They say “history repeats itself because nobody listens to it.” Do we listen to the history? Let us see:
Fall of the Roman Empire — Top Reasons
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Political Corruption
One of the main causes for the fall of the Roman Empire was the political corruption and the Praetorian Guard. The power of the Praetorian Guard, the elite soldiers who made up the bodyguard of the emperor, led to political corruption and grew to such an extent that this massive group of soldiers decided on whether an emperor should be disposed of and who should become the new emperor! -
Decline in Morals
One of the main causes for the fall of the Roman Empire was decline in morals, especially in the rich upper classes, nobility and the emperors, had a devastating impact on the Romans. It also effected the lower classes and slaves. Brothels and forced prostitution flourished. Widespread gambling on the chariot races and gladiatorial combats. Massive consumption of alcohol. The sadistic cruelty towards both man and beasts in the arena. -
Public Health
There were many public health and environmental problems. Many of the wealthy had water brought to their homes through lead pipes. Previously the aqueducts had even purified the water but at the end lead pipes were thought to be preferable. Those who lived on the streets in continuous contact allowed for an uninterrupted strain of disease. Alcohol use increased as well adding to the incompetency of the general public. -
Unemployment
During the latter years of the empire, farming was done on large estates that were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor. A farmer who had to pay workmen could not produce goods as cheaply. Many farmers could not compete with these low prices and lost or sold their farms. This not only undermined the citizen farmer who passed his values to his family, but also filled the cities with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. These people were not only a burden but also had little to do but cause trouble and contribute to an ever increasing crime rate. -
Inflation
The Roman economy suffered from inflation. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the Romans to pay for luxury items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables. -
Urban decay
Wealthy Romans lived in houses with marble walls, floors with intricate colored tiles, and windows made of small panes of glass. Most Romans, however, were not rich, They lived in small smelly rooms in apartment houses with six or more stories called islands. First-floor apartments were not occupied by the poor since these living quarters rented for about $100 a year. The more shaky wooden stairs a family had to climb, the cheaper the rent became. The upper apartments that the poor rented for $40 a year were hot, dirty, crowed, and dangerous. Anyone who could not pay the rent was forced to move out and live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this cities began to decay. -
Military Spending
Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which in turn led again to increased inflation. -
Final blows
For years, the well-disciplined Roman army held the barbarians of Germany back. Then in the third century A. D. the Roman soldiers were pulled back from the Rhine-Danube frontier to fight civil war in Italy. This left the Roman border open to attack. Gradually Germanic hunters and herders from the north began to overtake Roman lands in Greece and Gaul (later France). Then in 476 A. D. the Germanic general Odacer or Odovacar overthrew the last of the Roman Emperors, Augustulus Romulus. From then on the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic chieftain. Roads and bridges were left in disrepair and fields left untilled. Pirates and bandits made travel unsafe. Cities could not be maintained without goods from the farms, trade and business began to disappear. And Rome was no more in the West. The total fall of the Roman empire.
Allah loved those people, but they kept taking undue and unjust advantage of it. We do all sorts of wrongs (criminal, moral, inhumane) like they do, and the only reason we are still under the banner of one country (after all that goes in Pakistan any given week) is because of Allah’s blessings.
The stronger, the more corrupt, the more fun he (she) has. It’s a free-for-all for the corrupt and powerful. The smaller players (from clerks to policemen, to even the street peddler who sells vegetables) are just looking for breaks, whenever and however it comes they too play the game.
Having said that, the biggest thing we lack is justice. And I am yet to see any other working nation with as low an amount of justice as us, and still continuing. We’ve lost a large part of our country in 1971. How many other countries had to go through, or can survive such an ordeal. Again, the biggest reason Bangladesh happened was injustice. Little, or no rule of law.
Sad but brutally true. And I can surely attest that this was not the case 10 years back!
Other than that, very much agreed. Thing is we are a heavily fragmented society - divided on the terms of religious sects, classes, rich/poor, varied ethnicity, history, culture, liberal/conservative, educated/jahils, military/civil and whatnot. And that’s before bringing in the criminals and the righteous. Luckily, our enemies either 1) Doesn’t know that Pakistan is so, so divided, or 2) Does happen to know that the only thing that unites the country is foreign aggression. So they move in with stealth, instead of font on.
It’s not like they’ll live for ever, anyway.