Misfortunate Monday: The Fall of Rome

     Hello everybody and welcome back to another edition of Nations Made Fun! I'll be your host, Mr. Nations, your tour guide to this massive world we all call home! Today we'll be taking a look at the fall of Rome, the collapse of one of the world's greatest ancient civilizations! Well, what are we waiting for? Let's get straight into it!

     The fall of Rome was one of the saddest moments in ancient history, although Rome did have it coming. It suffered from many problems such as inflation, unemployment, military overspending, and health problems to name a few.

     Because Rome wasn't conquering new lands, the flow of gold stopped and new coins weren't being minted at the time. This caused Rome to have to add impurities, such as lead, to coins, hoping that vendors and citizens wouldn't notice. Unfortunately, citizens did and vendors raised the price of goods to compensate for the lower value of coins, causing rapid inflation.

     Unemployment was also rampant in Rome because of large, industrial-sized farms. Small farms couldn't compete with the large ones, forcing them to sell their land and take up a new profession. There weren't many openings for artisanal craftmakers, so many went unemployed.

     Military overspending was also an issue for the Romans. With a military the size and magnitude that the Romans had to have, it was going to cost a lot of money. Roman officials went off the deep end here and raised the taxes, much to the citizen's dismay.

     Health problems were also common in Roman times. Roman pipes were made from lead, a very dangerous material that will wreak havoc on your body if it gets mixed with water. This led to many citizens coming down with a violent case of lead poisoning, and due to the remedies back then, many died.

     Fun Facts:

• Many poor people were happy to see Rome fall. They were starving to death while being taxed heavily by Rome.
• The fall of Rome is thought to be directly correlated to the Dark Ages. Rome controlled much of Europe and when it fell, Europe also fell into barbarism.
• The position of emperor often went to the highest bidder. The Praetorian Guard, the emperor's bodyguard, would only protect an emperor if they paid the most. 

     Sources: https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_rome/fall_of_rome.php#targetText=In%20476%20AD%2C%20a%20Germanic,end%20of%20the%20Roman%20Empire.&targetText=With%20the%20fall%20of%20Rome%2C%20many%20changes%20occurred%20throughout%20Europe.