by Jarred James Breaux

Created on: April 06, 2008

The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 when the Germanic chieftain Odoacer overthrew the government in Rome, thus leading to the immediate fall of all of Italy. However, several problems plagued the Roman Empire for more than 250 years before the official fall of the Western Roman Empire. Increasingly, the Roman emperor lost control over their armies which devastated the economy and strong sense of patriotism in the empire. The economy had been in shambles for years due to the failure of the empire to maintain an infrastructure and loss of territorial expansion as well as excessive taxation. Confidence in the abilities of the Roman government declined and people turned to new religious movements that offered to fill the void. Because the people were no longer confident in the Roman government, fewer enlisted in the military. The Roman military started using mercenary soldiers, which were unreliable and lead to many defeats. Increasing pressure from the Germans in the north caused a state of insecurity in the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire rose in importance, particularly after the transfer of power from Rome to Nova Roma (Constantinople).

Political decline began with one of the most famous unpopular emperors, Commodus. Coming into power in 180, Commodus brutalized and murdered thousands of Roman civilians as well as confiscated private property and made demands to be worshipped as a god-king. In 192, Pertinax rose to power with the fall of Commodus; however, his reign only lasted 86 days before he was killed by his own Praetorian guard. The empire came under the control of the Praetorian Guard, who auctioned the empire off to the highest bidder. When Julian was awarded the office of emperor, the Roman Empire was plunged into civil war. The next year, Severus came to power by bribing the army. Severus increased the size of the military to 400,000 men and attempted to invade Scottland, which was a demoralizing loss for the Roman pride. Severus' son, Caracalla, ascended to the role as emperor upon his father's death in 211. Caracalla did so by killing his own brother and thousands of his brother's followers. In 217, Caracalla died and there was no one to replace him. Instead of the Senate electing the next emperor, the army elected Marcus Opelius Macrinus; however, his reign would not last long. In the following year, Caracalla's son, Antonius, rose to power. Antonius was not well received by the Roman military because he dressed as a Persian rather

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