Doctor Pot
Well-Known Member
Ah, you were talking about the Roman Republic, that makes more sense. Rome was a republic for the first half of the Roman civilization; it was an empire for the other half. What threw me off was when you said Rome collapsed because it became more democratic, since this isn't true. The Roman Republic became more democratic, then it became an empire, then it reached its peak of power. So the Roman civilization didn't reach its height of power until well after these events.
It wasn't circuses and festivals either, it was the way the agricultural system was changing. Aristocrats were buying cheap land, then using slaves to work it. This kind of pissed off the plebians, who were the original farmers and had a hard time competing with slave labor, so they used their political power to fight the aristocrats. If anything, it reminds me of the current dilemma in the US with illegal immigrants.
