by Carol H. Morgan

Created on: December 11, 2008   Last Updated: December 19, 2008

It is not very surprising that the question of why Rome began its decline in the western half of the Empire is one that preoccupies modern civilizations. Particularly today's democratic nations, many of the in that territory which comprised that western half of the ancient Roman Empire are anxious to estimate the longevity of their own society, and are interested to see if some of Rome's lessons can be learned with out sharing all of its fates. This interest in Rome and its demise through the centuries has led to countless theories, some of them rather outlandish.

The most commonly-discussed factor is the standard approach that Rome was stretched economically and militarily by the end. Obscure scientific or archaeological discoveries occasionally lead to observations such as neurological consequences to the people of lead in the the new revolutionary plumbing technology that improved Rome's standard of living. And moralists on either side of the spectrum offer possibilities, from the notion that Rome's decadence (described with colorful stories of orgies, public torture and cannibalism) or its indifference (brought on by its popular new Christian religion that offered eternal life with little effort) left Rome weakened and with little taste for the rigors of worldly military success.

HISTORY OF ROME TO ITS HEIGHT

Whatever the varied or mysterious reasons for Rome's loss on its grip on power domination the Western part of the Empire, the reasons that it achieved that domination are much more clear. First of all, as most of us have heard, Rome wasn't built in a day. Nor was it a year, century or even a millennium. The ascension of Rome to its political zenith, at about 200 A.D. had been in process for over two thousand years, from when it was just an Italian village much undifferentiated from other like it in the Mediterranean region.

Rome has an ancient mythological founding and founder, dating to Romulus in 753 B.C. But the Region had been growing in power and influence for some time even before that. As is often the case when a region becomes mighty and prosperous, geographic features are initially responsible for giving an edge. The are was fertile and provided defense by the hill that the ancient settlements rest on, irrigation by the Tiber and easy transportation through the Mediterranean Sea. And to those basic advantages, culture and learning would add other important distinctions.

Rome was also a continual intersection of the most powerful and influential

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