The Fall of Rome

When most people hear about a great empire, the first thing they do is think of Rome. Rome has a rich history and it all started with one man, Alexander the Great. Sadly, all good things have to come to an end and Rome eventually fell into a downward spiral. Although Greece was conquered, Rome still had a little life in it but declined over hundreds of years due to uncaring citizens, slaves, and welfare.
Rome, like every society, had a social order. The majority of that social order was comprised of people from a lower class. In Rome, a lower class person was not given political responsibilities therefore they did not feel connected to their cities. They stood on the sidelines and watched the empire slip into economic decline.
Due to the suffering economy, many people would sell themselves into slavery to repay their debt. This led to one person owning many slaves and they used them much in the same ways people in the southern states of the U.S.A. would before the civil war. They would have them farm large areas of land and because they would not have to pay the slaves, they could sell their crop a lot cheaper than the small farmers could. The farmers then would move to the cities in search of work, only to add to the unemployment there.
When the taxes of Rome went up, people quit their jobs to avoid paying them. And due to quitting, they were paid welfare by the government. They soon learned that they could expect money even though they were doing