Ellis: "It's probably a silly idea but..."

There's nothing silly about it, but it's difficult to argue the case.

"The many-sidedness of a society and civilization like the Greco-Roman and the perplexing breadth of the issues raised by its disappearance give great range for personal interpretation." From: "History and the Fall of Rome" by R. F. Arragon

Which underlines why it's not always easy to learn from history.

Anyway, in the case of Rome, here are some proposed contributory factors:

- Over expansion and dilution by foreign cultures
- Economic unsustainability: trade deficit, hoarding of bullion, looting by barbarians.
- Disownment and isolation of Roman communities in foreign lands (Britain, for example), due to the above.
- Religious controversy (already)
- Vandals
- Division of the Empire into east and west
- Lead poisoning (already)

See this link for details: http://ancienthistory.about.com/cs/romefallarticles/a/fallofrome.htm

Due to the complexities, I guess we should try to view the present situation within its particular context. It may be complex, but we do know a great deal more about it.

"Time is what prevents everything from happening at once" - John Wheeler