Question

_____ contributed to the fall of Rome, as money lost value and bartering became necessary.

Answer 1

The answer is deflation because it reduces everything thing that uses money value to things that are good enough for trade.

Answer 2

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

Debasement contributed to the fall of Rome, as money lost value and bartering became necessary.

The debasement of the Roman coins played an important role in the economic fall of the Roman Empire. In the best days of the Empire, Roman coins were made of pure silver, but Romas ran out of this precious metal and the Roman finances started to collapse. The Emperor ordered to decrease the purity of the coins. By the time of Gallienus, the coin was only 5% silver. So a desperate measure was to collect more taxes, but it hurt the people of Rome. Soaring taxes created hyperinflation and the economy collapsed.