Political Instability Although Rome had conquered land from Britain to the Black Sea, there were still problems in the empire. They were politically unstable, had economic and social issues, and their frontier was weakening. Rome never solved the problem of how to peacefully transer political power to a new leader. So, when the emporer died, rivals would fight each other to replace him. Because of this, sometimes instead of waiting for the emporer to die, rivals would mueder them. Economic And Social Issues Political instability led to other problems. To finance Romes huge army's, citizens were forced to pay heavy taxes. These taxes hurt the economy and drove many people into poverty. Trades also suffered. Weakening Frontiers The huge size of the empire made it hard to defend. By the 300's, Germanic tribes were pressing hard on the western borders. Many of these people settled inside the empire and were recruited into the army. But these soldiers often had little loyalty to Rome.