The lives of the people in the Roman Empire in the late antiquity was not a happy one. There were many hardships for the common people. Heavy tax burden, constant war and decaying conditions of infrastructure ran rampant through the empire between 284-600 AD.
Before 284 AD. there was instability in the Roman government. Emperors were being assassinated and civil war was rampant. When Diocletian came to power in 284, he tried to put stability bank in the government throught the citizens expense. He laid heavy tax reforms that nearly crippled the common tax payer. Many people couldn't afford to pay the taxes, so they would run off and live in the forests. Diocletian made a lay, where a peasant that has children, the children would be peasants, children of soldiers would be soldiers, etc. Serfs were introduced to replace slaves, as slaves were getting expensive. One tax reform that crippled farmers and evil tax collectors that resulted, was tax-farming. A farmer had to give one third of their crops to the state as a tax. Large landowners who had many serfs had to give many of them to the military and therefore lose production and money.
The impact that constant war had on the ordinary people was also a burden. It got so bad that many peasants living on the fringes welcomed the barbarians into their lands to protect them against their own soldiers! The army had to get new soldiers, so conscription was put in place, much to the anger of the citizens. In certain tows, revolt would happen that resulted in harsh put downs by the army. The government had to stop conscription and bring barbarians, which led to the fall of Rome. The government was becoming so distant from the people that the citizens stopped caring about the government, and the city of Rome and other older cities started to go to ruins.
A consequence of the condition the people were in resulted in a decay of infrastructure. With the capitivity of its people by the government, the roads, the buildings and statues were left to rot and fall apart, especially after the fall.
