Thursday Thirteen

One of my former professors at Hollins University, Amanda Cockrell, writes Roman historical novels. I have read several of them and found them quite interesting. She writes under her name but writing as Damion Hunter, a pseudonym she used when she first began this series of books in 1981. The books gained a cult following and a book publisher reestablished it and she began writing new books for the series.

She is meticulous in her research, and I have found her descriptions of Roman road building and other things - some of which are still in existence today - to be evocative. I thought it would be interesting to see why the Roman Empire collapsed, because it was massive and as her books suggest, reached into great swaths of Europe and other parts of the world.

So here are 13 reasons why the Roman Empire fell:

1. Economic troubles: Constant wars and overspending drained the imperial coffers, leading to severe financial crises.

2. Overreliance on slave labor: The economy depended heavily on slaves, and when expansion halted, the supply of slaves dwindled.

3. Military overspending: Maintaining a vast military presence and constant warfare strained resources.

4. Political corruption: Corruption and instability within the government weakened the Empire's ability to respond to crises. 

5. Division of the Empire: The division into Eastern and Western Roman Empires created administrative and military challenges.

6. Rise of the Eastern Empire: The Eastern Empire (Byzantine Empire) grew in wealth and power, while the Western Empire declined. 

7. Decline in civic virtue: The loss of traditional Roman values and civic responsibility contributed to societal decay.

8. Plague and disease: Epidemics weakened the population and the military.

9. Inflation: Rampant inflation devalued currency and disrupted the economy.

10. Urban decay: Cities declined as people moved to the countryside to escape taxes and instability. This in turn let to over-farming and deforestation led to agricultural decline. 

11. Weak leadership: Many emperors were ineffective or corrupt, leading to poor decision-making.

12. Technological stagnation: Lack of innovation in military and agricultural technology hindered progress. 

13. Social inequality: The gap between rich and poor widened, leading to social unrest.

These factors, among others, contributed to the gradual decline and eventual fall of the Roman Empire.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while, and this is my 892nd time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.