About This Episode: Rome didn’t collapse overnight. It made a decision. In 211 AD, Emperor Septimius Severus gave his sons a final piece of advice: “Enrich the soldiers and despise all others.” That sentence rewired the Roman economy. Military pay exploded. Silver...
The Slow Erosion of an Empire’s Heart Picture the Eternal City in its twilight: marble forums cracked under the weight of neglect, once-thronged streets whispering echoes of forgotten triumphs, and the Tiber’s waters lapping lazily at banks overgrown with...
About This Episode: Are we actually less capable of handling collapse than past generations—or are we just adapted for a different kind of world? In this conversation, Dan Carlin (Hardcore History / The End Is Always Near) breaks down why modern society may be more...
I’ve always been fascinated by how empires decline, not just from conquest, but from the slow erosion of economics, infrastructure, and politics. Rome’s story is a perfect example, especially when the city itself was effectively abandoned as the center of power. By...
About This Episode: Most people think collapse is an explosion. A wall falls. A city burns. A single date on a timeline. But that’s almost never how it happens. Rome didn’t “fall in 476.” That’s the lie. Rome faded — slowly — through a series of rational “fixes” that...
