by James Hickman
Schiff Sovereign
It started with the Antonine Plague in the late 160s AD, most likely a really bad smallpox epidemic that killed 8 million people across the Roman Empire.
Then came the barbarian invasions… a tidal wave of migrants pouring across Rome’s northern border and plundering the countryside.
The Roman government also bizarrely spent a fortune doling out vast sums of money to adversary nations– a sort of bribe (they called it ‘tribute’) to make sure that foreign powers wouldn’t attack Rome.
But instead, those adversary nations smelled weakness and used the money to build up their own military capabilities and menace the Empire… all courtesy of Roman taxpayers.
