re: The Fall of Rome

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If Rome had not engulfed so many men of alien blood in so brief a time,

if she had passed all these newcomers through her schools instead of her slums, if she had treated them as men with a hundred potential excellences,

if she had occasionally closed her gates to let assimilation catch up with infiltration,

she might have gained new racial and literary vitality from the infusion, and might have remained a Roman Rome, the voice and citadel of the West.

LOSS OF COMMON LANGUAGE

At first immigrants assimilated and learned the Latin language. They worked as servants with many rising to leadership.

But then they came so fast they did not learn Latin, but instead created a mix of Latin with their own Frankish, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Romanian, Germanic and Anglo tribal tongues.

The unity of the Roman Empire began to dissolve.

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