Rome’s Fall, a Decline or Change
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Rome’s Fall, a Decline or Change
From a personal viewpoint grounded on historical knowledge, methinks that the Roman Empire never fell but moved on to some other aspects of existence. From my perspective, two dynamic shifts accelerated the temporal decline of the Empire, but the two shifts define modern-day history and religion, albeit with a heavy influence of the Roman Empire’s operational, structural and nomenclature aspects. These two dynamic shifts that provide the basis for theories that attempt to explain Rome’s death are Christianity and barbaric invasions. Beginning with the conversion of Emperor Constantine, the Christian sect that had hitherto been an underground movement shot to instant prominence. Ironically, the dwindling fortunes of political Rome created space for the growth of a powerful religious entity that dictated continental Europe’s affairs during medieval times. Throughout the years between 476 A.D and 1800 A. D, the church had a significant say on European countries’ political leadership structure and determined the road taken by monarchs, thus dictating the political future of the continent even today. To a great extent, the spiritual power wielded by the Roman Catholic Church today is a reminder of the shift of Roman political power into an amorphous religious entity, signaling but a change that allowed its continuity rather than a form of decline.
Regarding the barbarian horde who invaded vast swathes of Europe in the buildup to the fall of Rome, their subsequent conquests on various parts of the Empire led to the rise of a new breed of nations dynasties. Following interactions, trade and intermarriages, the barbarians from the north at different times constituted the Franks, Anglo- Saxons and Burgundians, among other groups. These groups were the origins of modern-day European countries like Spain, Germany, Portugal and Great Britain. Following their conquests, the barbarians adopted Roman dressings, language (Latin), governance practices and even engineering to establish some of the earliest forms of civil governance in Europe. To date, the continent is a manifestation of democratic coexistence with monarchial leadership, pointing to the influence that the Roman Empire wields on our world today. Based on the assertions as documented above, I believe it is more accurate to say that the Roman Empire merely underwent a change process that stamped its continuity as a world power. The manifestations of the various historical, cultural and political concepts of the Empire in modern operations practiced by the most developed countries do not imply a declined and fallen power (de Oliveira, 2020).
References
de Oliveira, J. C. M. (2020). Late Antiquity: The Age of Crowds?. Past & Present.