Fall of Rome

Rome, which at one time was viewed as industructable, was captured by Barbarians in what was known as the Sack of Rome. Two Hundred and four years later the Persians captured another important city of Rome, Jerusalem, in what is referred to as the Capture of Jerusalem. Although there are many differences in what led to the two cities being taken over, one similarity in the explanation is a huge factor in the reason as to why the cities fell; Betrayal from within.

When Rome fell, the empire was under question. This was the first time that the capital had fallen. It was significant because it showed how much weaker the empire had become. Worldviews of the empire didn’t look Rome as the way they used to look at it. In Jordanes Gettica, he explains how the Romans and Barbarians began to use eachother in order to better their own situations. The Romans used the Barbarians as their soldiers in wars. The Romans would then pay the Barbarians off in order to keep them happy. The Romans no longer were able to get the money to pay the Visigoths off. The Visigoths in turn showed their anger by capturing the city of Rome. This showed the decline of the western empire. On the other hand the Eastern part of the empire began to grow, assuring outsiders that the Rome was still in control.

A similar account happened when Rome’s city of Jerusalem fell in what was part of the Roman-Persian war. In 614 BC the Persians stood outside of Jerusalem asking for them to surrender. The Romans did not surrender and the Persians began to blast the walls outside of the city with ballistas and other military engines. Once the Greek troops caught eye of the overwhelming Persian army encamped outside the city's walls, they fled, fearing a suicidal battle preceding the siege. The battle lasted 21 days until the