There have been many empires. The all died when barbaric races that were more vigorous could harass and encroach on and overstrain far flung defenses -- and as taxes grew onerous upon the people, the defenders of the empire became effete, and lazy. Dependent on slavery, and corruption, the people could no longer bring to bear the resources necessary to face the resolute hordes who bore long standing grudges against their repression.
Spengler predicted the same decline of the civilization and outlined his reasons for it in his book Decline of the West. He predicted it was inevitable and unstoppable.
Similar financial crisis plagued Rome for centuries. They preceded the fall of Rome. A common factor that is always drawn upon is the debasement of coinage. But even before Rome had debasement it has runaway inflation and wage and price controls. The reasons seem to be that it tried to run a mercantile economy, and the strain of the transport, and subsidization of the frontier of the empire led to inflation and a lopsided plunder based economy. We may liken the Roman plunder to the influence of US trade in the Americas and elsewhere. WE never saw ourselves as plunderers but Yanqui Go Home was not an entreaty to hard working managers to take more time off.
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Perhaps the most important factor associating the era of Commodus as the beginning of imperial decline was the status of the Roman economy. The lack of slave imports via military conquest in an agrarian slave labor economy, the absence of military plunder, the limited supply and expense of valuable metal extraction which undermined the monetary system, the cost of grain doles, public welfare (alimenta) and appeasement of the populace through expensive games (ie bread and circuses), the growing bureaucracy, cost of luxury imports, etc. all played pivotal roles in weakening the economic state.
The increase in taxation, which developed into what might be considered a form of legal extortion, to compensate for the high cost of operating the state was not only economically stagnating, but had the effect of limiting voluntary contributions from the aristocracy and otherwise wealthy citizenship.
Obama and other tax and spend plutocrats take note.
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