According the historian Edward Gibbons, the Roman Empire did not fall because enemies invaded and defeated it. It fell because of the internal loss of moral and spiritual values. He has attributed the fall of the Empire to:

1. The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.
2. Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace.
3. The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.
4. The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people.
5. The decay of religion faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to warn and guide the people.