NationStates Jolt Archive

I have to write a letter to the emperor in Roman times when their falling and I have to come up with a solution to these-
- millitary problems {not enough members, weak}
- population sinking {Taxes going up because of population}
-Barbarians stronger{An Emperor was killed, Rome attacked, Lost lands}
-Poor Leadership and Bad goverment {Empire split in two, Rivals killing}
Help I'm stuck!!! Thankyou everyone.

Hmm, I`m probably wrong here...but doesnt hurt to say it:
- free slaves (incorporate in military in exchange for freedom, give them land to work on so you can take taxes)
- atract imigration (give them roman citizenship and large portions of land for free in the border regions in exchange for taxes and protecting the border from barbarians)
- for the political problems...i guess ironhand is needed....the weaker the emperor...the stronger the senat...so atract the more inteligent and honest senators on your side....and with their help clean the Senat

Hope this helps.....

thanks

Include a detailed scientific report on the workings of a nuclear bomb and a few grammes of weapons grade plutonium. That ought to sort their problems out ina jiffy!

How much do you know about the fall of the Empire?

The last years of the Western Empire must have brough untold horrors for millions. But it must not be thought that there was a sudden change in AD 476 from cultured comfort to barbarous squalor. The real tragedy lay in the gradual breakdown of the law, order and efficiency of the Roman Empire. There was no one to order or pay for the repair of roads, aqueducts or public buildings; as coinage lost its value, and barter took its place, all the organised systems of food distribution disappeared. The peasants, who had been tied to the land, in desperation rose up and murdered their masters: they let cultivated lands revert to scrubland and forest, and so soon died of starvation in their millions.

The economic decline in the Roman Empire had continued unchecked for decades before AD 476; the West was stripped bare and beggared by taxation. Huge resources remained in the East, however: so, in order to be nearer these resources, and to be better able to guard the Danube and the Euphrates where the greatest perils lay, Emperor Constantine moved from Rome and built a new capital on the site of the old Greek city of Byzantium, now renamed Constantinople, where the Roman Empire would last for a thousand years up until AD 1454.

Even in the West, the end was slow to come: despite the countless scares and unceasing struggles on one frontier or another, millions of Roman citizens were born, worked, grew old and died under the protection of the state: no matter how grim the taxation, no matter how tedious their daily round, their lives were infinitely more secure and desirable than those of the poor creatures outside the Empire's boundaries. But thousands of miles away in Asia the savage Huns began to move westward, driving the Alani and Goths before them. At last in AD 367 the defences broke, and the great armies shredded away; the Visigoths, Suebi and Vandals set up their own kingdoms within the Empire.

For a short time the west was regained and the Empire re-united by the colossal exertions of the great Theodosius. But in AD 408 Alaric the Goth broke into Italy, and sacked Rome two years later. In that year, AD 410, the legions stationed in Britain were withdrawn to defend the shrinking Empire. When the towns in Britain appealed to Rome for help against the invading Saxons, the emperor Honorius could do nothing but encourage them to look to their own defence. But, due to the overwhelming forces, the troops could not succeed. Before long the Goths and Vandals had occupied Spain: east Gaul was held by the Burgundians, the north by the Franks.

In AD 429 the Vandals moved on to north Africa. Then in AD 451 the Roman general Aetius won the last great victory of Roman arms when he drove the terrible Attila the Hun out of central France. But only four years later Vandal pirates sailing over from Africa sacked the city of Rome so thoroughly that half of it was left derelict for ever, and its population sunk to around twenty thousand, for all the major administrative services distributing food and water had broken down. And in AD 476 the last emperor of the West, Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by a mutinous captain of mercenaries, the German Odoacer. There was no more: the Empire of the West was over.

I hope this helps give a contextural background to your homework letter. I'd recommend writing to Diocletian, who was emperor from 284-305 AD. I studied Latin at GCSE, and A-level, so you can trust that the knowledge above is accurate!

