what if

[amcroja]

here is what if question. what if roman empire never fell and it was still around today. do you think the world history would be different and do you think the world be still bad shape like is now?

[caldrail]

As Polybius pointed out, no society survives forever. There is a sort of parallel between the lifespan of nation states and biological life. Frsh new states are usually aggressive or seek to be part of a herd, and they grow old and tired, either dying naturally or eaten by stronger neighbours as it were.

 

Inevitably if circumstances change then so does the history they generate - the two cannot be seperated - so therefore the answer to whether history would be different is of course yes. It can't be anything else. However, I would like to point out that roman culture has persisted to this very day.

 

Firstly, by the study of Roman history and the latin language, we keep alive the knowledge (and hopefully undersanding) of that time. Secondly, the achievements, both positive and negative, inspire individuals or nations in bother overt and subtle ways. It was no coincidence that Hitler used ideas common with the ancient world for instance, and that sort of wish to revive the idea of Rome as a basis for glory and success in your own regime is not that unusual.

 

I would also point out that christianity preserves not only literature and customs of Roman times, but rather more insidiously, much of the Roman mindset too. The hypocritical, avaricious, manipulative, and even domineering behaviour seen in modern christian circles is nothing new. It descends directly from Roman times because that regime encouraged those human characteristics.

[Viggen]

...we just had very good book review on that topic...

 

http://www.unrv.com/book-review/if-rome.php