Read the passage and choose the best answer for each question.
For hundreds of years, Rome was arguably the greatest civilization in the world. It started as a small town on the Tiber River in the Italian Peninsula. Then, first as a republic and later as an empire, it grew so that it controlled a huge amount of land in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. Then, in the fifth century A.D., the Roman Empire collapsed. Rome would never again be a great power in the world.
There were many reasons that the Roman Empire fell. [I] For instance, there were breakdowns in its political, economic, and social organization. [II] In addition, the empire itself had been split into two halves – an eastern and a western empire. This was done with the intention of strengthening Rome, but in reality, the move actually weakened it. The final major reason for the fall of Rome was a series of invasions of its land by Germanic tribes. [III]
For many years before its fall, Rome had been in turmoil. Emperors reigned for short periods of time before they were deposed and replaced by someone else. [IV] The empire was in a seemingly constant state of civil war, which disrupted Roman society. The Romans began to depend upon foreigners to man the armies that they kept on the borders of the empire. These foreigners had little or no allegiance to the empire, so Rome's defenses were weakened. Rome's economy also went into decline. Most of the free people in the empire were either rich elites or lowly farmers. There was no strong middle class in the empire. Corruption at all levels of the government caused additional economic problems.
In an effort to solve many of these problems, Emperor Diocletian split the Roman Empire into two halves In the late fourth century. The Eastern Roman Empire, which later became known as the Byzantine Empire, started to flourish. Its emperor ruled from the city Constantinople, which was built by Emperor Constantine I. As for the Western Roman Empire, which was ruled from Rome, it declined further. During the fifth century, barbarian invaders conquered much of its territory. Its border lands were overrun. Finally, the last emperor, Romulus Augustus, was overthrown by Germanic invaders led by Odoacer. He then assumed the title of king of Rome.