Historian and philosopher Will Durant said it best, “A great civilization is not conquered from without until it has first destroyed itself from within.” The observation speaks to the multitude of factors which contributed to the decline and ultimate demise of the Roman Empire. Indeed, many of these factors were of an internal dynamic.
Barbarian tribes had been welcomed into Roman society in an effort to offset a lower birth rate among Romans. Eventually, with the continued down slide of the Roman economy, Barbarians often found themselves just as well off as Roman citizens. Barbarians were also welcomed into the Roman legions, as were other mercenaries, picking up and mastering the tactics of the world's greatest military force, to be used against them at a later time.
Yet another group of foreigners in their midst played a significant role in the empire's down fall. The Romans' penchant for entertainment on a grand scale was evidenced in the popularity of gladiatorial events, battles to the death between enslaved men. However, led by Spartacus, a group of slaves rebelled and escaped, defeating various groups of Roman forces along the way. With each victory, more and more slaves flocked to the rebel group. While the slave group eventually swelled to perhaps approaching one hundred thousand, some historians maintain the initial revolts would have been defeated far more quickly and at far less cost if the bulk of Roman legions weren't deployed elsewhere, fighting wars.
Another factor cited in the Roman empire's decline was the increasing lack of homogeneity, a result of having absorbed too many cultures, too quickly. Of course, with the rapid population growth that accompanied conquest, additional strains were placed on resources, not the least important of which was food. General moral decline, political corruption, rampant unemployment, unstable economic conditions and more are also mentioned as contributing factors. Finally, even religion is credited with a role, as some suggest the acceptance of Christian beliefs softened the society, with a spirit of pacifism ruling the day, ultimately making it more difficult for Rome to defend herself against threats.
Note, in summary, some of the contributing factors in the fall of the Roman Empire: a proliferation of no-Romans in their midst, many who achieved equal wealth to Roman citizens and some who received valuable military training; lack of a (homogenous) national identity; moral degradation and political corruption; an unstable economy including high unemployment; a collective softness which manifested itself in a lack of desire to protect herself.
There is no better time to inject yet another quote, this one generally attributed to philosopher, George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are destined to repeat it.” Repeat it, indeed. Today, we have no Spartacus leading a slave rebellion, but we have all the other pieces to the puzzle of self-destructive ruin which the Romans once assembled.
Struggling with a porous border attributable to personal and political corruption, our nation is not so slowly being overrun by people of another land, and another language. Even as I write, certain presidential candidates suggest a path to citizenship for illegal aliens who serve in our military. Our population is growing too rapidly, mostly among those outsiders who have been allowed to come, if not welcomed. Our food chain will only become more stressed as a result. Unemployment remains high and many citizens of the United States find themselves out of work or competing against non-citizens who will work for less. Greedy and unscrupulous business owners driven by profit margin continue hiring illegal aliens, while corrupt and inept government continues to enforce immigration law through not much more than lip service. The resistance to assimilation is painfully obvious among the various subcultures which continue to grow, preventing the homogenous dynamic necessary for a nation to thrive. Finally, while I won't be so bold as to attribute it to Christian beliefs, there can be no denying the existence of a national softness, evidenced in our lack of will to fight and win wars, none more important than the war against the illegal invasion we now find ourselves in the midst of.
History is littered with great civilizations, flaming stars that ultimately burned out. The question is, how can a developed and thriving society simply die away?
The answer to that question may lie in another of Durant's observations, “Civilization begins with order, grows with liberty and dies with chaos.”
Chaos, indeed. The Roman Empire never recovered from hers. It remains to be seen if we will recover from ours.
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