A documentary on the Roman empire

[jonb]

The main difference is that only about 30% of Rome were slaves, where as around 98% of Dark Age Europe were Serfs. This is clearly a step backwards.

True, but if we are looking at an individuals rights, a surf with tile to the land, would have been considered high up in the Roman social order. As such it is unclear how that could be portrayed as a step backwards.

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there was a lull after the fall that took hundreds of years to catch up to.

This is the problem when was the fall, when did Rome fracture into individual fiefdoms? The Roman culture and state declined a new culture replaced it. Sure I am not saying knowledge was not lost, but when was that loss? The only credible answer I can find; it was during the time of Roman control. In fact the Romans lost so much there was almost nothing left to pass on. I find it odd that so many people do not want to think, the Romans lost anything, but would rather blame the cultures that came after who created the foundations of what we have today.
The reason why the cultures which followed did not to a large extent use Roman stuff was by the time these cultures took off the remnants of what had been Roman had been a long time lost.

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/our-...15395.html

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I think you need to be fed to the lions.

As a user of soap, I would not have been mistaken for a christian. But as an atheist who will not bow to some daft prat who says he is a god, or gods anointed (depending when during the Empire you are referring to,) yes they would have killed me.