Modern Day Rome

Are we living in the modern day Rome? Current America is eerily similar to that of ancient Rome. Some people are very concerned that America will have the same fate as the Romans did. Rome fell for several reasons: decline in morals and values, inflation, military expansion and military spending just to name a few. All of these examples can easily be seen in modern day America. If we do not learn from the mistakes the Romans made, it is in my opinion that we will suffer a decline as well.

The morals and values that held Rome together could not be maintained. The gladiatorial events were the most popular form of entertainment. This helped to the barbaric thinking and decline in morals. Rome suffered in a period of time when Caesar after Caesar was assassinated for personal reasons. When one lost their morals and values they became more self-centered. Instead of looking at Rome as ?we,? they looked at it as a ?me?.

The same could be said for the morals and values of Americans. While we have not gotten to the large number of leaders like Rome did ,we could be heading down that same path. People are not looking at America as a whole. Most people care only about themselves. This could be a potentially large problem because if one stops looking at a community as a whole, then they loose all care and respect for other people. This in turn could cause chaos, crime, and anarchy just like it did in Rome.

Inflation is another issue that caught up to the Romans. When the Romans stopped conquering new land the flow of gold also stopped. The flow of gold stopped but the Romans kept using gold to pay for luxury items. As the amount of gold decreased so did the amount of gold in coins, making them less valuable. To make up for this merchants raised their prices. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter. Eventually, salaries were paid in clothing and food.

The same can be said for America. While the value of the dollar is going down, the price of goods is rising to make up for it. An example is when I used to work at Frisch?s. We would mark up our prices by a nickel every year. Look at McDonald?s the cost to buy a cheeseburger today is more than it was ten years ago. This is due to inflation.

Rome decided that they wanted to control the world. Troops were sent out and the boarders became larger and larger. This caused a problem because all of their troops were being used to expand the empire that eventually they had to retreat back towards Rome. Rome became very vulnerable because of the large boarders and the use of foreign soldiers. This