What if Rome had not fallen ?

[Otto]

What if Rome had not been destroyed by the invasions of the Germans, and had
gone on with its conquests and expansion for hundreds of years ?

What kind of civilization would have resulted ?
What would everyday life of its citizens have looked like ?

Otto

[Anthony Buckland]

The classical Roman Empire had many problems other than attempts
to invade it. You could say that the invaders who eventually
reached the city and occupied it were able to do so, not because
of any superior abilities, but because the Empire became
progressively weaker and easier to invade. I once wrote a poem
about this: see "On the Departure of the Conquerors" on
anthonybuckland.com

Also, Rome was not destroyed. It's still there, and items from
sewer covers to those for modern communications boxes still say
SPQR, "The Senate and the People of Rome." In one of the fora,
there's a two-millenia old building of several stories which
was originally used for small stores and offices. The last time
I was in Rome, it was still being used for small stores and
offices. The Circus Maximus is still in use, as a park and
jogging track. I passed by an ancient outdoor theater and
could hear it being used as, well, an outdoor theater.

[Phil McGregor]

On Wed, 25 Apr 2012 15:47:17 -0700, Anthony Buckland
<anthonybuc...@telus.net> wrote:

>On 20/04/2012 9:44 AM, Otto wrote:
>> What if Rome had not been destroyed by the invasions of the Germans, and had
>> gone on with its conquests and expansion for hundreds of years ?
>>
>> What kind of civilization would have resulted ?
>> What would everyday life of its citizens have looked like ?
>>
>> Otto
>>
>>
>
>The classical Roman Empire had many problems other than attempts
>to invade it. You could say that the invaders who eventually
>reached the city and occupied it were able to do so, not because
>of any superior abilities, but because the Empire became
>progressively weaker and easier to invade. I once wrote a poem
>about this: see "On the Departure of the Conquerors" on
>anthonybuckland.com
>
>Also, Rome was not destroyed. It's still there, and items from
>sewer covers to those for modern communications boxes still say
>SPQR, "The Senate and the People of Rome." In one of the fora,

Saw the manhole covers, but not the latter ... will have to look more
closely next time!

>there's a two-millenia old building of several stories which
>was originally used for small stores and offices. The last time
>I was in Rome, it was still being used for small stores and
>offices. The Circus Maximus is still in use, as a park and
>jogging track.

And a place for dogs to poop ;-)

>I passed by an ancient outdoor theater and
>could hear it being used as, well, an outdoor theater.

And, of course, the "Roman Empire" didn't "fall" until the capture of
Constantinople (the "Second Rome") by the *Turks* (no Germans, afaik)
in 1453 ... or, possibly, until the fall of Mistra/Trebizond some
years later.

And, of course, the Romanovs claim(ed) that they were the heirs of the
Roman Empire by virtue of a Byzantine princess's marriage to one of
their number ... making Moscow, as they claimed, the "Third Rome" ...
and, therefore, the "Roman Empire" only fell with the execution of the
last Tsar in 1917 ...

And, of course, there are still Romanov successors ... ISTR the Grand
Duke of Moscow is the putative heir ... which would mean that there is
still, at least arguably, a Roman Emperor in waiting ;-)

And, of course, that doesn't include Karl der Grosse/Charlemagne and
the Holy Roman Empire ;-)

(Which, yes, was "neither Holy, nor Roman, nor an Empire" ... but,
still, you gotta give 'em marks for trying, at least ;-)

Ain't history grand?

Phil