西方文明史 2).docVIP

英文学院研究生学期课程论文 课程名称 西方文明史 任课教师 王晓红 论文标题The Fall and Decline of Roman Empire 姓名 郝旭姣 班 级 英语语言文学2班 学号 2010493 日 期2011.3.28 INTRODUCTION The HYPERLINK /essay_search/Roman_Empire.html Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires in the history of mankind. In fact, it may even be considered the most powerful empire to have ever existed. However, the mighty empire of Rome has fallen. The Roman Empire emerged from the HYPERLINK /wiki/Roman_Republic Roman Republic when HYPERLINK /wiki/Julius_Caesar Julius Caesar and HYPERLINK /wiki/Augustus_Caesar \o Augustus Caesar Augustus Caesar transformed it from a republic into a monarchy. Rome reached its zenith in the 2nd century, and then fortunes slowly declined with many revivals and restorations along the way. This was a period in which the state structure, undermined by the barbarian invasions which provoked famine and destruction, was in deep economic and political crisis, and the population in Rome and in the countryside lived in precarious conditions. The decline of the HYPERLINK /wiki/Roman_Empire Roman Empire is one of the events traditionally marking the end of HYPERLINK /wiki/Classical_Antiquity \o Classical Antiquity Classical Antiquity and the beginning of the European HYPERLINK /wiki/Middle_Ages Middle Ages. Throughout the 5th century, the Empire’s territories in Western Europe and northwestern Africa, including Italy, fell to various invading or indigenous peoples in what is sometimes called the HYPERLINK /wiki/Migration_period \o Migration period Migration period. Although the eastern half still survived with borders essentially intact for several centuries until the HYPERLINK /wiki/Muslim_conquests \o Muslim conquests Arab expansion, the Empire as a whole had initiated major cultural and political transformations since the HYPERLINK /wiki/Crisis_of_the_Third_Century