It’s kind of weird that nobody wanted the Roman Empire to fall.
I mean, like, individuals wanted it to fall
so they could pick up the pieces
and take ’em for themselves
and maybe the recently conquered
who remembered being free
were thinking “all right, we can get up
from under the yolk of oppression!”
but after being held down by Roman chains
it probably proved to be kind of uncomfortable
to end up being flogged by Vandal rope.

So, yeah.
Everything was struggling to destroy the empire
individuals and armies
and historic cultural forces and all
but if they all gave it a little think,
they probably would have decided
that things were probably better under Rome
and Ravenna and Constantinium, too.

The money and the roads and the running water
and the science and the polytheism and all that
were probably worth it, in the long run,
if they thought about it.
Maybe they could have kept it going
and not gone dark
for those few years.

Anyway,
something I was thinking about,
you know?