History

 My observations in this article are based on the conclusions garnered from the books of Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), Will Durant (1885-1981) and Wikipedia (Encyclopedia).

 Gibbon wrote “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” and Durant wrote, “Caesar and Christ.”

 In evaluating history three salient thoughts are necessary. First, historians have a tendency to misinterpret the facts because all history is subjective.

 Second, Leslie P. Hartley in his book, “The Go-Between.” “The past is a foreign country. They do (did) things differently there.” (then) Parentheses mine. The statement is true, but not always.

 For example Gibbon’s prejudice against the Catholic Church and Christianity is obvious. He categorically blamed the adoption of Christianity as the official religion as the basic reason for the collapse.

 Third, it behooves all Americans to think of the admonishment that George Santayana gave, “THOSE WHO CANNOT REMEMBER THE PAST ARE CONDEMNED TO REPEAT IT.”

 Maintaining the Roman military was a costly matter. It was a constant drain on the Roman resources. The legions were garrisoned around Rome, but also to far reaches of the Empire. Rome was waging war on many fronts.

 It extended from Great Britain to Persia; from the barbaric German to the North African countries; from Spain to Greece. Military spending left little for other vital activities, such as public housing, education and medical care.

 As one historian states, “Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire.” The military had to hire soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse. Mercenaries from other countries. The collapse of the Empire was predictable.

 Anyone who has ever traveled to parts of the Roman Empire has seen ruins of great Roman architecture. The Coliseum is a good example. Every Caesar built something that would have his name attached.

 Aqueducts and roads are particularly prominent. I’ve seen scores of statues, arches and coliseums in various countries.

 Because of these factors the emperors were forced to raise taxes FREQUENTLY which in turn led again to greater inflation. This resulted in more unemployment, crime in the streets and civil war.

 The government was in turmoil. Factions within the Senate vied for important positions. Emperors were bought and paid for. Evidence reveals that the most money given out, the giver became Emperor.

 One item that I’m particularly sensitive about is the turmoil in the Early Church. The Council of Nicea in 325 A.D. was so contentious that fights broke out among the delegates. Knock down fist fights among the Bishops.

 It wasn’t until 467 A.D. that the final decision determining the books in the New Testament was decided.

 At the time of Constantine there were four religions in contention: Judaism, Mithraism, Emperor Worship and Christianity.

 Christianity won out for two reasons: Emperor Constantine made it the official religion and the Christians endorsed syncretism. Webster defines it: “The attempt to reconcile different practices.” Practically, it meant to incorporate into one religion the practices of another. Christians took many of those from Mithraism.

 Notably December 25 as the birthday of Jesus. It really was the birthday of Mithra. The other contributors to Christian syncretism were the Greeks, Romans and Judaism.

 One further element in the collapse of the Roman Empire is seldom listed by historians. Today we would call them illegal’s who moved into the empire. However, in reality most of them were slaves. Many of them were even better educated than the citizens of Rome.

 The conquered provinces supplied them. It is even believed that Helena, (the mother of Constantine) was influenced to become a Christian by one of her slaves.

 Historians have dated the fall of Rome in 410 A.D. when it was sacked by the            Visigoth King Alaric, to 565 A.D. when the last Emperor died. (Justinian II)

 All the factors mentioned above brought about the downfall. Unfortunately the result of the collapse also brought about the Dark Ages. Again, remember the words, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Amen. Selah. So be it.

 

WORDS TO THINK ABOUT:
G. W. Abersold Ph.D