I have to write a letter to the emperor in Roman times when their falling and I have to come up with a solution to these-
- millitary problems {not enough members, weak}
- population sinking {Taxes going up because of population}
-Barbarians stronger{An Emperor was killed, Rome attacked, Lost lands}
-Poor Leadership and Bad goverment {Empire split in two, Rivals killing}
Help I'm stuck!!! Thankyou everyone.

Have fun. I hope you did your homework. :eek:

Did you get the letter written?

Tell the emperor to abdicate and grant the emperorship to me. :D

No.

The immediate problem is the barbarian invasions. You need to bulk up your army - including increased spending and throw the barbarians out from the army. Employ only Romans and pacified locals, like the British Celts. But the cause of the barbarian invasions are the Huns. Perhaps sign a pact with the Germans to help them defeat the Huns and help them settle back in Germany. Only with a strong and stable nation can you hope to tackle the more long-term problems such as taxation inefficiency and demographic dislocation. The rich-poor divide in Rome was also appalling, so that needs much attention as well.

But then, I believe that the fall of the Roman Empire was really inevitable. The undemocratic and despotic political structure, combined with inefficient and unsustainable economic and social policies (based on slavery), would slowly decay the empire anyway. The barbarian invasions were simply pushes that hastened the decline.

I have to write a letter to the emperor in Roman times when their falling and I have to come up with a solution to these-
- millitary problems {not enough members, weak}
- population sinking {Taxes going up because of population}
-Barbarians stronger{An Emperor was killed, Rome attacked, Lost lands}
-Poor Leadership and Bad goverment {Empire split in two, Rivals killing}
Help I'm stuck!!! Thankyou everyone.

Oh that's easy. Appoint your brother governor in a key Southern province. Slash taxes for the wealthy, accuse Carthage of manufacturing elephants of mass destruction and invade them. Use the war to enrich your patrons and eliminate freedoms in order to consolidate power. Use that new Christian religion as a PR tool - this sect has some political potential.

Oh that's easy. Appoint your brother governor in a key Southern province. Slash taxes for the wealthy, accuse Carthage of manufacturing elephants of mass destruction and invade them. Use the war to enrich your patrons and eliminate freedoms in order to consolidate power. Use that new Christian religion as a PR tool - this sect has some political potential.

Lol Gartref - that sounds familiar... ;-)

Mainly, because I feel Rome was one of the most evil societies that existed, I would suggest a huge cultural makeover. Rome was highly oppressive, the elite enjoyed incredible luxuries while the rest of society faced near starvation, any semblance to being a republic had long since disappeared, and the economy rested on a constant supply of plunder (including slaves) taken from ever occurring conquests. So as to not get to far from the roman model, perhaps adopting a political stance more similar to Alexander the Great’s. Allow provinces to retain greater freedoms and the people in them to enjoy cultural and religious freedom. Also spread wealth a bit more fairly. Lower taxes on the average person and stop using tax money to aggrandize the city of Rome. This we'll help deal with a shrinking population and allow for the lowering of taxes as loyalty among the people goes up. It may also help military strength as the population's moral improves. Additionally, the greater autonomy of different regions will help reduce the problem of long distance leadership, relieving the need to split the empire.
End slavery, it enriches a few individuals while impoverishing everyone else as they now have to compete for work with an unpaid, enslaved pool of potential laborers. Abolishing slavery may help with security as well as neighboring countries have a bit less to worry about.
Lastly I would improve relations with neighboring nations. Expand trade and make it clear Rome has no intentions of attack. This will relieve military pressure and help enrich the nation as a whole.
Hope these suggestions were helpful. Good luck with the paper.
:)

I remember doing this 7-8 years ago i was like 13 or 14
Try doing it from Britain
Complain about the cold
Coin Clipping
Blame the Jews
Turn on the Christians
Hire Mercenaries
Pay off hordes
.Eh others have better ideas.

Include a detailed scientific report on the workings of a nuclear bomb and a few grammes of weapons grade plutonium. That ought to sort their problems out ina jiffy!

a few grams wont do it, in order to set of a chain reaction, you need to obtain a critical mass. In the first used plutonium bomb, 7 kg was 'made critical' by an implosion.