The Roman Empire was seriously declining. The economy began to stagnate. Too much money was being used to simply maintain the borders and unity of the empire. The cities began to deteriorate. City services declined, and hunger and disease severely hurt the poor. Many moved out to the country, where they found themselves working in the great latifundi -- what we might call agribusinesses -- as peasants and artisans. Free peasants turned over their ownership of land to these powerful landlords, in exchange for protection. In turn, these latifundi were ready-made mini-kingdoms for the barbarian chieftains who would be coming soon!

By the third century, the empire was being attacked from every direction. It was nobly defended by 33 legions (5000 men each). Internally, it was suffering from sheer size, and in 395, it officially split into two halves, the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire.

In the 400s, the Huns entered Europe from the Russian steppes, and got as far as Chalons, near Paris. They spread terror everywhere they went. Their empire collapsed in 476, but not before they set dozens of German tribes in motion towards the Roman Empire.

The Romans fought some off, paid some off, and let some in to protect the borders. Most of the mighty legions were eventually composed of German soldiers! One rather large tribe, the Visigoths (western Goths), began to move towards Italy from their settlements in the Balkans. In 410, they destroyed Rome. The western half of the Roman Empire was for all intents and purposes dead and in the hands of the various invaders.

The Eastern Roman Empire was also in decline and was plagued by wars, external and internal. Emperor Justinian (527 - 565) tried but failed to reconquer Italy and sent the Eastern Empire into financial crisis. His efforts to discourage pagan philosophies and eliminate Christian heresies would eventually lead to much dissatisfaction with his rule. On the other hand, Justinian codified Roman law and adapted it to Christian theology, and he promoted great works such as the building of the Hagia Sophia, with its incredibly large dome and beautiful mosaics.

Barbarians at the gates were only part of the Empire’s problems, however. There was famine in the remnants of the Roman Empire on and off from 400 to 800. There was a plague in the 500’s. The Empire’s population dropped by 50%. The city of Rome’s population dropped 90%. By 700, only Constantinople-- capital of the eastern Roman Empire -- had more than 100,000 people.

In the late 600's, Arabs conquered Egypt and Syria (up till then still a part of the Eastern Empire), and even attempted to take Constantinople itself. In the 700’s, Europe was attacked by Bulgars (a Turkish tribe), Khazars (a Turkish tribe which had adopted Judaism), Magyars (the Hungarians), and others. The Eastern Empire would see the Turks take Anatolia (appropriately renamed Turkey) in 1071, and finally take Constantinople in 1453.

In the meantime, western Europe was ruled by various size gangster-like hierarchies of illiterate warriors. The great mass of people were reduced to slave-like conditions, tilling the soil or in service jobs in the greatly reduced cities. We don’t call ‘em the dark ages for nothing!

But, when the sun sets on one civilization, it is usually rising somewhere else....