Causes of Romes Fall

How it Relates to the United States and How City X

Can Avoid it

Similarities between Rome and US

Domination: Rome and US are and were some of the most powerful
military, governmental, cultural, and diverse places on the globe in their time.

This led to both having influence on the world

Welcoming: Each accepted foreigners looking for opportunity (Not including

invaders).
Checks and Balances
Out-Of-Border Rule: Both controlled land outside their borders

Rome- Economic Decline

With expansion coming to a halt and the vandals taking Africa, trade became difficult.

Rome

US- Current State Affairs

Romes economy depended on slaves. When

expansion ended and Rome no longer had war
prisoners to make slaves in their new territories
Rome lost a lot of money. The Vandals took North
Africa in the 5th century and began to roam the
Mediterranean Sea as pirates, disrupting their trade
routes and plundering ships.

The US deficit is 11 trillion dollars, we owe 6 trillion

dollars to our federal government and 5 trillion to
other countries, 1.3 trillion dollars to China alone.

Rome- Growth of Government

Dishonesty in the government led to problems, the empire was split into 2 and civil
wars broke out wasting valuable resources and soldiers.
Rome

US- Current State Affairs

As Rome expanded, the government grew, many

people claimed to be the emperors, the empire split,
civil wars broke out and wasted plenty of recourses
and soldiers that couldve be put to use for
something else that couldve kept Rome going for a
lot longer.

The US hasnt expanded much in a long time,

however, in between April 12 1861 and May 9 1865
was the civil war, even if this wasnt caused by the
same thing it was still unnecesary, it wasted many
recourses and soldiers.

Rome-Geography
The Mediterranean provided a large problem for Rome,

Rome

US- Current State Affairs

Rome was built on 7 hills, near a river. Perfect,

right? Thats what the Roman emperors thought too,
as time went on Rome looped around the
Mediterranean. This caused many problems, news
was slow, getting reinforcements to parts of the
empire was slow too.

The US is full of hot deserts, cold mountains, lush

valleys, humid swamps, and more. The US has
many places where the geography is rough, one
place is California, California has a coast, a
mountain range, a valley, and a desert! The US
hasnt had to fight a war in their own territory in a
long time.

Rome- Weak Leaders

Emperors werent strong enough to control the vast empire of Rome

Rome

US- Current State Affairs

Rome had emperors who couldnt do anything right,

they were overwhelmed. They didnt know how to
make solutions to problems, they were often
assassinated because the people felt they couldnt
do anything right or they just didnt like them.

The US has a new president every 4 years, each

president different from the last, each valuing
different things. 4 presidents have been
assassinated in the history of presidents. The US
presidents have been strong, there have been some
who have made choices that affected the lives of
many, but for the most part we have good
presidents.

Rome- Decline in Workforce

Many problems arose in rome, a high death rate among slaves
was a very serious one. Without slaves Rome didnt know what to do
Rome

US- Current State Affairs

In Rome Slaves were depended on to do much of

the architectural work in the empire, this included
making buildings, and building boats. Without
Slaves Romes military was no longer as strong and
they couldnt really rebuild or build too many
defenses against barbaric attacks.

The US hasnt exactly had slaves for a long time,

however big companies to often higher illegal
immigrants to do work for them for very little pay
which is similar to slavery, masters threaten to
report immigrants to authorities if they chose to no
longer continue work.

Rome- Military Defeat

Barbarians invaded the vast Roman border

Rome

US- Current State Affairs

With Roman expansion coming to a halt money

dried up. Emperors began recruiting foreign
mercenaries, because they couldnt afford real
soldiers and all of their soldiers were dying in battle
with barbarians. Eventually armies were made up of
mostly barbarians. Instead of using the word soldier,
the romans began using the word barbarus when
referring to the barbaric soldiers. These soldiers had
little loyalty to Rome, The barbarians turned on
Rome.

The US doesnt have many problems like this,

soldiers are well trained in harsh conditions, the US
military does not hire mercenaries, however there
were rumors of a company known as G75 in
Phoenix Arizona hiring mercenaries regardless of
background or history for the purpose of killing
members of the Terrorist group ISIS

Rome- Overexpansion and Military Overspending

Rome

US- Current State Affairs

Romes military was the strongest force in that time,

Romes empire expanded to a very large size,
around five million square miles, however the Rome
spent a little too much money on military.

The US spent approximately 600 billion dollars on

military in the year 2015, the US military is the
dominant force in the modern world. The US spends
more than the next 9 countries combined!

Rome- Rise of Eastern Empire

Rome split in two when power hungry officials claimed to be
Emperor by Diocletian
Rome

US- Current State Affairs

Diocletian divided the empire into 2 halves, East

and West. The East and West never helped each
other to repel outside threats. As time went on the
Eastern side of the empire became wealthy, while
the West side fell into an economical crisis. The
Eastern side was often strong enough to stop
barbaric invasions, they drove the barbarians over
to the west

The US hasnt split in half for almost 150 years.

When we did split it was under rule of President
Lincoln who had banned slavery, when he did this
many southern states were angered, because they
had many cotton farms that african american slaves
worked on, without the slaves there would be no
one to do work. After 4 years of war the US came
back together.

