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i came across this post by author below online and wondered at
how similar it looks to the Nigerian Situation
EVAN ANDREWS
1. Invasions by Barbarian tribes (Boko Haram)
The most straightforward theory for Western Rome’s collapse pins
the fall on a string of military losses sustained against outside
forces. Rome had tangled with Germanic tribes for centuries, but by
the 300s “barbarian” groups like the Goths had encroached beyond
the Empire’s borders. The Romans weathered a Germanic uprising in
the late fourth century, but in 410 the Visigoth King Alaric
successfully sacked the city of Rome. The Empire spent the next
several decades under constant threat before “the Eternal City” was
raided again in 455, this time by the Vandals. Finally, in 476, the
Germanic leader Odoacer staged a revolt and deposed the Emperor
Romulus Augustulus. From then on, no Roman emperor would ever again
rule from a post in Italy, leading many to cite 476 as the year the
Western Empire suffered its deathblow.
2. Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor (
minimum wage debate )
Even as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also
crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis. Constant
wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers,
and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between
rich and poor. In the hope of avoiding the taxman, many members of
the wealthy classes had even fled to the countryside and set up
independent fiefdoms. At the same time, the empire was rocked by a
labor deficit. Rome’s economy depended on slaves to till its fields
and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally
provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. But
when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome’s
supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up. A further
blow came in the fifth century, when the Vandals claimed North
Africa and began disrupting the empire’s trade by prowling the
Mediterranean as pirates. With its economy faltering and its
commercial and agricultural production in decline, the Empire began
to lose its grip on Europe.
3. The rise of the Eastern Empire ( the North is rising
economically and like dubai we may see something new soon )
The fate of Western Rome was partially sealed in the late third
century, when the Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into two
halves—the Western Empire seated in the city of Milan, and the
Eastern Empire in Byzantium, later known as Constantinople. The
division made the empire more easily governable in the short term,
but over time the two halves drifted apart. East and West failed to
adequately work together to combat outside threats, and the two
often squabbled over resources and military aid. As the gulf
widened, the largely Greek-speaking Eastern Empire grew in wealth
while the Latin-speaking West descended into economic crisis. Most
importantly, the strength of the Eastern Empire served to divert
Barbarian invasions to the West. Emperors like Constantine ensured
that the city of Constantinople was fortified and well guarded, but
Italy and the city of Rome—which only had symbolic value for many
in the East—were left vulnerable. The Western political structure
would finally disintegrate in the fifth century, but the Eastern
Empire endured in some form for another thousand years before being
overwhelmed by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s.
4. Over expansion and military overspending (inflated
military budgets and orruption in the Terror War )
At its height, the Roman Empire stretched from the Atlantic Ocean
all the way to the Euphrates River in the Middle East, but its
grandeur may have also been its downfall. With such a vast
territory to govern, the empire faced an administrative and
logistical nightmare. Even with their excellent road systems, the
Romans were unable to communicate quickly or effectively enough to
manage their holdings. Rome struggled to marshal enough troops and
resources to defend its frontiers from local rebellions and outside
attacks, and by the second century the Emperor Hadrian was forced
to build his famous wall in Britain just to keep the enemy at bay.
As more and more funds were funneled into the military upkeep of
the empire, technological advancement slowed and Rome’s civil
infrastructure fell into disrepair.
5. Government corruption and political instability (
Elections On The 16th and The PDP APC Fiasco )
If Rome’s sheer size made it difficult to govern, ineffective
and inconsistent leadership only served to magnify the problem.
Being the Roman emperor had always been a particularly dangerous
job, but during the tumultuous second and third centuries it nearly
became a death sentence. Civil war thrust the empire into chaos,
and more than 20 men took the throne in the span of only 75 years,
usually after the murder of their predecessor. The Praetorian
Guard—the emperor’s personal bodyguards—assassinated and installed
new sovereigns at will, and once even auctioned the spot off to the
highest bidder. The political rot also extended to the Roman
Senate, which failed to temper the excesses of the emperors due to
its own widespread corruption and incompetence. As the situation
worsened, civic pride waned and many Roman citizens lost trust in
their leadership.
6. The arrival of the Huns and the migration of the Barbarian
tribes ( ??? your comment )
The Barbarian attacks on Rome partially stemmed from a mass
migration caused by the Huns’ invasion of Europe in the late fourth
century. When these Eurasian warriors rampaged through northern
Europe, they drove many Germanic tribes to the borders of the Roman
Empire. The Romans grudgingly allowed members of the Visigoth tribe
to cross south of the Danube and into the safety of Roman
territory, but they treated them with extreme cruelty. According to
the historian Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman officials even forced the
starving Goths to trade their children into slavery in exchange for
dog meat. In brutalizing the Goths, the Romans created a dangerous
enemy within their own borders. When the oppression became too much
to bear, the Goths rose up in revolt and eventually routed a Roman
army and killed the Eastern Emperor Valens during the Battle of
Adrianople in A.D. 378. The shocked Romans negotiated a flimsy
peace with the barbarians, but the truce unraveled in 410, when the
Goth King Alaric moved west and sacked Rome. With the Western
Empire weakened, Germanic tribes like the Vandals and the Saxons
were able to surge across its borders and occupy Britain, Spain and
North Africa.
7. Christianity and the loss of traditional values
(self explanatory )
The decline of Rome dovetailed with the spread of Christianity,
and some have argued that the rise of a new faith helped contribute
to the empire’s fall. The Edict of Milan legalized Christianity in
313, and it later became the state religion in 380. These decrees
ended centuries of persecution, but they may have also eroded the
traditional Roman values system. Christianity displaced the
polytheistic Roman religion, which viewed the emperor as having a
divine status, and also shifted focus away from the glory of the
state and onto a sole deity. Meanwhile, popes and other church
leaders took an increased role in political affairs, further
complicating governance. The 18th-century historian Edward Gibbon
was the most famous proponent of this theory, but his take has
since been widely criticized. While the spread of Christianity may
have played a small role in curbing Roman civic virtue, most
scholars now argue that its influence paled in comparison to
military, economic and administrative factors.
8. Weakening of the Roman legions (The Nigerian Army the
great Ecomog Resistance beaten by a bunch of desert Hobos )
For most of its history, Rome’s military was the envy of the
ancient world. But during the decline, the makeup of the once
mighty legions began to change. Unable to recruit enough soldiers
from the Roman citizenry, emperors like Diocletian and Constantine
began hiring foreign mercenaries to prop up their armies. The ranks
of the legions eventually swelled with Germanic Goths and other
barbarians, so much so that Romans began using the Latin word
“barbarus” in place of “soldier.” While these Germanic soldiers of
fortune proved to be fierce warriors, they also had little or no
loyalty to the empire, and their power-hungry officers often turned
against their Roman employers. In fact, many of the barbarians who
sacked the city of Rome and brought down the Western Empire had
earned their military stripes while serving in the Roman
legions.
re adapted by abiel www.aso.rocks
your comments are welcome
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