Fall of Rome - the militarys role :: Ancient Rome Roman History

Fall of Rome - the militarys roleThe Militarys Role in the start extinct of the End of RomeThe fall of Rome occurred over many centuries and was caused by several factors including military decay, barbarian invasions, and the failure of the government to respond to these problems. go these problems existed to a greater of lesser degree, since the end of the 2nd century, their effects were intensify by the reforms of the emperors Constantine and Diocletian. These reforms changed Roman life as well as the boldness of the Roman army, moving it away from its classical infantry-based structure to a more than(prenominal) cavalry-based system. The army was reorganized into lightly armed troops called limitanei who defended the border, and large sprightly armies composed of troops called comitatenses. The border troops were given land to have a go at it on around forts they protected. This structure led to farming becoming the reflect of the border troops so that they could feed as well as protect those on the frontier. Over time, this in turn led to out of date weaponry and neglect in training. The weakness of these troops meant that more diligent troops were needed to compensate, and an easily penetrable border as a result of the weakness led to the need for highly economical mobile armies. Since the cavalry were the most mobile unit of the army, they began to be the fortunate military unit. With forces strung along the border and concentrated large mobile armies, an increased number of recruits were required however, land owners were reluctant to let themselves or their kin be recruited because that left(a) less workers for their farms. At the same time, the instalment of the empire into outer imperial provinces and inner provinces controlled by the Senate had its own effect. Since the armies more often than not remained in the outer imperial provinces, the people of the inner provinces were out of impression with the army and were no longer attracte d to service, again reducing the available mob of recruits. One reason that many avoided Army service was because Roman citizenship was straightaway offered freely, where in prior times military service had been a thoroughfare to citizenship. The result was less manpower available for Rome. The Roman army was left with no choice but to recruit barbarians, who could in this way two find employment where they had no skills, and hope to obtain Roman citizenship.