fight off invasions and to continue expanding, Rome would quickly felt the repercussions. Another internal problem that exemplifies the corruption of Roman officials was regulating the succession of the throne. For example, Constantine caused several riots and he killed many people to take control of the throne. His sons even murdered their relatives while seeking the throne (Haywood 108). Usually when a Roman emperor would die there was not a set successor to his throne. Wars between families and killings would occur in order to succeed the dead emperor. During the decline of Rome, people were very ambitious and thought only of themselves. Succession to the throne was often granted to the man who was the strongest and fought their way into the throne.Another problem that stemmed from corruption was the growing division between the western and eastern parts of the empire. The brutal conquest of Eastern territories left those conquered with resentment towards the West. There were also many different conditions that each side lived under such as, the East spoke primarily Greek while the West spoke Latin (Haywood 107). The division originated when Theodosius divided the empire in two and split the empire between his two sons. The decision to split up the empire would be an everlasting consequence. The division between the two became more intense and the West started to diminish. The West was being invaded by outside forces such as the Visigoths, Huns, Ostrogoths, Slavs, and the Bulgars. At the same time, the West still had to maintain proper reinforcement for the East. Here the declining average lifespan and birth rate also burdened the West. The West were always few in numbers compared to their enemies (Katz 112). The military leaders of the West were also non efficient. Because of the decline in the number of men, the Western generals paid mercenaries and Germans to join the Army. The East were also short on men ...
