Problem
In discussing historical explanations for Rome's decline, we can identify two extremes. J.B. Bury argued that its "gradual collapse... was the consequence of a series of contingent events" and therefore a "general cause" could not be stated. Edward Gibbon, on the other hand, held that the situation "is simple and obvious...." Rome's decline was a "natural and inevitable effect of... the extent of conquest" and the failure to control the army needed for it. What social, economic, and/or political factors brought about the collapse of the Roman Empire in the west? Was the collapse in some meaningful sense inevitable, if so, from what cause(s)? Alternatively, was it the accidental product of events; which and why?