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Augustus at the turn of the milennium foresaw the problem, and set about stabilising the borders on the defensible Rhine-Danube line, and in the Middle East and North Africa he worked on diplomacy.
Instability in the empire started with internal struggles for leadership. Then the successive migration westwards of Goths, Vandals, Huns, etc created problems of defence, then absorption, which delayed but did not overcome the eventual collapse of the western part of the empire, which ceased to have an emperor after 476 CE. The Empire lived on in the east centered on Constantinople, shrinking until captured by the Turks in 1453 CE.
While the internal turmoil between contestants for the emperorship was a destabilising factor, the basic fact is that the borders were simply too long and open to be defended against the hordes from the east which kept pouring in.
The decline of the Roman Roman Empire started in what has been called the Crisis of the Third Century, during which:
a) There were constant invasions across the frontiers of the empire which massively overstretched the army
b) There was a string of military rebellions and usurpations with as many as 35 usurper emperors. Two parts of the empire broke away for a short time.
c) There was runaway inflation.
Hyperinflation was caused by many years of debasement of the Roman coins. The silver and gold content of silver and gold coins had been continually decreased by many emperors to make more coins to finance their expenses and to increase the size and the pay of the army. This devalued the coins. The coins eventually came to have virtually no value. They had as little as only 5 % of precious metal. This led to runaway inflation. The usurper emperors made this worse by issuing their own coins, which further increased the supply of money. The effects of out of control inflation were:
1) A breakdown in trade. It became difficult to exchange goods with a worthless currency.
2) The urban economy collapsed. Manufacturing in cities shrunk because their goods, which were for long-distance trade, could not be traded.
3) Agricultural production on the large landed estates became localised. Sales of crops for the cities decreased and these estates concentrated on production for local barter.
4) Many people migrated from the cities to the countryside and the population of the cities shrunk.
5) The owners of the large estates employed the migrants from the cities as servile labour. These people lost their rights and became tied to their landlords.
6) Distressed peasants who were leaseholders on the large estates were leaving their land in search for better opportunities. They were often turned into servile labour in the large estates as well.
6) The tax revenue of the state decreased, while expenditure increased as the size of the army increased. The mentioned invasions also led to greater reliance on a much expanded cavalry, which was expensive.
7) Taxation was increased and was raised in the form of demanding goods, which did not help the economy. Emperor Diocletian resorted to confiscating goods. These were ended by Constantine, but taxation remained a burden on the people for the rest of the history of the empire.
Constantine the Great managed to bring inflation under control by creating a new and stable sold coin (the solidus). However, this benefitted only those who could afford gold coins. The masses had to make do with copper token money (the follis) which had been created because the previous coins had collapsed. The follis was very vulnerable to inflation. The overall result of the crisis was a decline of the economy of the empire which became fragmented and localised. Trade did not regain its previous levels; the economy remained less based on money and the gap between the rich and the poor who had to rely of the vulnerable follis widened. The changes in the economic structure created by the crisis were irreversible.
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