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2014 | OriginalPaper | Chapter

10. When Things Went Wrong

Author : Antoine Bret

Published in: The Energy-Climate Continuum

Publisher: Springer International Publishing

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Abstract

The lessons to learn from Rome and Eastern Island are quite obvious, and we will see there is no need to detail them when going through each case. But some characteristics of our present times are equally featured by our two cases and are worth emphasizing.

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previous chapter Why Societies are Fragile

next chapter When Things Went Right

The ORBIS system. See orbis.stanford.edu.

“Serica” means “silk” in Latin. Regarding the way Romans perceived China, see De Rome à la Chine: Sur les Routes de la Soie au Temps des Césars, by Jean-Noël Robert [2].

Publius Papinius Statius, Silvae, book IV.1.14–15, [3, p. 249]. “Bactra” was the capital of “Bactria,” an empire located toward the actual Afghanistan and founded by a remnant of Alexander’s army. Its disintegration around 130 BC is the first historical event recorded in both Roman and Chinese documents [1, p. 272].

The situation is quite similar to the present day difficulties rich countries have in reducing their public debt. France’s debt, for example, has grown nearly steadily since 1970 (see http://www.insee.fr). The whole country has been used to spend more than it earns for at least 40 years. It is therefore designed to work this way. And France is obviously not the only one in this situation. In October 2013, the USA faced default due to an impossibility to raise the debt ceiling. It has to spend more than it gets. It is also designed this way.

The denarius went from 98 % down to 58 % silver, between 69 and 200 AD [8, p. 135].

Slaves were an important part of the Empire machinery. During the third century AD, they would amount to some 10 % of the total population. But the wealthiest 1.36 % of Roman society would own 49 % of them [9, p. 59]. The rich Seneca (4 BC–AD 65), tutor then advisor to emperor Nero, wrote in his Epistulae morales ad Lucilium (87.2) that he was travelling light taking only “very few slaves - one carriage-load” (probably 4 or 5, [10]).

Those who know the movie also know it must not be confused with the “Judean People’s Front.”

The largest ever found was 20 m high and weighted about 270 tons. It was found lying and unfinished [13, p. 113].

The estimated date of colonization varies from 600 to 1200 AD [18, 19]. But the reasoning holds even with the latest date.

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Title: When Things Went Wrong
Author: Antoine Bret
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Book: The Energy-Climate Continuum
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-07919-6

Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-07920-2

Copyright Year: 2014
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-07920-2_10