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This meme is completely absurd. If it was turned in as an answer in my class it'd get a 6%. And that's rounding up, it's really a 5.55555555%
Let's walk through it:
Let's walk through it:
1. Open borders? Wtf. There were extensive border fortifications throughout much of the Empire. But the idea of closed borders is a modern concept. The Roman empires borders never controlled immigration. 
3. Corrupt politicians: Aren't all politicians corrupt? From the first Roman Kings thru the senators thru all emperors, Roman politicians were mostly corrupt.
4. Loss of a common language. Nope. From the very beginning, Rome was a multilingual state. Greek was the official language of the Eastern half of the Empire. It didn't become more multilingual over time.
5. Violent entertainment. Again, this was prevalent from early in Rome's history. Plus the real sport of the late Roman and Byzantine empires was chariot racing.
6. Decline of morality. Fuck you. How do you measure morality?
7. Decline in fertility rate. Show me some evidence. I've never read anything that provides accurate estimations of fertility rate. C'mon.
8. Rise in pedophilia. Jesus H Christ. What is this? Ancient pedophilia, meaning sexual relationships between adult men and younger boys, was fairly common in ancient Greece and in Rome was seen as a Greek "cool" thing to do. Didn't become more common in late Rome.
9. Unchecked debauchery. What is this list? So, later emperors were more debauched than some of the earliest emperors such as Nero and Caligula? Gimme a break.
10. Class warfare. This one's actually true. The great Latin philosopher Carlus Marcus Engelius ushered in the first plebeian revolt that eventually toppled Rome
11. Unbearable taxation. Again true. Because later emperors mixed cheap metals in coins, inflation meant everyone paid more in taxes. Adjusted for inflation tho, and this isn't true
12. Outsourcing? Fucking outsourcing! What the hell does this even mean in the Roman empire?
13. Trade deficits. What the shit. The Roman empire was a huge free trade region. While some trade happened beyond it's borders it was negligible compared to the local agricultural economy
14. Exploding debt. Sigh. These are reading like Breitbart headlines. Given that the state pretty much controlled most forms of wealth, debt didn't matter for most emperors.
15. Money devaluation. Ooh, this one actually is true. Like, seriously.
16. Military cuts. Nope. Just no. I mean they didn't have any tanks or jets, but the military spending stayed high in the Late Roman empire
17. Terrorist attacks. I give up. It's just a stupid meme. But no. That's not how Roman history happened.
The fall of the Roman empire wasn't an event. It's rather an imaginary narrative used to imagine a far more complex process. Rome didn't really fall, as the Byzantine Empire prospered for a long time after the "fall of Rome" It wasn't so simple.
h/t @apistone and @KevinMKruse
h/t @apistone and @KevinMKruse
And btw, this meme is being shared by official social media accounts... #FightFakeHistory
And I would be remiss not to point you all in the direction of @pharosclassics where alt-right appropriations of the Classical past are being actively debunked on a regular basis: pages.vassar.edu/pharos/
This is type of #fakehistory is all too commonly used to perpetuate hate
This is type of #fakehistory is all too commonly used to perpetuate hate
