Dear Sir,IN HIS 1788 book The Decline And Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward Gibbon gave five reasons why the Empire and its civilisation collapsed.
They are: the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, ever-increasing taxes and the spending of public money on free bread and circuses for the populace, the craze for pleasure, with sports and plays becoming more and more exciting, brutal and immoral, the decay in individual responsibility and the building of armaments when the real enemy was within.
And in addition the decay of religion whose leaders had lost touch with real life and their responsibility to guide the population.
This made me wonder: was there a ruling Labour Party in ancient Rome?
Colin Henson, Ullswater, Woodthorpe, York.
Nice one, Colin!
