Fall of Rome

The Fall of Rome
The Roman Empire at its height spanned much of the known world.   Rome through its military conquests had put a chokehold on the entirety of the Mediterranean Sea, thus asserting itself as the channel through which all trade within Western Europe occurred.   Such geographical dominance included Roman territories ranging from Roman conquests in what are today, England through territories in Africa and the Middle East.   Roman successes as described demonstrated the authority Rome commanded at its zenith, similarly, it also foreshadowed a dooming trend that eventually incurred the ultimate downfall of the Western Roman Empire.   While Rome’s destruction cannot be attributed to one crucial mistaken that directly lead to their immediate demise, there are certain trends that when combined played an intricate part in causing Rome’s fall.   Rome’s success was perhaps the direct cause of their destruction.   As described by Herodotus in “The Histories” Hubris is the leading cause for the destruction of empires.   Rome at its height overextended its self for its governmental structure, thus by over expanding it lost a sense of Roman nationality among its army, citizens, and even its bureaucrats.   Countless factors have played a hand in the downfall of Rome; however, Rome’s overexpansion was the causation for all other ensuing factors.  
Roman insatiability for annexing new territories has been evident throughout the empires history; it was a mindset that lead to their ascension as a world power.   Rome in order to become the empire they were known for was first charged with creating a nation.   Rome’s first conquests of expansion began by controlling the Italian peninsula, the most crucial backbone to their empire.   Previously Italy had been a segmented peninsula controlled by various tribes and principalities, however, Rome due to its military might was able to successfully annex and subdue the peninsula.   As accounted by Polybius “They succeeded everywhere to a...