Question

fall of rome
\the name of the legion remains indeed to this day in our armies, but its
strength and substance are gone...care is no longer taken to replace the
soldiers, who after serving their full time, have received their discharges. the
vacancies continually happening by sickness, discharges, desertion and various
other casualties, if not supplied every year or even every month, must in time
disable the most numerous army. another cause of the weakness of our legions
is that in them the soldiers find the duty hard, the arms heavy, the rewards
distant and the discipline severe.\

• excerpt from flavius vegetius renatus \the military institutions of the

romans,\ written approximately 390 a.d.
question: based on the passage what was a major problem faced by the roman
empire after the year 300 c.e.?

the roman army was losing soldiers and they were not being replaced with new men.

the government no longer supported the military as it had once done.

sickness and disease ravaged the military, killing many high-ranking officers.

internal conflict between soldiers was causing significant harm to the roman legions.

Explanation:

To solve this, we analyze each option against the passage:

• Option 1: The passage says "Care is no longer taken to replace the soldiers...vacancies continually happening...if not supplied...must disable the army" and also mentions issues with soldier retention (duty hard, etc.), so this matches the army losing soldiers and not replacing them.
• Option 2: The passage doesn't mention government support for the military, so eliminate.
• Option 3: The passage mentions sickness as a cause of vacancies but not that it killed high - ranking officers, so eliminate.
• Option 4: The passage doesn't talk about internal conflict between soldiers, so eliminate.

Answer:

A. The Roman army was losing soldiers and they were not being replaced with new men.