The Roman Empire stretched from Hadrian’s Wall to northern Iraq and from the mouth of the Rhine to the Atlas Mountains of North Africa. It was the largest state that western Eurasia has ever seen. It was also extremely long-lived. Roman power prevailed over most of these domains for five hundred years — and all this in a period where the speed of bureaucratic functioning and of military response rattled along at 45 kilometers a day, something like one tenth of modern counterparts. Measured in terms of how long it took real people to get places, the Roman Empire was arguably ten times as big as it appears from the map.
The Roman Empire was an influential reign of time, land, and society. With people who demonstrated such qualities as gravitas and dignity, it was quite an empire to defeat. Because of its vastness, in size and in influence, its decline cannot be attributed to one pinpointed cause. Instead, the fall of Rome is reasoned to have occurred because of militaristic, economic, political and societal problems: some controllable, and some consequential. Specifically, disease, political and economic turmoil, and social and societal change, all attributed to the downward spiral of the Roman Empire.
After the fall of Rome, anarchy took place in the parts of Europe that it occupied. During this anarchy, civilization deteriorated to its most basic level. People had to fight for survival and trial wars ravaged the populous. Culture was absent and the standard of living was horrible.
“The loss of Roman civil infrastructure meant a real decline in quality of life. The Church was primarily urban and in no position to control rural areas, nor inclined much to do so. By this time Church leaders had absorbed a good deal of Roman elitism and love of comfort; they looked down on country dwellers and were hardly inclined to leave the comforts of the city for rural areas.” (Dutch ) This period of chaos would not have occurred if the Roman Empire had continued to exist. Europe would not have fallen behind other nations such as the Arabs and Orientals in technological advancement. These cultures were far more advanced than European culture during the Middle Ages.
Also, Rome was famous for its legions. They were the supreme fighting force in those days. The military deteriorated toward the end of the empire. The soldiers in the army were loyal to their own personal general and not the emperor. They began to fight for their general and not their country. They were not motivated by patriotism, rather by money. This led to the hiring of mercenaries instead of patriotic troops fighting for their country. The corruption of the generals also affected the army. The generals fought for whoever would pay them the most. They felt no connection to the empire or obligation to defend it. They were seeking their own personal gain. This is a reason for the fall of Rome. Its military no longer defended it against foreign threats.
Many aspects of today's society have been affected by ancient Rome . Creation of law, development of democratic government practices, influences in language, literature, art, infrastructure, and city-planning are all areas where the influences of Roman ideas can be seen.
“As the Romans conquered their empire so did they bring with them their language. The language of their army was Latin, so too was it the language of the governors and office workers in the provinces of the empire. Lasting witness to this language which was once spoken all over the ancient empire, are the many languages which in time developed from it. French, Italian, Portuguese, Rhaeto-Romantsch (spoken in the Canton Grison in Switzerland), Rumanian, Spanish... All these languages have developed out of Latin.The Catholic church still speaks and prays in Latin today. Its head, the Pope, is still today called the Pontifex Maximus (the greatest high-priest).” (Roman Achievements)
Additionally, Roman influences have had considerable importance in the