The Roman Empire began its decline from the third century AD suffering a long and painful agony, due to the inability of their emperors. They were unable to control the internal crisis and were unable to stop the barbarian invasions.
1. Internal causes
1.1 Weakness of the Roman government
It had its origin in the mismanagement of the rulers, corruption of the officials and the ambition of the generals, which unleashed civil wars for more than a century.
Under these conditions the army became powerful and ambitious, electing their generals as emperors, and after a time they assassinated him.
Another cause was the persecutions of the emperors against the Christians and the social and economic crisis.
1.2 Division of the Roman Empire
Theodosius the last Roman emperor of Spanish origin, before dying divided the Empire between his children. Arcade and Honorary , in the year 395 AD.
Arcade , the largest, ruled the Eastern Roman Empire :which included the territories of Greece, Macedonia, Turkey, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The capital was Constantinople.
Honor the minor, kingdom in the Western Roman Empire; the territories that currently belong to Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England and North Africa. The capital was the city of Milan, but in practice it remained Rome.
2. External causes
2.1 The barbarian invasions
The barbarians were tribes that lived outside the limits of the Roman Empire and had not been dominated. They were towns that dedicated themselves to agriculture and grazing.
Coming from various parts of Europe and Asia, they invaded the Roman Empire at different times. Some groups entered peacefully to serve the army, in the fields and in industry.
2.2 The main invasions
a. The Visigoths
Coming from the Danube region. They occupied the south of Gaul and the Iberian Peninsula, where they established the Visigothic Kingdom , with its capital in Toledo.
b. The Ostrogoths
Pushed by the Huns, from the shores of the Black Sea, they invaded Italy and there they founded the Ostrogothic Kingdom .
c. The Angles and the Saxons
Tribes from the coasts of the North Sea, crossed the English Channel and settled in England.
d. The Suevi, Vandals and Alans
Faced with pressure from the Huns, the Alamos abandoned their lands in southern Russia and reached the territory of the Vandals and Sueves along the Danube River. These united tribes crossed the river Rhine and were rejected by the Romans in Gaul. Defeated, they headed west and occupied Spain.
e. The Vandals
They subsequently occupied North Africa; from there they crossed the Mediterranean and sacked Rome.
f. The Huns
Coming from Mongolia, under the command of Attila, they crossed the Rhine River, devastated Belgium and reached northern Gaul. Attila called the Scourge of God , he was defeated by a barbarian-Roman army under the command of the Roman general Aetius, in the battle of the Campos Catalaunicos on the banks of the river Marne. The following year from Germany, they invaded Italy again, but did not devastate Rome thanks to the intervention of Pope Leo I . After terrorizing for half a century, Attila retreated to the Danube region, where he died, dissipating the Hun threat to Europe.
g. The Franks and Burgundians
They came from Germany, crossed the Rhine river and settled in Gaul.
3. Fall of the Western Roman Empire
After a series of emperors in Rome, Romulus Augustulus, a ten-year-old boy, assumed power. Odoacer, barbarian chief of the Heruli, took advantage of this situation, and in 476 a.C. at the head of his troops he invaded Italy and deposed the emperor.
The Western Roman Empire was coming to an end . Only the Eastern Roman Empire continued to exist, with its capital in Constantinople.