The fall of Rome

[dash_zero]

Ok, I know this is probably a big question but it's something i've never got. So for various reasons the power that was the roman empire collapsed and barbarians destroyed it. 

But what practicially happened? Surely all those citizens that did enjoy a 'civilized' life were't killed or just put up with this new lifestyle? 

I can't imagine how people could simply live amongst these ruins of a time so much more advanced then what they're currently living and not attempt to re-assimilate it. 

How could it take hundreds (?) of years untill the middle ages and even the they didn't match up to the advancement of the Romans?

Please help me get my head around this!

[jno]

'Barbarian' tribes encroached on the empire from the west, finally conquering the city of Rome itself. The eastern half of the empire had already hived off (based in what is now Istanbul) as the Byzantine empire, and lasted another 1000 years. The western half didn't tumble into barbarism overnight, but they didn't necessarily follow the old ways - no use for fancy senate buildings, for instance - and it does seem that architectural techniques, for instance, gradually became forgotten. People might have lived near a Roman aqueduct but have had no idea how it was built (after a few centuries they thought they must have been built by ancient giants). Successive waves of invasions, and the fact that there was no longer a unified army to defend them, meant people retreated from the paved streets of cities, and often forgot city life altogether, retreating to towns with forts where they could hide from armies or bandits. The Roman gods were replaced by tribal deities or by the Christian or Muslim gods if there were missionairies about. Education mostly collapsed, though no doubt rural commonsense survived - how to keep cattle or thatch a roof. It was I think all pretty gradual, as was the eventual rediscovery of lost knowledge during the renaissance.

[Octavius]

Money.

The Roman Empire relied upon either the booty from conquered territories (ending with the end of Roman territorial expansion) or upon a pattern of tax collection that ultimately drove small-scale farmers into destitution and onto a dole that required even more exactions upon those who could not escape taxation, or into dependency upon a landed �lite exempt from taxation.  Financial needs of sustaining the empire and it's expansion (conquering, building and civilising) continued to increase, but the means of meeting them steadily eroded.  After the fall of the empire in the west, there was no single entity to finance and continue the percieved 'extravagances' of the civilised romans.

[reportmonkey]

Ask yourself this question civilisation is collapsing around you...there are lots of Saxons with Axes coming towards you and the army has just run away..do you...

a) stay where you are and try to rebuild society single handed.

b) RUN FOR THE HILLS!!!!!

This sort of scenario is illustrated very well in Romeros Zombie films....watch the original Dawn of the Dead.

[dash_zero]

That's made it a lot clearer, thank's a lot.