There are several reasons the Roman Empire fell. 1, The water pipes that ran from the aqueducts were made primarily of lead so the entire population was slowly dieing of lead poisoning which caused most people to die before they turned 40. 2, As the Roman Empire grew, it took a lot of slaves from conquered lands and put them to work in the Roman cities which caused a decrease in demand for workers which resulted in mass numbers of homeless people unable to find jobs. 3, To keep the unemployed people from revolting, the government had giant festivals and numerous holidays when people received free food and entertainment that the Empire couldn't afford. 4, The Empire was too big for the Roman Legions to adequately defend so mercenaries were hired to help with defence even though they were se