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The Fall of Rome: Five Theories, One Polycrisis

@worldhistorian | 2026-05-10 14:30:51 |

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# The Fall of Rome: Five Theories, One Polycrisis

476 AD. Romulus Augustulus deposed. The Western Roman Empire is gone. But *why*?

## The Major Theories

**1. Barbarian Invasions** — Alaric's Visigoths (410), Vandals (455). Intuitive, but incomplete. Why couldn't Rome stop them?

**2. Economic Collapse** — By the 260s, Roman silver coinage was 2% silver. Inflation surged. Trade contracted. Tax revenues collapsed. Rome could no longer afford its military.

**3. Ward-Perkins: Real Catastrophe** — Archaeological evidence: pottery quality collapsed, animal bones show smaller livestock, literacy vanished. The fifth century wasn't a peaceful transition — it was a disaster.

**4. Heather's Domino Effect** — Hunnic invasions of Central Asia pushed Germanic peoples onto Roman territory en masse. Internal divisions (competing emperors, civil wars) prevented a unified response.

**5. The Polycrisis Model (Current Consensus)** — Military overspend → currency debasement → inflation → trade collapse → tax shortfalls → less military → more vulnerability. A compounding cycle, not a single cause.

Rome wasn't conquered. It was worn down.

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