The high cost of financing the Roman war against the Celtic Germanic tribes was a major burden to the Roman Empire. Through the might of military force the Romans were able to conquer the Germanic tribes, but they were not able to continue to hold together such a vast and diverse Empire under the control of Rome. Rather than admit defeat the leaders of Rome obtained funding for their wars by minting more currency without an increase in the supply of precious metals.
The Roman state, bankrupt by the third century, became increasingly incapable of paying its officials and its armies without further decline to the money supply. In an attempt to find answers to the continued decline, the Roman Empire began drawing in recruits with the promise of free citizenship. The Empire could not maintain its superior force and resorted to the creation of mercinary armies drawn from populations who would do the job for them.
Obviously, the mercinaries take care of themselves and their own. They are filling a large and vulnerable gap in the system, and they consolodate their advantage by increasing their own status and wealth. Whichever way one turns Rome is losing control of its interests.
There is a human perspective that is often missed by historians and military analysts who view the might of the army as being vitality and strength. You know how it is... Zeus, Thor, Posidon, the immortal gods of war. Few researchers consider the high demand placed on the populations to eternally provide young soldiers to feed the growing monster of war, colonisation, victory and expansion.
No matter what the average age of the invading army is during an invasion, the army is aging and the aging process is happening a lot faster than the numbers killed in combat. As each year passes the Empire is losing its military vitality to the god of exhaustion and the passing of time: Cronos, which is also related to fatigue. In theory the Empire's need for a continued supply of young, strong, committed soldiers is equal to the size of the battlefield. Therefore the Empire itself is the monster consuming the vital energy of the society, the country, the state.
When studying the decline of the Roman Empire, you have to also take the drain of the resources of the population into consideration. The Empire has to produce soldiers at a much faster rate than the decline caused by Zeus (war) and Chronos (time). This is why the Romans brought the mercenary armies into the game, and the mercenaries are groups focused on increasing their own personal wealth. There again you have a decrease in the power of the Empire as it begins to depend on outside help to achieve its aims.
Who knows? Maybe an Empire was not such a good idea? They certainly could not sustain the military supply to meet the demands. It all became too expensive in terms of money, in terms of population. They trained the militias and the militias turned on them. They brought in the mercinaries and the mercinaries allied themselves with the highest bidder. As the resources of the Empire dwindled, other interests had the capital to buy the firepower of the mercinaries. In the end it was all a big mess. Militias and mercinaries will take money from five, ten, fifteen different groups and tell no one what they are doing. So, the power of Rome - its buying power - fell into decline. That is what war is. The power to buy and sell.
The Roman state, bankrupt by the third century, became increasingly incapable of paying its officials and its armies without further decline to the money supply. In an attempt to find answers to the continued decline, the Roman Empire began drawing in recruits with the promise of free citizenship. The Empire could not maintain its superior force and resorted to the creation of mercinary armies drawn from populations who would do the job for them.
Obviously, the mercinaries take care of themselves and their own. They are filling a large and vulnerable gap in the system, and they consolodate their advantage by increasing their own status and wealth. Whichever way one turns Rome is losing control of its interests.
There is a human perspective that is often missed by historians and military analysts who view the might of the army as being vitality and strength. You know how it is... Zeus, Thor, Posidon, the immortal gods of war. Few researchers consider the high demand placed on the populations to eternally provide young soldiers to feed the growing monster of war, colonisation, victory and expansion.
No matter what the average age of the invading army is during an invasion, the army is aging and the aging process is happening a lot faster than the numbers killed in combat. As each year passes the Empire is losing its military vitality to the god of exhaustion and the passing of time: Cronos, which is also related to fatigue. In theory the Empire's need for a continued supply of young, strong, committed soldiers is equal to the size of the battlefield. Therefore the Empire itself is the monster consuming the vital energy of the society, the country, the state.
When studying the decline of the Roman Empire, you have to also take the drain of the resources of the population into consideration. The Empire has to produce soldiers at a much faster rate than the decline caused by Zeus (war) and Chronos (time). This is why the Romans brought the mercenary armies into the game, and the mercenaries are groups focused on increasing their own personal wealth. There again you have a decrease in the power of the Empire as it begins to depend on outside help to achieve its aims.
Who knows? Maybe an Empire was not such a good idea? They certainly could not sustain the military supply to meet the demands. It all became too expensive in terms of money, in terms of population. They trained the militias and the militias turned on them. They brought in the mercinaries and the mercinaries allied themselves with the highest bidder. As the resources of the Empire dwindled, other interests had the capital to buy the firepower of the mercinaries. In the end it was all a big mess. Militias and mercinaries will take money from five, ten, fifteen different groups and tell no one what they are doing. So, the power of Rome - its buying power - fell into decline. That is what war is. The power to buy and sell.
