Why did the Roman Empire collapse?
Yeah, what "did" it, thanks.
shareHere, read this:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fall_of_the_Western_Roman_Empire
Cheers.
shareToo much to read, I'll watch the movie with Sophia Loren!
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MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > Why did the Roman Empire collapse?
Over expansion and dilution. Or in other words globalisation and multi-culturalism.
The rich stopped paying taxes, serving in the military, or contributing to society in any way. So as the poor and the slaves had not money, the tax collectors literally destroyed the middle class, because that was the only way to fund the state, leaving a society that consisted of the irresponsible rich vs the poor and slaves. The military was made up entirely of poor men and slaves who were sent to serve in the place of their masters, and why the hell would they want to fight for Rome.
Any of that sound familiar?
The Roman military was never comprised even partly of slaves. Soldiers and especially officers often had slaves that they took with them on campaign, but the slaves weren't soldiers and weren't given combat roles; they were given jobs like cooking, cleaning and generally attending to their masters' needs. It was illegal for a slave to even apply to join the legions, and doing so could result in execution. There were a few exceptional cases where slaves were allowed to join the military due to a severe manpower crisis, but when they did so they were immediately freed from bondage.
In any case slavery was already well into its decline, being gradually replaced by serfdom, by the time the empire fell.
I've heard that late in the history of the western Empire, it became legal for the wealthy to get out of their compulsory citizen's 18 years of military service by sending a slave to serve in his place. I don't know what kind of services they performed when they got there, of course.
shareWell, it is possible that I'm thinking more of the earlier period at the empire's height. I'll have to look up what you're talking about, as I've never heard of it before, but considering the condition of the western empire toward its fall, I suppose it wouldn't be surprising. I would still describe that as more a symptom of the empire's decline than a cause of it, though.
shareSome of that came from the book "How the Irish Saved Civilization", but there were other sources. "HTISC" had a lot about how the Irish monasteries preserved a lot of classical knowledge, because you can't discuss the Dark Ages without bringing the collapse of the western Empire into things.
And yeah, the Roman rich refusing to pay taxes and the resulting destruction of the middle class is something everyone ought to know about, because it's happening again today.
Vast amounts of barbarian peoples were mustered into the legions in the latter centuries.
shareSome say that behind all of the documented reasons was a sinister catalyst: The insanity caused by lead poisoning from their new plumbing technology. You've heard the term "mad as a hatter?" Haberdashers used fulminated mercury to give cloth its stiffness. Fulminated Mercury is rich in lead.
Which answers are the reality? I think it is combos of all of it but in the end it was human nature that delivered the final blow.
Supposedly Sir Isaac Newton suffered during a period of mad hatters disease while working on experiments with mercury.
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