The Romans referred to groups outside their empire as barbarians. These included various tribes from Northern Europe like the Goths, Vandals, Huns, Franks and Saxons. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 AD, while the Vandals sacked Rome in 455 AD. Internal weaknesses, along with invasions by these barbarian groups, contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. However, the Eastern Roman Empire survived for another thousand years as the Byzantine Empire.

1. Introduction
The Romans fought the barbarians at the borders of the Roman Empire for many years. In some cases, barbarians
became part of the Roman Empire. In other cases, they fought wars and, eventually, sacked the city of Rome bringing
about the end of the Western Roman Empire.
Who were the barbarians?
The Romans referred to people groups outside the Roman Empire as barbarians. The barbarians had different
cultures than the Romans. They dressed differently, ate different foods, and had different religions. They did not have
the same level of government, education, or engineering as the Romans.
The fall of Rome
This is an example of the domino effect. The domino effect comes from the idea of placing dominoes on their sides,
one next to another, and then intentionally knocking the first one in the line over into its neighboring domino. This
creates a chain reaction and all of the dominoes fall down, one after another. For the fall of Rome, it was the Huns
invading from the east that caused the domino effect, they invaded (pushed into) the Goths, who then invaded (pushed
into) the Roman Empire.

2. Here is a brief list of Internal Causes for the Fall of Rome (causes from within the Roman Empire):
 Christianity was less tolerant of other cultures and religions. Example: Emperor Theodosius ended the
Olympic Games because they honored Zeus.
 The split of the empire into two parts weakened the empire.
 Roman soldiers were loyal to their military leaders, not necessarily the emperor
 A failing economy
 High taxes
 Romans became lazy and comfortable
 Romans hired barbarian mercenaries to guard the borders
Sources:
https://www.penfield.edu/webpages/jgiotto/onlinetextbook.cfm?subpage=1492781
https://www.ducksters.com/history/ancient_rome/barbarians.php
Types of barbarians
Barbarian Peoples and Invasions of Rome
The barbarians weren't just one people group. The term "barbarian" was used to describe a wide variety of different
peoples that had little to do with each other. Many of the groups that attacked and invaded the Roman Empire were
Germanic tribes from Northern Europe.
Goths - One of the most powerful and organized groups of barbarians were the Goths. The Goths were divided into
two major branches: the Visigoths and the Ostrogoths. The Visigoths took over much of Western Europe and battled
Rome constantly in the late 300's. Under their leader Alaric I, the Visigoths sacked Rome in 410.

3. VISIGOTHS

4. OSTROGOTHS
Vandals - The Vandals migrated from Northern Europe to the Iberian Peninsula (Spain) and eventually to North Africa
where they established a powerful kingdom. They established a peace treaty with Rome in 442 AD, but attacked
Rome in 455 when the treaty was broken. Under the Vandal King Genseric, the Vandals sacked Rome in 455 AD and
plundered the city for two weeks.

5. VANDALS, ALANS AND SUEVES
Huns - The Huns were a nomadic warrior people who came from the east. Under the leadership of their leader
Attila, the Huns defeated the Ostrogoths and invaded the Eastern Roman Empire. They then moved to conquer
much of Roman Gaul (France). In 452, the Huns invaded Italy. They plundered much of Italy, but did not take the
city of Rome.

6. HUNS
Franks - The Franks were a number of Germanic tribes that settled in the region that is today the country of France
(France gets its name from the Franks). They began invading the borders of the Roman Empire around 300 AD. The
Franks truly became powerful after the fall of the Western Roman Empire and would eventually become one of the
leading empires in Western Europe.

7. FRANKS
Saxons - As Rome began to weaken, the Saxons moved from Western Europe and began to invade Great Britain.
They took over many Roman settlements in Great Britain as the Emperor was too weak to send the Romans in
Great Britain aide.
ANGLOS AND SAXONS

8. Others - There were many other peoples that the Romans referred to as barbarians including the Celts, Thracians,
Parthians, Picts, Lombards, and the Burgundians.
Interesting Facts About Ancient Roman Barbarians
 The word "barbarian" comes from the Greek word "barbaros."

9.  The Romans often talked bad about the Greeks and looked down on them, but they did not consider them
barbarians.
 The Romans often allied with various barbarian tribes. They would use one barbarian tribe to help them fight
another.
 Many barbarians became part of the Roman Empire.
 Rome absorbed many aspects of the different barbarian cultures that they conquered.
 Barbarian men often served as soldiers in the Roman army.
The fall of the city of Rome and the Western Empire did not put an end to the entire Roman Empire. The Eastern
Empire survived for another thousand years. The Eastern Empire is sometimes called the Byzantine Empire, after the
capital city of Byzantium. Greek was the main language in the Byzantine Empire, not Latin.