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My friend said it was the Germans that ended the Roman Empire. I tried researching and there is too many stories out there. Does anyone really know. I just want to know which country that did it.
the roman army was for the first time defeated by the german calvary.
it would not be the only time the romans would lose but it was the turning point.
the roman army was for the first time defeated by the german calvary.
it would not be the only time the romans would lose but it was the turning point.
there was not Germany then. In general it was said that the western Roman empire (Rome) fell to the "barbarians"/Visigoths or just Goths from the north. The eastern Roman empire (Constantinople) fell much later to the Turks.
Last edited by WildWestDude; 10-18-2014 at 01:49 PM..
there was not Germany then. In general it was said that the western Roman empire (Rome) fell to the "barbarians"/Visigoths or just Goths from the north. The eastern Roman empire (Constantinople) fell much later to the Turks.
perhaps not in the modern sense but all historians agree who they were in most common geographic terms
germany
there was not Germany then. In general it was said that the western Roman empire (Rome) fell to the "barbarians"/Visigoths or just Goths from the north. The eastern Roman empire (Constantinople) fell much later to the Turks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huckleberry3911948
perhaps not in the modern sense but all historians agree who they were in most common geographic terms
germany
I think that by lumping the Goths in with all Germanic people is just plain lazy and add to a lot of confusion once one gets past the 6th grade.
Teutoburg Forest was a major battle in the 1st Century that Rome lost. The empire in the west didn't fall until the 5th Century.
Rome fell because too many barbarians crossed their border from the north with impunity.
The RE was where people wanted to live back in the 5th Century, they had indoor plumbing, running water, stadiums, bathhouses, various forms of recreation. A much more refined way of living than hunting and gathering, and living in a hut where you had to fetch your own water.
I think it is still too easy to blame the end of the Roman Empire on the invading Germanic tribes. The average tribe was maybe 50,000 people entering an empire of 60 million people. After AD 300 the empire had become so corrupt, dysfunctional and torn by internal civil wars that its defensive capacity had diminished greatly, along with the living standard of its people. To quote from the Old Testament: a giant on feet of clay. At that point a threat that was laughable in earlier times sufficed to break it.
I grew up on the Germanic border of the empire along the Rhine river in Germany. The Roman towns excavated there showed enormously impressive engineering feats: the theaters, the sanitary systems, the aqueducts, the roads, the cement that cured even under water and allowed to build harbors, lots of trade goods from all Mediterranean areas were found etc. Between 300-400 AD the towns were either destroyed or abandoned and subsequently the people returned to living in huts and a mere local subsistence economy. Quite a change!
Between 300-400 AD the towns were either destroyed or abandoned and subsequently the people returned to living in huts and a mere local subsistence economy. Quite a change!
This is something to remember when people criticize third world countries for struggling after the end of colonialism. We are all aware of the many great accomplishments of the countries of northwest, and central Europe over the last half millennium. However, it's good to keep in mind how far these places fell after Rome left, and that it took 1,000 years for them to begin to approach the standard of living that the Romans had achieved.
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