Rome- Christianity
Though some may argue, the controversy between christian and
non-christian powers corrupted the empire
Rome

US- Current State Affairs

The introduction of a new religion in Rome was

huge, this religion known as Christianity spread
quickly, teachings by Jesus were believed by many,
these teachings challenged the Roman beliefs and
often caused problems for authorities. Some believe
that after Christianity was legalized by Constantine
Rome became weaker, they believed that Rome
was no longer as strong as they once were.

The US has a very large amount of people from

different backgrounds, these people all have
different religions. No problems are caused by this
and freedom of Religion has always been around.

City X
Develop a plan of action that your
government can implement that will
reduce the risks of committing the same
mistakes of the past.

Economic Decline:

With the grand trade and growing government with

military, Rome was overwhelmed.

Plan: Since we most likely do not know how to use the new resources on the
newly discovered planet, to keep trade in order, Earth shipments could be
imported to trade among everyone on the planet, including undiscovered
species of human-intelligent beings. Since there is a limited amount of
resources for a period of time, trade would not become overwhelming. As for
trade back to Earth, we could send matter found on the new planet to home,
as it becomes much more valuable than Earths Matter.

Growth of Government:

With a growing dishonest government, Romes

wealth was declining.

Plan: To prevent dishonesty in the government, we could do what the Chinese
and Greek did and split the land. The land could be split into equal sections,
with a semipower in charge of each. Each semipower could be a branch of
government, connected to a base at a capitol. Then, a democracy could be set
to decide the problems. There would be a supreme power in the government,
however. The decisions that person makes has to be approved by the citizens
assembly or the semipower of each branch. No one would be required for any
major jobs besides police work or only minor law enforcement jobs.

Geography: Shaped like a doughnut, invasion defenses took a large amount of

Do you not see the doughnut?

soldiers.
Plan: Before establishment, architects should consider
topography, height, ground density, and land resources
of the overall establishment area. The topography
should have a somewhat-clear plane with the natural
base of the planet along with spotted resources. The
height of the plane should be as flat as possible(Flat on
top of height is exceptional Ex: top of mountain).
Ground density should include stable ground that will
not sink when exposed to pressure. Land resources

should include a quantity of the natural resources found on the planet. This will help production apart
from imports from Earth.
In military defense, on top of a high area would be best for establishment, considering the advantage
in battle. Though we will want to avoid conflict, in hindsight to Rome, we would not want to be
surrounding a large, uninhabited area. Inhabiting a great land mass or island would be ideal.

Weak Leaders-

With the military desperate for men, leaders began hiring

foreigners to support the military

Plan: We could make peace with the alien beings on this new planet through
trade, expansion, and contract. If violence occurs, we would take defense
with barriers and walls, and if necessary, equip them with militia. This would
ensure we would not need ground-fighting men.
None of this would not be necessary if a good leader was
elected. Though throughout history each and every nation
has had trouble deciding a leader, referencing to current
America, we could install a voting system. However, each
of the parties would have to have top experience and
expertise in government, military, space maneuver, social
skills, and general education.

Decline in Workforce:

A high death rate of Roman slaves meant less labor.

Plan: Everyone does their own work. If someone wants to live in City X,
they need to work and carry their own weight. As for military, if invaders
were to attack, we would not expend troops but build an artificial military
of robots. We could use space junk to make them. Of course, melting and
cooling machines would be required. This would give jobs to people and
decrease the possible death rate.

Military Defeat:

Barbarians invaded the vast Roman Border.

Plan: We use our geography to our advantage. Since we are on a high area,
we could hurdle explosive matter at the troops. If we were to be on the
defending side, we could contact intelligent humans from Earth that could
come up with a backup plan. They could have a list of our resources and the
view of the battleground. Hopefully, our enemies care about the
environment and will stop before we establish a moat-like radioactive
ground around our establishment. Though this might prevent our expansion,
it is a last result.

Rise of the East-

In two halves, the east and west often squabbled in

internal and external matters among their overexpanded nation

Plan: We could create a group society that is a whole. They would be governed
by an established democracy and a select group of humans on Earth for extreme
measures. Since we are not aiming to populate the planet, it would be safe to
assume that we would not expand at an alarming rate, much less over expanding.
East
West

Overexpansion and Military Overspending- Rome spent

much money on military, Rome became so large that it became problematic.

Plan: There will be a max of 200 billion dollars spent on military per year, if
City X is to expand small leaders will be appointed to individual settlements
(like Mayors) There will still be one leader. He/she will not be appointed a
dictator, but a suggestion towards a senate in which okays their decision.

Christianity-

Though some may argue, the controversy between christian

and non-christian powers corrupted the empire

Plan: We could establish no law against religion, but we can establish laws
against the change of our establishment. This could prevent religion from having
difference in power. So actions that might cause harm or offense to the other
habitants would not be permitted. Any defiance of these laws would result in trial
carrying the consequences of a warning, house arrest, or sent back to Earth for
your home country to press charges.

Bibliography

Beard, Mary. "Fall of Roman Republic." BBC. BBC-History, 29 Mar. 2011. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.

Andrews, Evan. "8 Reasons Why Rome Fell." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 14 Jan. 2014.
Web. 30 Sept. 2016.

Https://www.probe.org/author/kerbyanderson/. "Rome and America Comparing to the Ancient

Roman Empire." Probe Ministries. Dream Casters Marketing, 07 Oct. 2014. Web. 12 Oct. 2016.

Donn. "The Republic Fails." The Roman Republic Fails. Mrdonn, n.d. Web. 30 Sept. 2016.