This caused a lack in military personnel to effectively man the army. All of these things contributed to a less effective military. These things would eventually cause the military to be over extended, and vulnerable to attack and defeat. (Stipek "The Decline of the Military").
This weakened military suffered substantial defeats to the likes of the Germans, The Huns, and many minor Barbarian tribes. "One of the reasons for these defeats was that the Empire's borders were huge and ever-expanding, and defended by only approximately 500,000 troops, when 3 million or more were required to effectively secure the border" (Mehalek, "The Fall of The Roman Empire") Once the barbarians were able to fully infiltrate the roman borders they were able to cause serious damages within the roman empire, since there was nothing between the borders and the roman cities. Later the government noticed these flaws, and altered their defense strategy. Instead of locating troops only on the outer perimeter of the vast empire, units were places inside the cities. These troops were equipped to respond if a breach to the borders occurred. This was initially very successful, but further thinned the already weak border patrols. (Mehalek, "The Fall of The Roman Empire").
The Empire had grown to large for one emperor to successfully and effectively govern the land. Between the years 180 and 284 twenty-seven different emperors were recognized. The short-term rulers were finally brought to a halt with Diocletian, whom ruled from 284-304. Diocletian took the first substantial moves to partition the empire. He retained rule of the east and turned the west to an associate. (Forsythe, "From Republic To Empire") The resulting weakened Roman Empire caused the soldiers to have a lack of confidence and spirit. Soldiers had no reason to fight for the glory of the empire, there was no longer any imperial glory. They were fighting for low wages that weren't worth a death.
