Robert, I read quite a bit. There are people who think the Viking expansion was a good thing; that's not a personal conclusion at all.
Yes, schools here in the states still teach that Columbus was the first European. I live in Louisiana and there is still a sizable portion of the population who want Evolution to be ditched out of textbooks in favor of Creationism. It's crazy, but the truth.
So in the end, until someone becomes a universally accepted authority on a subject, there will continue to be debates on several issues. This topic will be discussed, argued, and researched for centuries to come. It's probably one of the most complicated subjects in all of history. It's easy for us to pinpoint a persons birth year, but things like this involve other subjects like the study of economics, demographics, demography, and so much more, as well as history.
That' said, I think Climate Change is overlooked as a factor.
Everything from the gold mine in spain, to the massive deforestation that we knew occurred in North Africa, and still persisted to modern day, shows that the Roman's had a massive effect on their environment. There's no telling what possible consequences this truly had. Did they make the planet uninhabitable? Far from it, but I think they probably upset several ecosystems that had regional consequences. This in effect disturbed taxation, recruitment, and so forth.
Plague had a very big impact on Rome. I really never meant to imply that it was the sole causative factory, sorry if that's how I came off. I still think it's probably in the top 5. The most disturbing reasons are the ones with the most ripple effects. Plague < de-urbanization < conversion to Christianity < loss of taxation < more private money to private institutions < loss of learning < population drop > agricultural drop... and keep going, and going, and going. I'm sure there are things that helped bring about epidemics,(increased trade, larger cities, malnourishment) so there's an inter-relation between all of these causations. In the end, what brought about Rome is a very, very long list of things.
It's a giant spider web, with certain strands being stronger than others. Battlefield losses (like Adrianople) are probably the most apparent, yet probably most over-rated. When can we agree that they stopped being able to replace armies of 100,000 men (100,000 men drowned in one storm during the 1st Punic War, (300k+ casualties during 2nd Punic War) and they still steamrolled Carthage) to Adrianople being so disastrous because of just one defeat and loss of 30,000 troops?
And Nathan, why is the Battle of Cap Bon so overlooked? It seems almost as disastrous as Adrianople, but almost nothing is written about it. Had the Empire not lost 50,000 men and 50+ ships, they'd have retaken North Africa, and ended the Vandal threat.
Yes, schools here in the states still teach that Columbus was the first European. I live in Louisiana and there is still a sizable portion of the population who want Evolution to be ditched out of textbooks in favor of Creationism. It's crazy, but the truth.
So in the end, until someone becomes a universally accepted authority on a subject, there will continue to be debates on several issues. This topic will be discussed, argued, and researched for centuries to come. It's probably one of the most complicated subjects in all of history. It's easy for us to pinpoint a persons birth year, but things like this involve other subjects like the study of economics, demographics, demography, and so much more, as well as history.
That' said, I think Climate Change is overlooked as a factor.
Everything from the gold mine in spain, to the massive deforestation that we knew occurred in North Africa, and still persisted to modern day, shows that the Roman's had a massive effect on their environment. There's no telling what possible consequences this truly had. Did they make the planet uninhabitable? Far from it, but I think they probably upset several ecosystems that had regional consequences. This in effect disturbed taxation, recruitment, and so forth.
Plague had a very big impact on Rome. I really never meant to imply that it was the sole causative factory, sorry if that's how I came off. I still think it's probably in the top 5. The most disturbing reasons are the ones with the most ripple effects. Plague < de-urbanization < conversion to Christianity < loss of taxation < more private money to private institutions < loss of learning < population drop > agricultural drop... and keep going, and going, and going. I'm sure there are things that helped bring about epidemics,(increased trade, larger cities, malnourishment) so there's an inter-relation between all of these causations. In the end, what brought about Rome is a very, very long list of things.
It's a giant spider web, with certain strands being stronger than others. Battlefield losses (like Adrianople) are probably the most apparent, yet probably most over-rated. When can we agree that they stopped being able to replace armies of 100,000 men (100,000 men drowned in one storm during the 1st Punic War, (300k+ casualties during 2nd Punic War) and they still steamrolled Carthage) to Adrianople being so disastrous because of just one defeat and loss of 30,000 troops?
And Nathan, why is the Battle of Cap Bon so overlooked? It seems almost as disastrous as Adrianople, but almost nothing is written about it. Had the Empire not lost 50,000 men and 50+ ships, they'd have retaken North Africa, and ended the Vandal threat.
Quote:Battle of Cap Bon (468)
The Battle of Cap Bon was an engagement during a joint military expedition of the Western and Eastern Roman Empires against the Vandal capital of Carthage in 468.
The purpose of the operation was to punish the Vandal king Gaiseric for the sacking of Rome in 455.
It was not only a military but an incredible financial disaster which accelerate the end of the Roman empire of Occident.
The most conservative estimation for expedition expenses is of 64,000 pounds of gold, a sum that exceeded a whole year's revenue for the Empire.
For other sources it was the double 120'00 pounds of Gold and 700'000 of silver.
If you consider
the costs for Iraki war : 3 trillions
and the US budget for 2012 : 4 trillons dollars,
you can imagine the cost of this unique and single battle.
Roman Imperium force was his capacity to rebuild and furnish new armies even after major defeats. Cap Bon was the final financial disaster for Rome.
Christopher Vidrine, 30
