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Technically the Roman Empire didn't end until the Byzantine Empire fell in 1453 -- and you can bet they lasted so long because they didn't have "think tanks" li

• iwwr 15y ago
  Byzantium/Constantinopole lasted longer, but old Rome was destroyed from within. The monetary economy was debased into insignificance, then to supply the state they resorted to direct confiscations of produce (in a largely barter economy). Then, since people tried to move away, they were slowly bonded and turned into serfs. Previously free artisans were locked away into trade guilds. The destruction of the Western Empire was a catastrophe, but it was an overall improvement for ordinary people.
  • michaelpinto 15y ago
    But maybe what killed Rome was the brain drain to Byzantium/Constantinopole? If you redefine the center of your universe then Rome becomes a outpost rather than a center of gravity. Although for the ordinary people you could be very right. Although I think there's a bad tendency to assume that the US = Ancient Rome, the two are very different creatures in so many ways...