It's 476 AD...

Barbarians are pouring through the gates of Ancient Rome.

One of the greatest civilizations ever has fallen.

Could this have been prevented with #Bitcoin?

The city of Rome had 1,000,000 inhabitants from 100 BC to 200 AD.

In the 5th century it was reduced to only 50,000 people.

3 factors were the root cause of its decline.

All could have been avoided by #Bitcoin. 👇

1- From Republic to Empire

Rome started as a Republic with a Senate & rule of law.

In 14 BC Rome was converted into an empire by Augustus Ceasar.

Power was centralised & rule of law was replaced by emperor worship.

Rome's faith now depended on emperors not f*cking up.

This is a recipe for disaster.

A string of bad decisions made Rome weaker & weaker.

Had Rome automated its government via a #BTC protocol 👇 it would have stayed a Republic.

Ruled by immutable rule of law the Republic would likely have survived.

2- Increasing cost of army & administration

Rome's army kept growing and demanded more & more resources.

First because of conquest.

Later to defend against Germanic tribes & the Persian empire.

And for the emperor to simply not get killed by the army.

Bureaucracy also expanded.

The last 300 yrs of Rome saw no territory gains.

But in the same period the # of provinces increased from 20 to 100 (!)

Emperors started distributing free grain to the poor.

This kept the masses quiet & loyal to the emperor.

Rome on a #BTC standard would've had an incentive to trade, not to conquer.

It wouldn't require such a large army.

Bureaucracy growth would've been kept in check.

With #BTC the emperors would not have been able to do what was the main driver of Rome's decline. 👇

3- Money debasement

Increasing taxes & expanding citizenship (to increase taxes) wasn't enough to cover rising costs.

Emperors started to debase the silver denarius.

Its silver content went from 95% to 5%!

This caused inflation, w prices going up 1,000% in 258-275 AD!

At this moment the government demanded gold as tax (instead of its own silver denarius!).

People couldn't affort it and had to leave their lands.

To either become slaves or go to Rome for free grain.

This caused the gov's revenue to go down significantly.

#BTC would've prevented money debasement.

Prices would've gone ⬇️ instead of ⬆️.

People would have been able to save their life's energy.

There would be no economic disruption & people not forced off their land.

The gov would have been richer & Rome not fallen!