, to England,  

and as far east as modern-day Iraq. At its  height, it seemed like it would rule forever.

And today, it’s a distant memory.

Why did the Roman Empire ultimately fall?  Did it meet an enemy too powerful to fend  

off? Was it undone by internal conflict? Or did  it simply stretch itself too thin? The answer  

isn’t any one of those - and the empire’s  downfall happened over hundreds of years.

To find the truth of the Roman Empire’s fall,  we have to go back to how it became an empire  

in the first place - because initially, it was a  Republic with far less territory. The Republic had  

taken over from the previously flawed monarchy,  but the people seemed to be calling out for a  

more unified government. One man was more than  willing to answer that call - Julius Caesar,  

the man appointed perpetual dictator  of Rome in the mid-first century BCE.

He started consolidating power, becoming  a popular and effective ruler who won many  

military campaigns - and many of his rivals  realized he had no intention of giving up  

his newfound power. The elites of Rome  assassinated him, setting off one of the  

biggest political crises in Roman history.  Civil wars kicked off as many people sought  

to claim power - and in the end the wars saw  Octavian, the adopted son of Caesar, take power.

He continued his father’s legacy, conquering  nearby territories including Egypt - ending  

that country’s Hellenistic era. Soon, he  was more powerful than his father ever was,  

and the Roman senate responded accordingly.  They granted him the title of Augustus,