The Fall of the Roman Empire: Three Artifacts

Rome spent many years as a successful civilization, but this success diminished as a variety of factors wore the society down over time. Among these factors include religious and cultural shift in the division of the empire, poor leadership, and external attacks to the empire in its downfall. These factors can be represented respectively by the existing artifacts of the Roman Pantheon, The Sack of Rome by Joseph-Noël Sylvestre, and the tremissis of Romulus Augustus.

The Roman Pantheon started construction in 118 CE, originally built as a tribute to the gods in the Greco-Roman religion that was largely practiced at the time. This was built by emperor Hadrian in order to replace the previous Pantheon.(1) While we don’t know how it was exactly used, other than for general worship, the structure still holds up today. Despite its similar condition, the original purpose of the Pantheon was not what it was later used for, as religion and politics separated the empire greatly by the late third century, and the Pantheon ended up repurposed. As the Western half of the Roman Empire continued its old religious observance, the Eastern Roman Empire recognized Christianity as its official religion. After the Western empire fell and the Eastern empire became the Byzantine Empire, the Pantheon was changed from a Greco-Roman religious temple into a Catholic Christian church. This shows that the physical similarity of the Pantheon throughout its history is not necessarily indicative of its overall use and cultural impact. The switch from Roman mythological religion into Christianity represents how this element divided the two halves of the empire, thus portraying this important historical shift (and cause for the decline of the empire) in the context of a cultural icon such as the Pantheon. The Pantheon didn’t become a Christian institution for many years, instead gradually changing as the tides of culture and society shifted into the other religion. Division between halves of the empire was partially impacted by this religious shift, and this division was only one of many factors that led to the gradual fall of the empire.

Image of the Roman Pantheon from the front, circa 2006 (Dragan)

The empire, now divided into east and west, was essentially split into separate empires now, and they each faced their own problems: the west receiving the brunt of conflict due to a smaller military. Alaric was the king of the barbarian Visigoths at the turn of the fifth century, and began sieges on Rome in order to be able to settle around the area. Alaric, growing frustrated, tried to make one last compromise with the Romans, where Rome would integrate the Visigoths into the military and give them payments, but Emperor Honorius decided against this.(2) As a result, on August 24, 410 CE, rebellious slaves let the Visigoths into the city of Rome, where citizens were beaten, killed and raped. Most monuments and buildings were left standing, and many treasures survived since the Visigoths were also Christian and respected the property. After the three-day rampage was completed, the Visigoths left and went to settle in southwest France. This event very significant in the fall of the Roman Empire, since it allowed barbarian tribes the confidence to engage in conquests or sacks of Roman cities. This was one of the worst conflicts in the Roman Empire’s history, and was the beginning in unearthing what used to be a behemoth of an empire. This three-day conquest was a turning point for the Western half of the empire, as it declined by the end of the century. The artifact I chose to represent the sack of Rome is Joseph-Noël Sylvestre’s painting, The Sack of Rome by the Barbarians in 410. While this was painted over a millennium after the conflict, it, along with many other paintings of the event, portrays the conflict in a pivotal moment of history. I feel that the men stringing a noose around the statue’s neck and their “barbaric” nakedness is a solid metaphorical and literal representation of the decline of the Western empire to a point where a tribe like this could overtake them. The sack of Rome by the Visigoths was what set off a chain of events that led to the fall of the Western half of the empire.

The Sack of Rome by the Barbarians in 410 by Joseph-Noël Sylvestre (Public domain)

While the Eastern half of the empire continued on as the Byzantine Empire, the Western half fell after years of struggling under its counterpart and suffering from poor leadership. A prime example of the incompetent leadership of the Western Roman Empire is the last emperor: Romulus Augustus. Romulus was given the position of the emperor by his father, Orestes, when the previous emperor, Julius Nepos, was sent out. Orestes acted as the leader through his son, only giving Romulus the position of a figurehead who didn’t represent anything other than his father’s hunger for power.(3) After ten months of Romulus’s illegitimate rule of the Western Roman Empire, Odoacer, the leader of a Germanic tribe, stormed Rome in order to execute Orestes and remove Romulus from the position of Emperor in 476 CE.

A depiction of Romulus surrendering his crown to Odoacer (Public domain)

The tremissis, produced for every Roman emperor, is a gold coin that was created for currency and recognizing the power and rule of the emperor depicted.(4) The artifact that represents the incompetent ruling at the end of the Western empire’s history is Romulus’s tremissis. This factor in the fall of the Western empire occurred quite suddenly, as Romulus spent less than ten months in his position. This showed how far the Empire had fallen in terms of corruption, and change in how abruptly the chain of Western emperors stopped. While we still have coins depicting each emperor left today as artifacts, the political system of the empire was done away with later on, as the fall of the Western empire marked the start of the Middle Ages.

Romulus’s tremissis (Public domain)

 

Footnotes:
(1) “Roman Pantheon.” Rome.info. Accessed March 30, 2018. https://www.rome.info/pantheon/.
(2) Kerrigan, Michael. “Sack of Rome.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Last modified March 27, 2017. https://www.britannica.com/event/Sack-of-Rome-410.
(3) “On This Day In History: Emperor Romulus Augustus Deposed.” Ancient Pages. Last modified September 4, 2016. http://www.ancientpages.com/2016/09/04/on-this-day-in-history-emperor-romulus-augustus-deposed-on-september-4-476/.
(4) “Definition of Tremissis.” Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Accessed March 30, 2018. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/tremissis.

 

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“Roman Pantheon.” Rome.info. Accessed March 30, 2018. https://www.rome.info/pantheon/.

