Rome's eventual fall were unrelated to its greatness. Goldsworthy feels that ultimately the fall of the empire was due to their inability to solve their succession problem. These constant civil wars sapped Rome's military strength, left the borders weakened which permitted 'barbarian' incursions which damaged the Roman ability to collect taxes making it harder to fund the army. Furthermore the army became the largest drain on the treasury and a constant drain on imperial finances.

Rome itself began to lose relevance by the late 3rd CE as the emperors spent more and more time on the borders defending them from various threats. With the Tetrarchy, 4 capitals were setup facing the largest threatened areas. Constantine re-united the empire but moved the capital to Constantinople which was a more centralized position for communications. After the fracture of the empire, the capital of the western empire was shifted to Ravenna which was more easily defended. Rome continued to act as the cultural and religious capital but from a political and military standpoint, the city had no relevance. Emperors would only infrequently visit the city.