The Roman Empire was one of the greatest societies in human history. For thousands of years it flourished, having it's troubled times, but mostly succeeding in setting a precedence for all future societies. Many of the ideas and systems created in the Roman Empire are with us today, especially ideas about law. However, this great society fell, and fell quickly. Rome declined and fell within a century, remarkable considering how long they lasted. The problems that led to the fall are many, including cultural problems, economical problems, political and military problems, and increasing attacks from barbarian from the west.
             One of the most prevalent problems of the Romans in the later years was the increasing attacks on them from various barbarian tribes. This theory seems to be the most historically verifiable, as there is much archeological and written records to back this up. The Visigoths, a barbarian tribe from Germany, settled in the Roman Empire as allies during the second half of the fourth century. However, they soon revolted against the Romans, and this led to a nasty war, which killed the Emperor Valens in 378 b.c.
             This caused more and more barbaric tribes to enter the borders of the Roman Empire, and in 410 B.C. the Visigoths once again created chaos when they attacked Rome. Twenty-one years later, the Visigoths got rid of the ruler of the Western Roman Empire, and settled German kingdoms in the area. The eastern Roman Empire "continued with its center at Constantinople" (175).
             However, these invasions are not the only theory historians have given to account for the fall. Environmentally, Rome was becoming weak. Rome is known for its plumbing systems and advances, but their pipes were made of lead. We now know that these pipes could have led to lead poisoning, which could have affected the minds of the Romans, and some historians say it could have caused mass mental illness. There may have been a p...