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The causes of the decline of the Roman Empire are controversial. Many posit that [[immorality]] and [[homosexuality]] so weakened spirit of the Empire that it was unable to stand firm against the Barbarians. Certainly poets such as [[Catullus]] and [[Juvenal]] describe many unnatural practises that may well have contributed to the final collapse just four hundred years later.  However, this theory was sensationalized by the (at the time) popular British writer [[Edward Gibbon]], who wrote the influential ''[[Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''.  Gibbons, though, was highly biased, in his attempt to analogize between the fall of Rome and what he saw as a lessening of moral strength in his own [[England]].  This theory is widely discounted by modern historians.

The causes of the decline of the Roman Empire are controversial. Many posit that [[immorality]] and [[homosexuality]] so weakened spirit of the Empire that it was unable to stand firm against the Barbarians. Certainly poets such as [[Catullus]] and [[Juvenal]] describe many unnatural practises that may well have contributed to the final collapse just four hundred years later.  However, this theory was sensationalized by the (at the time) popular British writer [[Edward Gibbon]], who wrote the influential ''[[Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''.  Gibbons, though, was highly biased, in his attempt to analogize between the fall of Rome and what he saw as a lessening of moral strength in his own [[England]].  This theory is widely discounted by modern historians.

One influential writer theorized that the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire are simple - it never strong enough to resist the barbarian hordes.  The barbarian hordes just didn't show up until 300 A.D.<ref>Edward N. Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire''</ref>  Prior to this time, a complicated system of "buffer states" and sedentary provincial legions could hold such a vast territory - however, with the advent of the first comparable military unit, the [[Visigoths]], led by [[Alaric the Visigoth|Alaric]].

One influential writer theorized that the reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire are simple - it was never strong enough to resist the barbarian hordes.  The barbarian hordes just didn't show up until 300 A.D.<ref>Edward N. Luttwak, ''The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire''</ref>  Prior to this time, a complicated system of "buffer states" and sedentary provincial legions could hold such a vast territory and defer the conflict for a time - however, with the loss of the battle of [[Adrianople]] and the subsequent barbarian deluge, led by the [[Visigoths]] and [[Alaric the Visigoth|Alaric]], the reckoning had finally come.

== After "the Fall" ==

== After "the Fall" ==