One of those telling moments in history was August 25, 410 AD . That morning the citizens of Rome looked out at the Visigoth forces of Alaric as defenses failed and thousands of Visigoths poured though the breach. Thus began the sack of Rome. For three days the Visigoths plundered the former capital of the Roman Empire. Rome would never be the same again. It was the End of Western Civilization . Old symbols come crashing down. The Visigoths had already taken 2-1/2 tons of gold, 15 tons of silver, thousands of fabric, and 2-1/2 tons of pepper during a siege two years earlier. Barbarian slaves had been freed, many joining Alaric's army. On August 25, Rome's defenses failed completely. A visiting monk named Pelagius commented, T his dismal calamity is but just over, and you yourself are a witness to how Rome that commanded the world was astonished at the alarm o
Solving the world's problems the old-fashioned way - from my chair out on the porch.