As the Foundations period, the time from 8000 B.C.E. to 600 C.E., drew to an end, the classical societies that helped to shape it were all suffering through periods of decline, for mostly similar reasons, as outlined in the following chart. The recovery from this decline shapes the beginning of our next chapter.
| Han | Western Rome | Gupta | |
| Time of Fall | 220 c.e. | 476 c.e. | 550 c.e. |
| Economic Reasons | Scholar officials were often exempt from taxes, and peasants often fled from tax collectors. As a result, a severe reduction in tax revenue financially crippled the empire. Long-distance trade decreased, but the Chinese were quite self-sufficient and were not severely hurt by this. | The rich landowning class often resisted taxation, driving away tax collectors with their private armies. Plus, the Catholic Churchs land was not taxable. Inflation and the drop in tax revenue crippled Romes economy. As the empire declined, so did trade, which relied on safe roads. | The government had great difficulty raising enough taxes to pay the army to protect its borders. |
| Political Reasons | The government was unable to check the power of the large private estate owners. The emperor relied heavily on the advice of his court officials and was often misinformed for the court officials personal gain. |
The government had trouble finding bureaucrats who could enforce the laws. Power struggles for the throne plagued the empire. From 235 to 284 C.E., 20 out of 23 emperors died a violent death. The division of the empire into two sections allowed the eastern portion to remain stronger, while the western portion weakened. | The regional powers of the Guptas allowed them to keep much of their administrative power. They eventually grew more powerful than the central government. |
| Social Reasons | The population increase led to smaller family plots and made it more difficult for the peasant class to pay taxes. | Diseases dramatically reduced the population, particularly the farming population. Germanic immigrants were mistreated, causing ill will. |
Regional governors declared regional independence, further weakening the empire's control. |
| Role of Nomadic Invasions | The Huns invaded, but only after the empire had already fallen. Nomadic invasions took place because the empire was no longer providing nomads with what they needed. | The Roman army could not defend against nomadic groups such as the Ostrogoths, Huns, and Visigoths. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 476 C.E. | The government was too weak to defend against the nomadic invasions of the Huns. |
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Protection of Borders |
Although the government had built the Great Wall to keep the Huns out, nomads were able to easily bypass the wall. |
The Roman empire had grown to an immense size, and borders were far from administrative centers. Germanic Goths and other barbarians were hired to man the legions, as not enough Romans could be recruited. These mercenaries had no loyalty to the emperor or incentive to die for an empire that disdained them. |
The Gupta Empire was not as centralized as the Mauryans under Ashoka. They remained divided into regions where local politicians made most of the laws and decisions. When the Huns attacked, the empire easily fell apart along the fault lines of the local regions. |
All the classical societies entered a period of recovery, during which they were decentralized following their collapse. The western half of the Roman Empire (Western Europe) experienced the most severe collapse. A few possible reasons include: