THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE---Compare and Contrast with America’s precarious position in the world.

America is among the greatest nations in the world. America is the financial engine that powers the world economy. Just as The Roman Empire’s place in the world is complicated and complex, so is that of the United States of America. As the son of an immigrant, I am especially aware of the opportunity and uniqueness of this great country. As a historian, educator, and patriot, it is my responsibility to look soberly at America’s place in history and the present day world. After WWII, America was the lone leader and super power of the free world. Based on capitalism, democracy, military might, strong leadership, ingenuity, and moral clarity, America was relied upon to lead the world forward. Europe and Asia were rebuilding after a destructive period of war (WWI and WWII) and the Great Depression. The free world huddled at America’s feet, while Russia ruled with an iron fist behind the Iron Curtain. From WWII through the 1980’s, America prospered while engaged in the Cold War. Life was good—our free market, economy was string and we had a tangible, common enemy in Russia.

Today, America’s place seems a bit more precarious and complex. With the Cold War over, we find ourselves fighting shadows all over the world. Rather than having a definable nation-state as our major threat and enemy, we are under attack by disenfranchised groups basing their ideology loosely on the religion of Islam. This shift of tactics and enemies for the United States has left our military and government confused and looking for answers. Economically, we can clearly see the positive and negative effects of capitalism. Among bailouts for car companies, banks, and insurance packages, the government has seen fit to artificially inject billions of dollars into the economy with stimulus packages. As Michigan residents, we are especially aware of the economy. Manufacturing jobs have been lost by the millions due to outside competition and cheaper labor in places like China. China seems to be the proverbial elephant in the room, as it has become the manufacturing hub of the world, and we now import much more than we export. For most Americans, myself included, China is a bit scary to think about. In the last 25 years, China has emerged as a major threat to American military, political, and economic superpower status.

Throughout history, America has been compared to Rome. Based on somewhat similar political ideology, both societies were the military, social, and economic powers of their time. Both societies were seen as almost impenetrable and invincible.

Many historians refer to the year 410 A.D. as the date of Rome’s fall. That is when the city of Rome itself was sacked by invading Germanic tribes. Historians and scholars still debate today the reasons for the fall of Rome. The following are some of the main reasons for Rome’s fall.

  1. TOO BIG---The Roman Empire covered most of the known civilized world of the time. As Rome grew, it became exceedingly difficult to manage its needs and protect its land from outside invaders. A huge military was required, which required a great deal of funding. Protecting Rome’s northern border from invading nomadic tribes like the Visigoths and Huns was very difficult, if not impossible.
  1. INFLATION (money lost its value)----The elite of Rome, the aristocracy (3% population), had a huge appetite for luxury goods such as silk, spices, ivory, and porcelain. The bought all of this from CHINA. Sound familiar? So, all of Rome’s wealth flowed out to China. Roman coins were made of 100% real silver and gold. As all of the gold and silver flowed out of the Roman empire to China, they began using less and less precious metal in their coins, which decreased the value of money and increased the cost of goods. At the end of the Roman empire coins were only composed of 0.02% gold or silver.
  1. MILITRAY----Rome’s famous military became less “Roman”. Foreign troops from newly conquered lands were hired. They were called “mercenaries”, people hired to fight. These people were not as disciplined or patriotic as Roman soldiers from previous times.
  1. BAD POLITICAL LEADERS---The best and the brightest were no longer running for political office. Political office (Senate, governorships, etc.) used to be an honor and avenue to greater wealth. In the later years, running for political office became too expensive. Politicians would spend all of their money on the campaign and throwing public circuses and building baths for the people. How can a country be great without the best and the brightest at the helm?
  1. MORAL AND ETHICAL DECAY---Especially the wealthy were more concerned with their own temporal pleasures rather than the good of the empire. The best and brightest stopped marrying and having children. Adultery and divorce were common place. Homosexuality prevented reproduction.
  1. GAP BETWEEN RICH AND POOR---Rome lacked a real middle class. The majority of people struggled to live comfortably day to day. The rich hoarded the wealth and were not good stewards of their wealth, as they competed with each other to see who could live more extravagantly. As always, some historians also blame the tax structure. As the empire grew and got older, emperors became fearful of the aristocracy and looked to limit their power and wealth by taxing them heavily to support military and social programs.
  1. CHRISTIANITY---SOME historians have listed Christianity as a contributing factor of the fall of Rome. Some historians say that Christianity diluted Roman culture and caused people to stop being loyal to the emperor and Roman gods. Also, new converts were extremely zealous and would worship secretly in the catacombs beneath the city. Christian men became much more interested in serving god than country. On the contrary, Constantine used Christianity as the glue to help the Roman empire survive in the East, in what would become known as the Byzantine Empire, or 2ndRome.
  1. OUTSIDE INVADERS---Rome had a lot of uncultured “barbarians” to the north (the Franks, Vandals, Visigoths, etc.). They were always a threat, but generally were subdued either militarily or through bribes by the Roman government. But, THEN, the Huns started attacking out of Asia. The Hun attacks started pushing the other tribes south into the Roman Empire, as they tried to escape the wrath of the Huns.
  1. POOR LEADERSHIP---Although there were some good Roman leaders, there were some notoriously bad ones. They were insane, corrupt, or inept.