(1) more has been written on the fall of rome than on the death of any other civilization (2) while scholars are still
debating this issue today, most agree that a number of factors led to rome's demise at the hands of germanic attackers
in 476 ad (3) first, rome was vulnerable to outside attackers because of internal political instability (4) the roman
constitution did not have a clear law of succession (5) as a result, each time a ruler died, civil war would break out-
killing thousands and causing great political struggle (6) another factor that made rome ripe for conquest was severe
economic turmoil (7) rome's economy relied heavily upon slave labor (8) however, years of harsh work and poor living
conditions reduced the population of rome's slaves (9) fewer slaves working on farms meant that the empire had
tewer goods for trade and less food for its citizens (10) rome was also weakened by a lack of manpower (11) the
empire's long borders required more soldiers than were available to protect it from attack (12) in addition, the need for
soldiers abroad meant that there were fewer people to keep peace and order within the empire
a2. the major supporting details of this passage are
a events
effects