Chapter Eight - Militarism
Rome found herself, like the U. S. after World War II, in the unenviable position of being a "world policeman.". Her people grew weary of this burden, and committed careless mistakes in a dangerous world.
In a military age, surrounded by nations becoming more aggressive, hostile and treacherous, Rome followed a policy that made her increasingly weaker defensively and more vulnerable to conquest. She thought her policies of defence would make her stronger, and for a while they did. But in the end they destroyed her!

Pride of Power Being Lost
Britain just recently and the United States today have experienced the same problem. The English already have become satisfied with a "Little England" - giving up their position as a world power. The United States is also having grave difficulties, Despite the most awesome military machine the world has ever seen, the U. S. is losing power, prestige and respect.
The greatest power in the world is confused about its goals. America is halting, timorous, unsure how to use its vast power and face up to its challenges.
It's not that America (and Britain) have no power.
It's just that we have lost pride in our power. We are afraid to use our power. We are rapidly becoming a paper tiger - a nation that is all smoke and no fire! But notice what God said He would do if we refused to obey Him (which we have):
"And I will break the pride of your power..." (Lev. 26:19). Insignificant nations like Cuba and North Korea are able to back us up against the wall! A tragic spectacle!
Kept alive by the relatively inferior forces of the enemy in North Vietnam, the Indochina war has been a nagging nightmare to America - a major cause of national divisiveness!
Surprisingly, the historians report that the Roman Empire in the West fell under the dominance of "inferior" barbarians. Rome also increasingly followed the military policy of taking a "calculated risk" on rearming neighbouring warlike vassal states to defend her own borders. It backfired on her and, along with other shortcomings, allowed Roman power to be swept under!

Far-reaching Power of Rome
For hundreds of years the Roman Empire possessed the most powerful, awesome, inspiring and disciplined military force in history.
At its greatest peak, "The Roman Empire was surrounded by a ring of military fortresses - in Britain, on the Rhine, Danube and Euphrates; in Arabia, Egypt and Africa" (M. Rostovt2eff, Rome, pp. 210-211)
But to support this ever-growing military machine, with all its vast requirements for more fortresses, weapons of every kind, manpower and food, required heavy financial burdens on the government and populace.
Taxes were high in order to support burgeoning military needs; the bureaucracy needed to back up the collection and distribution of supplies grew ever more complicated - and corrupted!
From Diocletian onward, vast armament factories (fabricae) manufactured all arms required for the insatiable military forces. There were fifteen factories in the Eastern Empire for production of shields and arms - Damascus, Antioch, Edessa, Nicomedia, Sardis, Thessalonica, and others. Other cities were centers for production of heavy cavalry armor.
The Western Empire had its vast military-industrial complexes, too.
"There were shield works at Aquincum, Carnuntum, Lauriacum, Cremona, Augustodunum and Augusta Trevirorum, arrow factories at Concordia and Matisco, a bow factory at Ticinum, a breastplate works at Mantua, sword factories at Luca and Remi, and for ballistae [catapult artillery] at Treviri" (A. H. M. Jones, The Later Roman Empire, p. 834). Other arms were produced elsewhere.
Special factories produced bronze armor adorned with silver and gold for officers. Others produced uniforms for the troops and civil service.
"The fabricae must have been large establishments, for their personnel was a substantial element in the population of the towns in which they were situated" (ibid., p. 835).

Awesome Weaponry
Rome borrowed military techniques or tactics from other nations. This gave her the latest effective tools of warfare. In the early Empire, the cool discipline and
mastery of arms of her legions always won out in the end over the impetuous fury and more numerous hordes of many of her enemies. She might lose a battle, but she generally won the war. Later, that was to change!
The Romans were masters in the art of siege warfare. They built complex towers to overrun the highest walls. They developed huge protected battering rams to break down heavy walled fortresses. Besides the usual small personal arms - swords, spears, shields, bows and arrows - the Romans developed fear-inspiring and devastating heavy artillery, much of it mobile.
They had catapults that could hurl 50-pound rocks 400 yards or more - nearly a quarter of a mile - wreakine devastating destruction.
Other catapults could hurl bags of stones - the Roman equivalent of shrapnel. One device called a balista could hurl a 12-foot flaming spear 2,000 feet or more - over a third of a mile. A huge crossbow device could hurl smaller fire-tipped darts in rapid succession and strike home with great accuracy.

