What caused the fall of Rome?
The fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE resulted from a combination of factors: barbarian invasions and migrations, economic decline and currency debasement, over-reliance on mercenary armies, political instability, the division of the empire, and possibly the social impact of Christianity. No single cause explains the collapse — it was a gradual transformation over centuries.
The fall of the Western Roman Empire is one of the most debated questions in all of history. When the Germanic chieftain Odoacer deposed the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, in 476 CE, he ended a political entity that had dominated the Mediterranean world for over five centuries. But historians have never agreed on why it fell — Edward Gibbon's famous explanation (Christianity sapped Roman civic virtue) is just one of over two hundred theories that have been proposed.
Military factors were clearly important. The empire's long frontiers required enormous armies to defend, and as recruitment of Roman citizens declined, the state increasingly relied on Germanic and other barbarian mercenaries whose loyalty was conditional. Major barbarian incursions — the Visigoths' sack of Rome in 410, the Vandal invasion of North Africa, the Hunnic invasions under Attila — overwhelmed the empire's defensive capabilities.
Economic decline played a significant role. Currency debasement eroded trust in the monetary system. Long-distance trade contracted. Tax revenues fell as provinces were lost. The expense of maintaining the military consumed an ever-larger share of a shrinking economic base. Plague — particularly the Antonine Plague and the Plague of Cyprian — killed millions and disrupted economic life.
Political instability was chronic. The Crisis of the Third Century (235–284 CE) saw over fifty claimants to the throne in just fifty years. The division of the empire into Eastern and Western halves under Diocletian in 285 CE meant that the wealthier, more urbanized East increasingly left the West to fend for itself. By the 5th century, the Western empire was a shell — its nominal capital had moved from Rome to Ravenna, and real power lay with barbarian military commanders.
Modern historians increasingly prefer to speak of 'transformation' rather than 'fall.' The Eastern Empire survived and thrived for another millennium as the Byzantine Empire. In the West, Roman institutions, law, language, and culture persisted within the new Germanic kingdoms. Rome didn't simply collapse — it evolved into something different.