Civilizations and Empires have come and gone. You name it: Byzantine, Arabian, Persian, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Mongolian, British, and today’s modern-day one, arguably spearheaded by the United States.

However, the most prolific, in many ways, is the Roman Civilization.

Spanning approximately 12 centuries, from about 750 years B.C. to over 4 hundred years A.D., it was born as a Kingdom first, then a Republic, then in the twilight of it’s life, an Empire. The Republic period lasted longest, for about 480 years, then the Empire, for about 450, and finally the Kingdom for almost 250. Contributing to military tactics and warfare, architecture, medicine, government, education, economics, and even basic hygiene, city-planning and plumbing, it stands out as a lesson to mankind, for good and evil. For it also contributed profusely to class distinction, slavery, violence, promiscuity, imperialism, etc..

Every civilization has a beginning, a middle or high-point, and an end.

An objective look will show that after the coming of a Prophet, or Manifestation of God, a civilization gets a ”boost”. This is the single most decisive factor, though myriads of minor ones also exist.

Moses’ advent greatly inspired minor Jewish leaders and pundits, who then contributed greatly to a lot of the arts and sciences the Greek civilization became known for. Buddha and Krishna gave a significant boost to the area of Indo-China, Muhammad to the Arabian civilization, Zoroaster to the Persian, and today, Baha’u’llah to the modern-day global civilization. It is not by chance that 23rd May 1844, when the Baha’i Faith was born, marked also one of the greatest advancements in mankind’s scientific and communications’ history: Samuel Morse sending the first telegraph over an experimental line from Washington D.C., to Baltimore. The message, ”What hath God wrought?” was taken from the Book of Numbers, in the Bible,and had been suggested by Annie Ellsworth.

Science and religion, as usual, in harmony, when unabused  by the ego of man, and given the impetus of a Manifestation of God.

The Roman civilization was rejuvenated upon the advent of Jesus Christ. About a century after His coming, the Romans progressed shockingly well. But, loss of the spiritual roots that once made them great, led to their eventual decline.

Even Edward Gibbon, himself skeptical to organised religion (incidentally, that’s where he and I part company), and to Christianity, agreed that the loss of spiritual values, was at the root, starting with the seed planted by the first Emperor, Octavianus, upon his forming of the Praetorian Guard, which assassinated at will, plundered, auctioned the Imperial throne, challenged the Senate, and had vicious street battles with Roman Citizens.

Where there once was hard work, slavery existed, and Romans slept in the arenas and amphitheatres to watch the gladiatoral spectacles. Where there once was honour and family, there were orgies, and promiscuity, and lust, and the breakdown of the building-block of the family, which is the bedrock of society.

Where there was city-planning and medicine and engineering (which inspires us and we revive up to this day) there befell wanton battles and executions and destructions.

Not to mention the brutal treatment of the Christian community.

The idea is, we,as humans, are prone to follishly and blindly repeating the same mistakes, as Gibbon suggests in his work, ”The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”.