Environmental and Social Decline in Ancient Rome

As Rome expanded further and further in the rule of Emperor Trajan, environmental missteps by this massive empire were factors that led to its eventually instability and decline. While the climate was locked as fairly humid and warm in the early days of the Roman Empire, the climate changed quite a bit towards the end.

Scattered ruins of Ancient Rome

Deforestation, in order to produce wood for building, clearing land for farming and urbanizing for trade, caused the soil to become eroded and infertile, and the temperature to lower. To serve a booming population and economy, the Romans sacrificed key areas of their environment.

However, while some argue that the Romans were never aware of the consequences for cutting down trees, conservation methods were eventually instated (though as the environment was already declining). In addition, writings from Plato and Cicero acknowledge the erosion and complacency of humans in taking advantage of the environment.

Statues of Plato (left) and Cicero (right)

Most notably of all, Ancient Rome experienced the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which slaughtered the city of Pompeii. This natural disaster is estimated to be one of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history, killing 16,000 and spewing ash over nearby land.

One of the many victims of the eruption Mount Vesuvius frozen in time under ash

While these climate impacts were likely not the most important factor in the Roman Empire’s decline, we can still see some early effects of deforestation in a large civilization. This is similar to deforestation today, and marks the importance of our modern society’s opposition to it. However, while climate in Rome shifted a bit, our society has a much larger danger, with the rise of carbon emissions and still common production of unrenewable, inefficient resources. Luckily, our world is changing, and we might be able to turn some of this change around by learning from the complacency of civilizations before us and the data that we have now. While we still have volcanic eruptions, earthquakes and tsunamis in our world today, our technological and medical improvements have equipped us to respond to them much easier and create more preventative measures.

In conclusion, not much has changed in how climate declines, but this process has sped up over time as we’ve invented more and more environmentally damaging technology.

 

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The Decline of the Roman Empire

The Roman Empire started to break apart due to social factors that arose in such a big civilization. Near the beginning of fourth century CE, Constantine the Great rose to power within Rome under belief of the Christian God. While Rome traditionally viewed its Emperor as a god, Constantine’s proclamation of belief in Christianity split apart the eastern areas of the empire from the west, as the monotheism of Christianity clashed with the polytheistic Roman religion. Constantine situated his capital of Constantinople within the eastern area of the Empire, furthering the disconnection between regions. This splintering of the Empire eventually caused the west of the Roman Empire to fall, and for the east to transform into the Byzantine Empire. These social factors of religious and cultural conflict weren’t the only factor in the decline of the Empire, but they sped up other political and economic issues into taking effect over a weakened society.

 

A split Roman Empire during the time of Constantine’s rule

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An Overview of Roman Religion

Ancient Roman religion was an adaptation of Greece’s polytheistic structure of gods and goddesses featuring in mythology. The characters that this religion centered around were largely anthropomorphic interpretations of emotions of phenomena who would watch over the civilization and exist through its population.

The deities were worshipped through the medium of telling their myths. Important gods and goddesses included the twins, Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome; Mars, the god of war; Neptune, the god of the sea; Pluto, the god of the underworld; Jupiter, the supreme ruler; Juno, Jupiter’s wife; and Minerva (from the name Athena), his daughter. There were also minor deities like Apollo, Diana, Venus, and Vulcan, who controlled lesser elements of society like cultural or occupational concerns.

 

A portrayal of Jupiter, who was the same character as Greek mythology’s Zeus.

 

Alongside the gods arose several cults who attempted to gain power in Rome. Bacchus, Cybele and the Imperial Cult (which was based around Augustus) all used fear of the gods to assert dominance over other people in ancient Rome as being modern personifications of the Roman religion.

Ultimately, the Roman religion lost relevance once Emperor Constantine recognized Christianity. The polytheistic Roman religion was then overtaken by the monotheistic Christian religion, and Christianity was the last major religion before the Roman Empire fell.

 

Wasson, Donald L. “Roman Religion.” Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified November 13, 2013. https://www.ancient.eu/Roman_Religion/.

How Did the Roman Empire Expand?

 

Depiction of the Gallic Wars

 

The former small city-state of Rome fought off the Etruscans and later transitioned from a republic into a massive superpower of an empire when Julius Caesar, Emperor Augustus, and Emperor Trajan conquered surrounding civilizations. General Julius Caesar made Rome into an empire and was heavily enticed by the economic benefits of expansion. Between 58 and 50 BCE, Caesar embarked on numerous conquests, utilizing expertise in ruthless military tactics and taking over Gaul in the Gallic Wars. Caesar, in fear of being killed, took on his great-nephew, Augustus (First known as Octavian), as an apprentice. Becoming Rome’s first emperor following the death of the dictator Julius, Augustus hungered for power as he sought ultimate control over the Roman people. This inspired Augustus to carry on in conquering neighbouring nations, winning the Battle of Actium to take Egypt, then sections of Spain, central Europe, and Britain by 43 CE. Augustus brought in a new, prosperous era for the Roman Empire with the power that he fought for. Following Augustus, Emperor Trajan attained power in 98 CE. Trajan conquered the large nations Dacia and the Parthian Empire before dying in battle in 117 CE. In the preceding and subsequent years of the Roman Empire, no other leader obtained as much land as Trajan. While the dominance of the Roman Empire was long and complex, some of the greatest expansions made were those influenced by the financial, prestigious and territorial desires of the respective leaders of Julius, Augustus and Trajan.

 

The Roman Empire following Trajan’s rule

 

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