History of Western Civilisation - Tuesday 7th Period: Discussion 6: The Roman Empire

[prof-methos.livejournal.com]

All right, class. Since I rotted your brains last Wednesday with popular culture disguised as history, I thought we'd get back on track today with a good solid discussion of the end of the Roman Empire.

As I said last week, the fall of Rome did not really mean the end of the Roman empire. The Byzantine Empire -- which you will hear about tomorrow -- lasted for another thousand years and always considered itself a continuation of old Rome.

But the cession of Rome as a superpower changed the face of history in Western Europe.


[[OOC: OCD threads are coming up!!]]

Comments

Re: QUESTION 1: Empire verses Republic

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

"Because the dictator can direct where the focus of the government is. In this case, expansion. There's no need to lose focus by taking care of the petty small things like infastructure, or feeding the population. Of course the smart dictators did pay at least some attention to those details. Because an unhappy populance is probably one of the quickest ways to lose power."

Re: QUESTION 1: Empire verses Republic

[prof-methos.livejournal.com]

"And there are several emperors who lost power -- and their lives -- that way. On the other hand, you have Augustus, who committed the considerable resources of the empire to improving peace and prosperity after devastating civil war. A great deal of the success of subsequent emperors can be attributed to his wise rule -- and let me point out that "august" did not mean "wise" until after his time." Methos looks at her quizzically. "Ms. Evans... why are you standing?"

Re: QUESTION 1: Empire verses Republic

[izzyalienqueen.livejournal.com]

For a minute Isabel considered lying and saying she'd fallen and brusied her tailbone but then she mentally shrugged and went with the truth. "There's an epidemic of weird going on, sir. And unfortunately, if I sit, I bounce. It's probably best for all of us if I just stand back here out of the way."

Re: QUESTION 1: Empire verses Republic

[prof-methos.livejournal.com]

Methos blinks at her again. "Right. Go right ahead."