Flip through the history books and you will begin to understand the world we live in a little better. After all, ancient civilizations and former ruling eras shaped much of our understanding as people, from philosophy to politics and everything between. We are directly influenced by these significant historical events and there is much for us to take away if we look into the life and times of these bygone ages. One such critical part of our human history is the rise and fall of the Roman empire. Looking back to times when gladiators fought in coliseums and Caesar ruled the world, we can decipher many interesting points that we would be wise to learn from if we wish to not make the same mistakes again.
Printing money ruins the economy
Printing money is a trick dating back to the Roman Empire when Emperor Nero decided that the empire could use less silver in Roman coins. This idea would lead to the downfall of ancient Rome as, like in today’s society, we are shown printing money is a surefire way of ruining the economy. Of course, the fall of the empire thanks to Nero’s money printing escapades did not occur overnight. In fact, he wouldn’t even be in power when it did. His followers who copied his dangerous idea would slowly destroy the Roman empire over the course of 200 years until Roman money was practically worth nothing.
Military spend will bankrupt a country
Another economical travesty employed by the Roman empire was pooling much of its resources into aiding their military arms. Because Rome was such a force to be reckoned with, other people looked to them as a challenge worth fighting and thus the empire had to continue strengthening their army if they wished to stave off future attacks. In order to fund their military might, Rome drove up tax rates to a point where people were thrown into poverty as they could not afford the exorbitant increases. This led to the uprising of the people who would riot in the streets and damage public property in the name of justice. This contributed to the fall of the Roman empire.
The strength of the east
If the Roman era has taught us anything, it’s that Eastern empires with alternative worldviews will rise as quickly as those in the West. Parthia was an Eastern empire that could withstand the brute force of Rome, never being beaten by one of the world’s strongest powers at the time. The two powerhouses were so strong that the only way to work within the same world was to sign a peace treaty, which is similar to the scenarios we see in today’s world. All the while, the strength of the Parthians was only outdone by their own intellectual prowess. It was later discovered that the Parthians used the peace treaty as a front for maintaining control of Roman trade, a mastermind move from the incredibly tactical Eastern empire.
An empire doesn’t crumble overnight
As we have seen in the fall of Rome, an empire is not destroyed overnight. It takes several poisoned areas to bring down the empire, something that led to the downfall of Rome. For many years, Rome was plagued by wars and poverty, failing to find genuine solutions to their community’s problems, which was ultimately created by their own mistakes. The downward spiral was set in motion and slowly but surely they became prey to their own misfortunes.
