Political Corruption

         Political corruption weakened the Roman Empire and ultimately led to its downfall. One example of this corruption is the way emperors were chosen in the third and fourth centuries. For a while, choosing a new emperor was a debate between the old emperor, the Praetorian Guard, and the army. Over time however, the Praetorian Guard gained the complete authority to choose the new emperor, who would reward them handsomely (Ten Reasons for the Fall of Rome). This system worked fairly well until the guard strangled the emperor, and the process of selling the throne to the highest bidder began (Andrews).The inefficiency of this system is astounding, as it allows an emperor to buy his throne. This system allowed for huge dispute over leadership, as well as civil wars. In addition, the Roman Empire had 37 emperors in a one-hundred year period, 25 of whom were assassinated. The system of choosing emperors was clearly not effective, nor were the chosen leaders liked by the people--if they were, the assassination rate would not be so high. This data also proves the instability of the government. When the leaders were weak and disliked, little could be done to improve the worsening state of the empire. Widespread political corruption condemned the Roman Empire to failure.









Noah Taylor