[Skywalk]

Rome was more than an Empire, don't you think? Even if they had failed in maintaining control of North Africa, Southern Europe and Asia Minor, there was still a possibility that a distinctly Roman and VIBRANT polity could have survived.

I don't look at the fall of Rome as an inevitability due to demographics, though certainly the fall of the LARGE Roman empire was attributable to such factors(and others)

you really think the change in society that resulted from the bread and circus mentality had nothing to do with how Rome was subdivided and fell?

[breakem]

to your last question absolutely not. Bread and circus was characteristic of the glory days of the empire and certainly didn't diminish the empire even though some of it was clearly immoral by most standards.

Even on a smaller scale the empire was in trouble, with cities like Venice and Florence emerging as strong centers of trade and culture. No, I don't see a vibrant Rome doing kuch more than it did for centuries after as the seat of the church. Which wasn't a bad tourist attraction.