Are we the next Roman Empire? part 2

Continuing from last time, let's look at some other notable similarities between the Roman Empire and the present-day United States.

After the capital city was sacked by Alaric, Roman society collapsed. In the west, militant religious revival eliminated all vestiges of the once-luxurious Roman lifestyle, paving the way for the Catholic church to rise as both a religious and political entity as the sole remnant of civilization. In the East, the shrinking Empire moved to Constantinople, then finally died out as Muslim invaders moved across the land, taking back with them all of the advances in science, architecture, and mathematics. In short, art, science, and mathematics all moved east. In addition, the increasingly religious society that remained condemned the "infidel" Muslims and their technology, thereby extending the ensuing Dark Age far longer than necessary.

Most people would say this has no relevance to the United States whatsoever - we aren't dominated by religion...or are we? Recent advances in medicine, such as stem cell research, have been severely attacked by religious institutions of all sorts (not just Catholic). The issues of ethics and morality have caused America to hesitate before pursuing the latest advances, particularly in biological sciences, while scientists in other countries push forward unchecked by a governing body so consumed with politics that it bows to the will of its constituents - most recently, religious conservatives - in an attempt to prolong its stay in office. The "infidel" technology has since moved east, where it can be developed without interference by government that has slowly become more religious (or at least moral-conscious, which tends to point toward religious conservatism) over the past several decades, despite the Constitutional declaration of "separation of church and state."

Are we the next Roman Empire? part 1

The second problem-based learning scenario presents some interesting concepts in an almost conspirical manner. Though the scenario itself is fictional, it does pose some interesting questions: is the U.S. the next Roman Empire? Are we destined to follow their decline? Though it is impossible to say yes or no definitively, consider the circumstances of the gradual collapse of the Roman Empire.

At the peak of Roman power the empire was vast, stretching from the British Isles into northern Africa. The Roman legions were massively overextended, stretched too thin to be effective in protecting any of the empire from outside attackers. The previoius pax romana had eroded the morals and ethics that had once held society together. Corruption crippled the political machine as emperors like Nero and Caligula wasted federal money on lavish parties for the upper class. Ruling power was shuffled between the army, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's private army), and a slew of emperors, often going to the highest bidder. With the upper ranks in chaos, Roman society collapsed. High unemployment led to an increase in crime and a lack of general order across the empire, allowing the indigenous tribes to force the disorganized legions back and eventually leading to the sack of the city of Rome. Its capital gone, the Roman Empire split in half, gradually fading into ruin, unable to protect itself as Eastern invaders rode unchecked across its lands.

Of course, the United States isn't the Roman Empire by a long stretch, but there are some interesting parallels to be found. First off, the Roman army was incredibly overextended, occupying territory thousands of miles from Rome. Naturally, the cost of maintaining that army was massive, and it drained the Roman treasury. Sound familiar? If not, consider that the United States has troops stationed in Africa, Japan, South Korea, the Philippines, and all across Europe and the Middle East. While we may not be feeling the effects economically, also keep in mind that America has not paid soldiers to protect American soil since the War of 1812 - every military venture since then has been fighting in foreign lands.

The Forum

Our group (Group 2) was given the topic of the Roman Forum and the problem of developing a teaching strategy to spark school-age children's interest in ancient Rome, particularly the Forum. In response to the issue of maintaining the interest of children, we opted to create an interactive board game to be used as a classroom set and moderated either by the teacher or a group of adults trained in the use of the game as a learning tool. The game is played similarly to the game Cranium, with various trivia and activities related to many of the important structures in the Roman Forum. The key advantage in our game is that, unlike most trivia games, you need no prior knowledge of the Forum to play - all of the information you need is presented to you during play.

Overall, this experience was a benefitial one for all involved. Our group has a very broad range of backgrounds, interests, and ways of thinking, and at first it was difficult for us all to agree on how to approach the problem. Even the idea of a concept map was strange and confusing for the two logic-minded members of our group (of which I was one). However, once we agreed on a general solution, each of us was able to use our own unique talents and interests to contribute meaningfully to the game, proving that diversity is more benefitial to a team effort than like-mindedness. To look at our original concept map and our finished product, it is difficult to see the connection between a massive chart of seemingly unrelated topics and a well-planned, interesting, and engaging board game on the Roman Forum. We were all suprised, I think, to look back at our very beginning and see where it led, but if we hadn't decided on the concept map's central topic before delving into research, it's hard to say if we would have been able to present the material as creatively as we did.

Below is a link to the game board we created. The rules, questions, and answers are on Blackboard, and will remain there until I figure out how to get them here.

Game board (game pieces shown bottom left)