by Jeff Woodward

Created on: December 08, 2008

The Fall of the Western Roman Empire was was precipted by numerous causes. The sack of Rome by Alaric and the Visigoths in August 410CE may seem to some as the final blow dealt to the Western Empire, but one would have to look at the events of the past which led to the final demise of the Western Roman Empire, and the chaos in Europe that soon followed it.

When Augustus was declared Princeps (or ,first citizen), in 27BCE, the path to appointing successors was lined up for future emperors to use. As the appointment to the rank of Caesar and Augustus was passed from one family generation to the next (Julian, Claudian, Flavian, Antonian etc.), the seat of power in Rome was kept, for the most part, secure. After the death of Commodus in 192CE, the Empire began a rapid downward spiral into the illegal appointments of emperors, the usurpation of the throne by military generals, and even the purchase of the throne, which was auctioned to the highest bidder by the Praetorian Guard in 193CE(won by Didius Julianus). The highest seat of the Empire was an almost guaranteed death sentence for a usurper or lineage claimant. The power struggles, the intrigues and murders, and the use of veteran legionaries to help a contender to the throne, instead of using them on the fragile frontiers of the Empire, contributed significantly to the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Another contributing factor was the debasing of currency. At the time of Diocleation's Edict on Coinage(296CE), and The Edict on Maximum Prices(301CE), The Roman Empire was facing a serious financial crises. The debasing of currency by former usurpers who minted coins themselves caused rapid inflation and increased debt. Diocletian attempted to stop, or at least slow down the effects, by issuing new tax reformations, and dictating a price maximum, but not a fixed price, on over one thousand different goods. Though his edicts may have been in good faith, they did not help the financial crises, as Diocletian continued to mint coins, and the maximum price Edict was considered too low, and merchants either used the black market, or haggled for their goods. Roman coinage was not saved, and the financial crises deepened.

By the reign of Valens in 376CE, the Roman military was dangerously depleted of soldiers and veterans. The Visigoths, fleeing from the Huns, asked permission to be settled within the borders of the Roman Empire. Valens assented, seeing the Visigoths are prime recruits to strengthen the military. When

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