History Repeats

My husband and I were discussing politics, mostly him complaining about the turn toward socialism our country is taking. He wryly asked "What happened when Rome fell?"

Never ask a history buff a question like that!

That led me to a huge research bonanza on the collapse of the Roman Empire. Of course, the theories as to what triggered the fall are varied, as there can be no single source for something so massive. Plague, drought, economics, wars, religion, all play some role in the massive stage of this tragedy.

Instead of boring you with my research, let me point out one issue that piqued my interest.

Most historians agree that the beginning of the end began in 234 CE, with the "Crisis of the Third Century," a time of economic meltdown that makes the Great Depression look like a bounced check. It led to a shift in military and civilian life, which led to political anarchy.

A quick summary: the Sassanids of Persia threatened the eastern edge of the Roman Empire. Rome sent 20-25% of its military to the Middle East to deal with it. To accomplish this, they expanded the military by 1/4. Roman citizens did not want to fight a war far from home, so Rome was forced to recruit from the Germanic tribes to the north. In order to pay these new soldiers, they changed their coinage. Instead of pure silver, coins were made with cheap fillers. This caused a hyperinflation. Money became worthless. Trade was carried out in bartering. The imperial network of trade and economy collapsed, since they could not purchase items with their worthless coins. This led to a shift in policy, as Rome became most socialistic. People were ordered where to work, no choice. To force them to remain, workers were organized and forced into guilds, while businesses were grouped into what was called collegia. Laws forbade citizens from moving out of cities into the country to find work. Farmers were also tied to the land. Taxation became so inflated, people fled this life, regardless of the laws, and came to rich landowners seeking refuge, becoming a half-free class of citizen of coloni, what we call today "serfs." This directly led into the de-evolution from the world of Antiquity to Medieval feudalism.

Got all that? I know, it's a lot to digest. Cliff Notes: Rome fights Persians with Germanic soldiers, taxes the hell out of citizens, pumps their money into "foreign investments" (aka mercenaries), and collapses the economy in the process.

Meanwhile, the Persians took over the area around the Black Sea, pushing the Huns out. The Huns invaded northern Europe, pushing the newly-enriched German tribes southward, leading to many conflicts between these Visigoths and the Roman Empire, which led to the Sack of Rome in 410.

So... Rome responds to a threat from the Middle East, focuses a vast majority of its military there. Persia pushes on the Huns, who push on Europe. Meanwhile, Rome has given the Germanic tribes money and weapons. Once the wars cause Rome's infrastructure to teeter (leading to a spike in taxes, a turn toward socialism, and resulting in anarchy), the Visigoths use those weapons against the ones who provided them and strike from the north while Roman troops are focused in the Middle East.

Hmmmm!!!

America responds to terrorist threats in the Middle East, focusing many of our soldiers there. The Middle East pushes against India. India increases its military, which then makes Korea feel threatened. Meanwhile, America gave Korea a nuclear reactor back in the 70s, which recently led to Korea stating it is going to start building nukes. One missile they launched hit Alaska. (Anyone remember that? I bet Sarah Palin does!) Once the "war on terror" causes America's infrastructure to teeter (leading to a spike in taxes, a turn toward socialism, and likely resulting in anarchy), Korea strikes us from the north while American troops are focused on the Middle East.

OMGZ, it's the Sake of Rome all over again, but with NUKES!!! Run to your bomb shelters!!! WAAAAH!

Okay, comedy aside, I do believe history will forever repeat itself, and if we don't watch out, we're going to see something bad happen to this country. Maybe not immediately. From the Crisis of the Third Century to the Sake of Rome, almost 180 years passed. But events happened slowly back then. One could say our critical error was giving nuclear power to Korea, and that was Carter's administration. 30 years later...

I told all this to my husband. He says I should put in an application to be Obama's Historical Adviser. I wouldn't be good at that, for the same reason I'd make a horrible teacher. I'm prone to whack information into someone... literally.

Can I get an avatar of Obama being whacked over the head with a history book? :D