The Roman Republic was in trouble. It had three major problems. First the Republic needed money to run, second there was a lot of graft and corruption amongst elected officials, and finally crime was running wild throughout Rome. Rome became the most powerful state in the world by the first century BCE through a combination of military power, political flexibility, economic expansion, and more than a bit of good luck. This expansion changed the Mediterranean world and also changed Rome itself.
Now for the Roman Empire, as a Roman, you had education, culture and the protection of the largest military empire on your side. Living in this Empire also had some notable drawbacks. The empire had extreme poverty rates, threats of being in a constant state of war, and the government could impose huge tax burdens on the people. The most straightforward theory for Western Rome's collapse pins the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries, but by the 300s “barbarian” groups like the Goths had encroached beyond the Empire's borders.