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I read this book a while ago… and I can’t stop thinking about it.

There’s a lot of bemoaning the fall of Rome, but what struck me in Rome: A History in Seven Sackings was how Rome getting its butt handed to it actually worked out better for the lower classes—both slaves and poor freemen.

And that’s probably why, when the city was under threat, they often didn’t fight back.

Hot take? Maybe. But hear me out.

After the initial violence, life often got better for the people at the bottom. Why?

• The elites lost power and wealth, leaving room for others to rise.
• Taxes and bureaucratic oppression collapsed (hard to collect taxes when your records are on fire).
• Labor shortages meant higher wages and more autonomy for workers and peasants.
• Sometimes the new rulers (like the Ostrogoths under Theodoric) were better than the old ones—less corrupt, more stable.
• And out with the old: destruction made space for innovation, rebuilding, and new cultural ideas.

Here’s the quiet part no one wants to say out loud: Rome didn’t just fall because of “barbarians.” It fell because no one believed in Rome anymore—except the people at the top.

Why defend a system that taxes you into starvation, conscripts your kids, and hands everything to the already rich?

For many Romans—especially slaves, the urban poor, and marginalized groups—watching the city burn wasn’t a tragedy. It was a reset.

History isn’t just about kings and empires. It’s about what happens when the people holding the pyramid up decide to walk away.

And maybe—just maybe—if you don’t want your society to collapse, you should focus on ending corruption, making bureaucracy navigable, and ensuring the playing field is level for the folks at the bottom.

Because eventually, people get tired of holding up a system that only works for the top.

Anyway—highly recommended.