The fall of Ancient Romestarted from about AD 190. TheRoman Empire wasattacked by tribes such as the Goths and the Vandals. Civil wars in parts of theempire further weakened the rule of Rome and respect for Roman law dwindled as aresult.

Why was the empire attackedby fierce tribes people? Tribes such as the Goths wanted to move south intoparts of Europe that experienced a better climate that would assist theirfarming. This could only bring them into conflict with the Romans. At about AD190, Rome also experienced a succession of poor emperors who simply were notcapable of doing the job.

TheRomanArmy was spread throughout Western Europe. Each part of the army had its ownidea as to who should be emperor. When one part of the army succeeded in puttingits own man into the position of emperor, another part of the army would fightto put its own man in power. Between AD 211 and AD 284, there were twenty-three'soldier-emperors' - and twenty of these men were killed by rivals! Clearly lawand order and respect for that withinRome itselfwas at fault.

in AD 284, the emperorDiocletian realised that something had to be done orRomeand itsempire would disintegrate. He decided todivide the Roman Empire in two to make it easier to rule - he created theWestern Empire and the Eastern Empire, each with its own leader. This splitgeographically was all but a north to south divide between the empire withSpain, France, England, Italy and parts of Germany forming the Western Empireand all areas to the east of this were in the Eastern Empire.

However, Diocletian facedmore than just administrative problems. More and more military defences had tobe built across the whole empire. This cost money that Rome did not have. To payfor these, taxes were increased and extra coins were minted. This lead toinflation causing prices to rise. Therefore, the people of Rome were less thanfavourable towards those who led them.

With threats from tribes innorthern Europe, financial problems in Rome itself and a civilian populationbecoming more and more discontented, Rome could ill afford further major issues.

In AD 307, Constantinebecame emperor. He ruled from AD 307 to AD 337. Constantine was Rome's firstChristian emperor and he is considered to have been a strong ruler.

He believed that Rome as a city was toofar away from vital areas of the empire to be of value from a governmentallevel. Constantine, therefore, moved the capital of the empire to a new city –Constantinople. This was a new city that was built on the old city of Byzantium.Whatever the motives were, Constantine’s decision was a poor one.Constantinople was much further east than Rome and firmly in the eastern empire.This left the western empire very vulnerable – though the eastern empire washardly free from attacks.

The Ostrogoths attacked the westernempire via the eastern empire. The Huns, a fierce tribe from Asia, attacked thewestern empire. The Franks, Visigoths,and Burgundians all made large inroadsinto the western empire.

The glory days of theRomanArmy had passed and the Romans were forced into making deals with thetribes. The Vandals and Visigoths were allowed to live in theRomanEmpire as long as they gave a promise to protect the empire from the Huns.

However, in AD 398, the leader of theVisigoths, Alaric, realised that the Roman Army was so thinly spread, that Romeitself was for the taking. Alaric moved cautiously south but in AD 410 hecaptured the city of Rome. The city was sacked. Roman held territory in Spain,France, northern Africa and England all fell to the various tribes that attackedthem.

The ruins of Ancient Rome

In AD 455, Rome was attacked again. Thistime the damage was done by the Vandals. The city suffered serious damage. In AD476, the last Roman emperor in the west, Romulus Augustulus, was removed frompower by Odovacar, leader of the Goths. This date is usually used by historiansas the year the Roman Empire ended. However, Roman rule continued in the easternempire for a number of years after this date - in modern Greece, Turkey, theMiddle East and northern Egypt.