There was once a time when Rome experienced the Pax Romana, also know as a long period of peace. However, beginning in the third century the government began to weaken. There were Political weaknesses, Economic problems, Military decline, and invasions.

During the political weakness the Roman government depended on the abilities of the emperor, buy many later emperors were corrupt and ineffective leaders. Without effective leaders that will efficiently weaken the government and its political powers. If Rome's sheer size made it difficult to govern, ineffective and inconsistent leadership only served to magnify the problem. Civil war trust the empire into chaos, and more than 20 men took the throne in the span of only 75 years. The Praetorian Guard-the emperor's personal bodyguards-assassinated and installed new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the highest bidder. The political rot also extended to the Roman Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in their leadership.

One of the main causes for the fall of the Roman Empire was the failing Economy and high inflation. The government was constantly threatened by bankruptcy due to the empire, the failing Economics, heavy taxation and high inflation was another cause for the fall of the Roman Empire. The majority of the inhabitants of the Roman Empire failed to share in the incredible prosperity of Rome. The amount of gold sent to the orient to pay for luxury goods led to a shortage of gold to make Roman coins. Roman currency was devalued to such an extent that a system of bartering returned to one of the greatest civilisations the world had ever known.
The most straight forward theory for western Rome’s collapse pins the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries but by the 300’s “barbarian” groups like the Goths had encroached beyond the empire's borders. The Romans weathered a Germanic uprising in the late fourth century, but in 410 the Visigoth King Alaric successfully sacked the city of Rome. The Empire spent the next several decades under constant threat before “the Eternal City” was raided again in 455, this time by the Vandals. Finally, in 476, the Germanic leader Odoacer staged a revolt and deposed the Emperor Romulus Augustulus. From then on, no Roman Emperor would ever again rule from a post in Italy, leading many to cite 476 as the year the western Empire suffered its death blow.

The great Empire of Rome, the greatest power to ever rule the mediterranean had fallen. It was unthinkable. Their faults in politics, economics, invasions and other things contributed to their fall. There was no one single cause; it was many things happening at once that caused the fall of rome. The leaders of today should look at rome's mistakes and be sure not to make the same ones again.