ABSTRACT
Reasons why particular nations rise to world dominance and then enter into an irreversible relative economic decline are always controversial, in particular in the country undergoing the decline. This chapter discusses two cases such as Rome and England. The empire was built on a unite-and-share-the-plunder policy that made Rome the keeper of a military that needed feeding with plunder. Plunder within any reasonable reach grew scarce, other countries learned how to better resist, and the military lost its drive, which resulted in Rome's export-led strategy becoming ineffective. Revenue for Rome's treasury came primarily from plunder, port dues, and taxes on land as well as personal taxes. Rome had its barbarians at the gate as did England in the form of Hitler. Some might say that barbarians also come in other forms, such as the tax man, bureaucracy, corruption, and inflation, among others, but old style barbarians are still around in modern times.