Former Enemies Become Allies
In early times, the Romans refrained from allying large numbers of barbarian troops. The sons of the senators, nobles and landholders produced the backbone and leadership of Roman legions. These were the courageous fighters who steadfastly fought for the protection and glory of their homeland - expressing the character and discipline of men engaged in the work of the state.
Later, however, the armies of Rome were literally filled by barbarian soldiers, many of them former enemies. In fact, when speaking of the army of the Empire in the West in the fifth century, we are talking basically about a barbarian army in the hire of Rome; and mostly an army of Germanic origin at that!
The Russian historian Rostovtzeff relates the beginnings of this practice: "In the troub1osome times of the later Antonines Rome needed a constant supply of .1 recruits to defend her from the barbarians. Thousands fell in battle,and still more were carried off by pestilence. And further, the civilized classes grew less and less accustomed to military service and sent inferior men to the ranks. "Hence the emperors preferred to employ a more primitive section of the population- field labourers and herdsmen from the outskirts of the empire, Thracians, Illyrians, Spanish mountaineers, Moors, men from the north Gaul, mountaineers from Asia Minor and Syria. And so the army came to represent the less civilized part of the population" (Rome, pp. 271, 274).
So Romans grew used to, and even preferred to have these barbarians do the fighting for them. They had long grown used to them as neighbors. Some even settled on lands within the Empire. They had long been well known as slaves. And gradually, the Germans became the greatest leaders of the military.
The idea of having allies or using mercenary troops is not new!

Effects of Racial Changes
As pointed out by Roman historians such as Tenny Frank, a vast change in the Roman character, temperament and national feeling developed as freed slave stocks and other Easterners proliferated to become the majority within the Roman heartland itself. As the original Romans were killed in warfare or scattered in the colonies - their places at home were filled by these peoples.
"The profuse intermixture of race, continuing without interruption from 200 B.C. far into the history of the Empire, produced a type utterly different from that which characterized the heroes of the early republic" (Duff, Freedom in the Early Roman Empire, p. 205).
With this gradual change of population came a steady drop in national feeling and deep patriotism. The freed slaves and other Easterners, after all, had little regard for ancient Roman traditions and cultural heritage. Their heritage-lay elsewhere.
In measure, this affected the quality of the armies of Rome, for many of the later Romans were unwilling to fight.
"Under the later empire, service in the army grew so unpopular and even odious that many cut off the fingers of the right hand in order to escape military duty. The government was forced to impose severe penalties for such acts.
"The result of this decline in the military spirit among the Romans was, as we have seen, that the recruiting ground of the legions became the barbarian lands outside the empire. The loss of the military spirit in a military age, and this transformation in the armies of Rome could of course have no other outcome ... the entrance into the army of a non-Roman spirit, and the final overthrow of the imperial government by the revolt of the mutinous legions" (Philip Van Ness Myers, Rome: Its Rise and Fall, pp. 449, 450).
Then, gradually, lower discipline and softer living further weakened the effectiveness of some of the troops. And rampaging corruption gripped many of the officers, with evil effects.

The Germanic Pressure Increases
Increasingly, growing numbers of Germanic tribes came in contact with the Empire, some peacefully, others as invaders.
The general nature of these peoples was quite varied and unpredictable. Their basic nature was love of looting, pillaging and warfare, with few stable roots. Some became more peaceable because of weariness with warfare, and settled down within the Empire and served Rome.
Few of these tribes hated Rome to the point of wanting to totally destroy her. Many respected the civilization of Rome and its organization. But, the lure of plunder, riches and land often couldn't be restrained when the opportunity offered itself and Rome steadily grew weaker. With the pressure of many groups of rampaging barbarian tribes threatening the provinces, Rome accepted the offers of some tribes to serve in defence of the Empire as foederati (federated allies) in return for money, lands, or supplies. Other tribes were forced en masse into the standards of Rome as the result of defeat in battle.
Thus, the increasing threats of yet other ravaging barbarians pressured Rome into taking "calculated risks" and federating herself with uncertain allies.
The German tribes, however, were more often fighting one another than fighting the Empire. Rome used them, first one, then another, to fight each other if any became a threat to the Empire. Rome tried, as much as possible,, to maintain a balance of power between these warring, unpredictable tribes so that none would gravely endanger Rome.
Rome even had to set up a "foreign-aid" program to keep the barbarians from revolting. It was easier and cheaper to pay foreign mercenaries already in the provinces to protect the Empire than to go to her own defence. The policies of the Romans were much like our foreign-aid programs today. Rome hoped to buy her friends, and keep the "peace" with gifts of money and supplies.
But the plan backfired!
"To fight the barbarians and also buy them off, and keep the magnificent edifice of the Empire standing, great resources were needed" (Ferdinand Lot, The End of the Ancient World and the Beginnings of the Middle Ages, p. 184).
More and more demands were made by the barbarians. As these demands increased on all sides, Rome could no longer shell out the required gifts.
The parallels between then and now are clear!

