Information Related to "When Nations Fall"
| Audio/Video |
Historian Arnold Toynbee (1889-1975) wrote a classic analysis on the rise and fall of civilizations. In his 12-volume work, A Study of History, he examined 21 great civilizations. Of all these, the only one that survives intact to the present is the United States of America.
If you were to poll Americans about whether they could envision the fall of their nation, most would probably react with a resounding negative answer.
Such a response would be no surprise. Citizens of some of the great empires of the past thought the same, but America would be wise to heed the lessons of history.
America has existed as a nation for less than two and a half centuries. Yet one of the longest-lasting civilizations of the past, ancient Rome , fell after more than 12 centuries. This was after standing first as a monarchy, then a republic, then an empire.
In the waning days of the Western Roman Empire, which came to an end in A.D. 476, how did the Romans themselves feel about their status? Author Bryan Ward-Perkins wrote, "Romans before the fall were as certain as we are today that their world would continue for ever substantially unchanged" (The Fall of Rome, 2006, p. 183).
Even before the actual fall of the empire, the city of Rome was humiliated in A.D. 410 when an army of Germanic peoples plundered Rome. It's interesting to note the observation of one person of that era: "'There will never be an end to the power of Rome,' wrote the court poet Claudian, shortly before the city's sack by the Visigoths" (Cullen Murphy, Are We Rome? 2007, p. 31).
Related Information on UCG Sites:
Sidebar: The Experience of Israel and Judah: A Lesson for Today
Table of Contents that includes "When Nations Fall"
Other Articles by Noel Hornor
Divorce: