WTF: The Third Installement Of The Thread About Nothing

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Stay with me here, people.

To an ancient upstanding Roman citizen, the most important thing in the world was what?

Anybody? Beuller?
 
The most important thing to a Roman was that he was Roman. A civilized person with roads and running water and toilets rather than a barely better than a caveman living in mud and starving to death at 26.

With me so far?
 
Romans made wine. Barbarians drank piss. Only Rome is good enough. You should thank me for bringing civilization to you. Why do you resist Rome?

That was their view of the world.
 
Further, a Roman's view of his own worth as a Roman was irrelevant. What his peers thought of him was what determined his status. The Romans were not an introspective people.
In fact, when the Romans went for census every five years, the censors examined their life, checked references and looked at what they did to advance the glory of the empire.
The ultimate peer pressure setup.

Makes sense?
 
Now, fast forward to 410 AD and we will find that Rome, to the dismay of many of her citizens, has abandoned the old gods and has adopted Christianity and along with it a dramatic decrease in her blood lust.
The coliseum is seldom used and many of the old tactics of the military have been abandoned as cruel.
The result, of course, was a decline in Roman power.

Everybody with me so far?
 
We left the Romans in 410 AD with the empire in shambles. The last remaining troops and administrators were recalled from Britain that year. The Romans left instructions for the Britons that, after 400 years of Roman "protection," they are to "see to their own defenses."
The reason the last troops were called out of Britain was to deal with Alaric and the Visigoth army that was wreaking havoc throughout the empire.
Rome's defense strategy had always been to keep the frontier defenses robust, thus eliminating the need to fortify the whole interior of the empire. The problem with that strategy is that if anyone makes it through the frontier forts, there's nothing between the invaders and Rome but miles of nice, well maintained roads that lead straight to the capitol.
Alaric made it through.
 
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