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Question: What factors led to the downfall of Rome and are any of those factors seen in America today!?
it's an essay question and i have a few ideas but i'm not sure how to expand!. i was thinking dependency on outsiders, taxing, expansion of empire, gap between rich and poor, etc!.

can somebody help me come up with details to support 3 of these!?Www@QuestionHome@Com


Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:
1!. Over expansion of Empire - U!.S fighting wars directly / indirectly on many fronts - this overstretched the Roman Empire!.

2!. Military leaders using success on battlefield for basis of political power - U!.S 'Imperial Presidents' of the 1950's and 1960's - all with previous military backgrounds / experience - Roman leaders as Marius, Sulla, Pompey and Caesar did the same thing!.

3!. Going to war for trade / economic reasons - Roman dominance of Mediterranean over Carthage its nearest trade and military rival - especially the Second Punic War

4!. Increasing reliance on migrants - Roman Empire opened up mnay areas of its society to allow Barbarian tribes to fight for the Roman Empire - I think the U!.S is going to be coming to the same conclusion very soon

5!. A foreign policy which talks of 'freedom, liberty from tyranny' - the Romans used this same talk when going to war against Philip V of Macedon and claiming to save Greece from Macedon tyranny - the U!.S since Ronald Reagan has increasingly used this talk which really disguises the U!.S ambitions for dominance and arouses the concern of other nations to fight U!.S domination!.

6!. The U!.S preoccupation with a religion / culture it does not understand - Islam and the Middle East - the Romans had the same problem with Christianity!.

Www@QuestionHome@Com

One of the factors that lead to the downfall of Rome was that they were invaded so many times by hostile armies!. That isn't happening to the US!.

Some similarities though:

Over stretched armed forces
Dependency on outside sources of energy (in Rome it was food)
Www@QuestionHome@Com

Research "Cursus Honorum" especially step 3!
Economic failure
inability to adequately protect borders
Invasion by German tribes

The United States has a representative government (like Rome)
We are fighting an indirect war
Our economy is crap (like Rome)Www@QuestionHome@Com

inflation and warfareWww@QuestionHome@Com