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

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...