Fall Of The Roman Empire

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and so did the economics.
Economics of the empire hit an all time low with continued spending and high taxation to support the army. According to the excerpt by Herbert J. Meller, “while the empire was expanding, its prosperity was fed by plundered wealth and by new markets in the semi-barbaric provinces. When the empire ceased to expand, however, economic progress soon ceased.” Furthermore, the supply of gold was eroding as Rome was no longer bringing in new sources through expansion but still paying foreigners for goods. Emperors tried to mint new coins out of silver and copper. The result was inflation, or a dramatic rise in prices as people failed to accept this currency at face value. With the civil wars and other tribal invasions, the people were forced to support the military. In order to raise money for the army, the government raised taxes. According to Henry Haskell, the government made people put their money in for “the maintenance of the army and of the ...

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