When Rome Fell

Posted by Lorren on November 12, 2008

It’s not really a secret that America has a lot in common with ancient Rome. We’re a powerful country with influence that spreads far and wide, we both started off in a representational democracy (well, America still technically is), and our latter years have been marked with a moral decline, citizens trying to vote goodies for themselves, and government corruption. Of course, there are things that are different as well… slavery isn’t legal in America any more, and we’re not feeding Christians to the lions… yet. But there are plenty of similarities, and I’m wondering how Rome ended. The saying goes, that those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it.

We all know that the Visigoths invaded Rome. Right now I’m watching The Dark Ages, which I Tivo’d off the History Channel, and I learned something that I didn’t know. The Visigoths were trying to overthrow Rome because they were desparate. They didn’t have any food, and thought that the Romans had some. Inside the city, however, they had nothing to eat. They were starving, and it got so bad that people were trying to buy the bodies of people that just got killed in the gladiator matches so they would have something to eat.

In the 3rd century, the rulers of Rome were inept and corrupt, and civil war erupted. Rome’s population dwindled, and they were left with fewer people that could defend their borders. People started to invade, and the power vacuum left behind created the time of uncertainty, illiteracy, and population decline of the Medieval period.

If we in the US can not get our act together, will we go the way of ancient Rome? We’re unlikely to endure a siege by an invading army, but if our money supply loses all of its value, will our businesses be taken over by foreigners? Will other countries cut us off from all imports? Will the societal structures that we depend on decay? I hope that we do not have to find out.