

How Excessive Government Killed Ancient Rome (1994) - olalonde
http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cjv14n2-7.html

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michaelpinto
Technically the Roman Empire didn't end until the Byzantine Empire fell in
1453 -- and you can bet they lasted so long because they didn't have "think
tanks" like the Cato Institute giving theoretical policy advice on why Egypt
fell to Rome.

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iwwr
Byzantium/Constantinopole lasted longer, but old Rome was destroyed from
within. The monetary economy was debased into insignificance, then to supply
the state they resorted to direct confiscations of produce (in a largely
barter economy). Then, since people tried to move away, they were slowly
bonded and turned into serfs. Previously free artisans were locked away into
trade guilds. The destruction of the Western Empire was a catastrophe, but it
was an overall improvement for ordinary people.

~~~
michaelpinto
But maybe what killed Rome was the brain drain to Byzantium/Constantinopole?
If you redefine the center of your universe then Rome becomes a outpost rather
than a center of gravity. Although for the ordinary people you could be very
right. Although I think there's a bad tendency to assume that the US = Ancient
Rome, the two are very different creatures in so many ways...

