09-20-2012, 05:26 PM
Quote:The main reasons that I can see are the increased attacks by barbarians,
That had always been a problem. The gauls sacked Rome in 390 BCE and the teutones and cimbri were a big problem a few centuries later. The problem wasn't so much the external threat but the acute unwillingness of 5th century citizens to do anything about it.
Quote:plagues in Rome,
That had practically nothing to do with it. Plague was a much worse problem in the third century, even the second than in the fifth.
Quote: the introduction of Christian morality that lessened the Roman's appetite for blood.
Christianity could've been the problem in more ways than one. Certainly its triumph can be better correlated with serious Roman decline/fall than the aforementioned things.
Quote: a Christian, and I can see the validity of that argument. I also heard one interesting theory: The use of lead pipes over the course of centuries led to many birth defects which further weakened the pool of manpower available to the Romans and contributed to disease. I thought that was a rather interesting idea. Opinions?
Forget it.
mile:
