Mr. Haskell
Period 3
10/4/06
The Fall of the Roman Empire
Emperors were constantly fighting for power in Rome. One after another one would rise and fall, in a 50 year period there was at least 26 emperors. High taxes were made to support the army and the bureaucracy placed heavy burdens on business people and small farmers. A lot of poor farmers left their land to find protection from more wealthy landowners. Germans invaded the Roman Empire too, making it weaker each time until it finally collapsed. Rome was so low in forces they had to hire mercenaries, foreign soldiers serving for pay to defend their borders. Rome also lost the support of the people because of political reasons. The empire suffered economically as more and more taxes were made. The wealthy that had once supported its leaders were more involved in helping themselves so that they could feel good.
I don�t think this could happen to United States, at least half of it couldn�t. I don�t think that there will be killings for power between the presidents. Although, people don�t really care what�s going on in the government, most people buy or purchase things to help themselves and make them feel better. The United States just has to keep a watchful eye on what we do, and how we do it.