Rome and modern government.

Chey5782 · #1 Jul 17, 2009, 01:01 PM

Explain how the fall of Rome has impacted the way that people view government today. -New Thread

BMI · Jul 17, 2009, 01:29 PM

Perhaps researching this yourself and coming up with your own observations would be better for you in the long run?

Also, it's a very interesting question and I'm sure you'll learn much you didn't know when you do get around to doing your own homework.

Lemme know what you find K?

Chey5782 · Jul 17, 2009, 01:34 PM

Actually, this isn't homework. I used it as an example to another member of what my guy friends debate. They suggested starting a thread to see what other people thought. It's for other people's viewpoints that;s why it is in the forum. I do my own college level homework thanks ya much.

BMI · Jul 17, 2009, 01:36 PM

My apologies then.

Although with the number of homework question the sites get and coupled with the fact that it does sound rather like a homework assignment you'll understand my post.

Once again, my apologies.

Chey5782 · Jul 17, 2009, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BMI

My apologies then.

Although with the number of homework question the sites get and coupled with the fact that it does sound rather like a homework assignment you'll understand my post.

Once again, my apologies.

Actually, I laughed really hard! It sounds like something I would say to a smartass teenager. No apology necessary, but thank you anyway!

ETWolverine · Jul 17, 2009, 01:59 PM

Chey,

This is a very broad topic. An understanding of the subject requires a strong understanding of why and how the Roman Empire fell, as well as the ability to compare/contrast the situation then to the situation now.

Also, I need a better understanding of WHICH Roman Empire you are speaking of. There is the "Original" Roman Empire and then there's The Byzantine Empire, which was technically also the "Eastern" Roman Empire, but was actually run by Greeks and Thracians. The Roman Empire was based in Rome from about 25 BC to about 425 CE, while the Byzantine Empire was based in Constantinople from about 330 CE to about 1450 CE. To which are you referring?

Generally speaking, whether we are talking abut the fall of the Roman Empire or the Byzantine Empire, the reasons each of them fell can be attributed to their governing bodies/leaders forgetting the values on which the empire was built and becoming corrupt, weak and unwilling to stand up for those values and became immoral. But that is a very BROAD description of why ANY Empire falls. And those conditions can, to some degree, be attributted to the leadership of the USA as well. To really answer your question in a meaningful way, though, I would need to know which Empire you are referring to.

Elliot

paraclete · Jul 17, 2009, 03:33 PM

It is highly unlikely that people today have learned the lessons of history, as Eliot has already said Rome fell because they took the eye off the ball and became weak and indecisive but any empire reaches a point where it is business as usual and outsiders exploit their weaknesses, Remember the Great Wall didn't keep the mongols out of China and the Barbarians ultimately overran Rome. Empire in the time of Rome lacked the communications we have today so the reasons why an empire will fall today will be different
The British Empire vanished in a generation, two world wars and better communications changed peoples perspective. The Russian Empire vanished in a few years of internal division.The US Empire will probably vanish in a frenzy of market manipulation

Chey5782 · Jul 17, 2009, 07:46 PM

Elliot, I was referring to the Western Empire, the original Republic. I had or have continued to think that a system of government that basically established the guidelines, and then later failed, (just like communism) would be more of a warning flag to a new and foundling government. It's always fascinated me that, though this was the first truly well documented and functioning system of government that established a representative government, eventually the system failed. How has it impacted our views of government and the way we function in modern America?

zippit · Jul 17, 2009, 07:49 PM

your going to run into a snag religion

tomder55 · Jul 18, 2009, 04:19 AM

Are we talking about the fall of the Roman Republic or the Empire ? All empires are destined for destruction but I am not convinced it is true of Republics ,although the history is not promising.The rise of Rome can be attributed to the Republic .The fall of Rome to the Empire ,athlough for many years the Empire fed off of what the Republic had built.

The founders learned to become wary and fearful of conspiracies against liberty .Their study of ancient Rome and Greece showed that the loss of liberty was usually incremental encroachment .

Jefferson lamented that so many "patriots "in Rome chose suicide when the remedy seemed so clear ,"a poignard in the breast of the tyrant."
Madison wrote in Federalist 41, "the liberties of Rome proved the final victim to her military triumphs."

Thier remedy was to provide the citizenry with 2nd Amendment protections . Gibbons wrote in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire "A martial nobility and stubborn commons, possessed of arms, tenacious of property, and collected into constitutional assemblies, form the only balance capable of preserving a free constitution against the enterprises of an aspiring prince."