A Turning Point in History
A new terror struck the fringes of the Empire. Hordes of the terrible Huns were sweeping across the continent. The German tribes fled in horror and sought Roman help. In 376 A. D. Emperor Valens permitted a million or so Goths to seek refuge within the Empire. The Goths came as suppliants for protection, food and shelter. If they were given lands and basic supplies, they promised that they would lead peaceful lives and provide auxiliaries for Rome's defence if required.
"But the well-devised plan was frustrated by the knavery of the Roman officials who had its execution in charge. By their corrupt connivance the Goths were allowed to keep their arms; by their greediness the newcomers were defrauded of promised supplies; and by their perfidy they were driven into open rebellion" (William F. Allen, A Short History of the Roman People, p. 319).
Emperor Valens was killed in the battle of Adrianople (378 A. D.) in an effort to control the insurgents. (The Goths surprised the legions by introducing mounted cavalry which cut the Roman forces to ribbons.)
The Goths were finally given lands. But it was the beginning of the end. The story was to be repeated again and again in varying forms with many chieftains. The barbarians, though often militarily inferior, continuously took advantage of the corrupt, internally weak and untrustworthy Roman government and military command.

Empire Sliced to Ribbons
The rapacious barbarians slowly sliced off pieces of the Empire until little was left of the Western Empire except Italy itself.
In this period, Alaric the Visigoth, supposedly in the service of Rome, sacked Rome because of slighted and cheated feelings. It was a sign of the weakness in the very heart of the Empire. In 455 Geiseric and the Vandals occupied and sacked Rome.
The enfeeblement of the Empire had a snowballing effect. It encouraged other treacherous allies and enemies to join in the excitement and opportunities for plunder. The pressure on the forces of the Empire became unbearable.
Finally in 476 A. D., the fiction of Roman rule in the West came to an end when the Herulian, Odoacer, decided to replace the Roman figurehead, Romulus Augustulus, with himself. Rome, which had been at the mercy of her foreign allies and the barbarians, now fell before them.
As one Roman history source says: "The Roman army failed only at the end, and failed then because it trained in its own ranks the border nations that swept it back in the day of its old age and exhaustion" (Grant Showerman, Rome and the Romans, pp. 465-6).
Dr. Robert Strausz-Hupe, noted educator in international relations, summarized Rome's military woes this way: "Rome's hostile neighbors turned more aggressive. For awhile, appeasement of her enemies bought Rome peace. Then, her strongest allies defected, and her enemies, encouraged by Rome's limp response to their provocations, renewed the attack and proceeded to ravage Rome's home territories, Italy and Gaul."
Rome's "calculated risk" - her federations with questionable allies - failed. Her allies turned out to be "Frankenstein monsters"! They turned on Rome and destroyed her!

Not by Might
Some years ago a United States navy official, Commander P. N. Searls, spoke out against the declining moral standards of society, specifically mentioning the new recruits he had to deal with.
"We can have the best missiles and ships and planes in the world," he said, "but they are no better than the men who operate them."
Then he referred to Rome's fall.
"Effete and over civilized Rome lost its national will and national purpose and was overrun by the Vandals. Civilizations with a low standard of morality have been pushed to the grave throughout history by people with a low standard of dying."
CHARACTER is the important thing! That's where the strength of a nation begins! Unfortunately, we have been neglecting this quality and have relied instead upon sheer military power (in armaments) along with the power of other nations as allies.

Can We Buy Faithful Allies?
Do military money, hardware and manpower form a wall behind which we can let morality, solid goals and values collapse in a final splurge of self-indulgence and selfishness? Does nations actually expect to remain permanently strong with such trends?
Today, many nations are being overcome with a non involvement frame of mind. It reveals itself in foreign diplomacy, in government circles. The general populace has grown apathetic, ignorant and unconcerned about the increasing power of former enemies or potential enemies!

Military Underpinnings Waning
Military standards and spirit have decayed. In 1961, President Kennedy was highly disturbed when he found out that the U. S. Army had to call up seven men to get two soldiers. Of the five rejected, three were turned down for physical reasons, and two for mental disabilities.
Since then, standards have been lowered so more can be accepted.
The lowering of spirit and quality of manpower has begun to manifest itself in growing trends affecting the military. Growing dissidence protesting military life and refusal to obey orders, underground newspapers undermining loyalty, defections to foreign countries, racial conflicts, evasion of the draft, and relaxed regulations regarding military discipline are all on the increase.
One soldier in a company on patrol in Vietnam offered this reason for the decline in military morale: "'Woodstock' has come to Vietnam!" The spirit of do-your-own-thing-if-you-don't-like-it, the I-don't-know -why-I'm-here attitude, the weakened morality, the drugs, the soft living of the abandoned rock festival is slowly creeping into the military spirit. Today, the United States finds itself supporting, defending and looking for support from former enemies, while former allies are now enemies, or becoming more hostile to the U. S.

An ancient warning was applied to the Biblical nation of Judah, that could be a solemn warning to modern nations: "How does the city sit solitary, that was full of people! How is she become as a widow! She that was great among the nations, and princess among the provinces, how is she become tributary.
"She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are upon her cheeks: among all her lovers [allies] she hath none to comfort her: all her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they are become her enemies" (Lamentations 1:1-2)