It's important to contrast this graph --- clear as day and the next best thing to a Roman S&P 500 --- to the nonsense revisionism peddled by a certain camp that's come to dominate academia since the 1970s or so.

This camp, as part of a present-day political project, portrays the past as some kind of peaceful, egalitarian utopia ruined by "capitalism" and "colonization". In this camp's ridiculous woldview, all societies are equally complex, all languages are equally expressive, and cultural and linguistic changes always reflect some kind of peaceful transition instead of a violent upheaval.

Rome never fell, these people say: instead, it just chose to adopt the sustainable economic practices of the peaceful immigrants from the steppe. My eyes cannot roll any harder when I read shit like that.

Fortunately, these people are well on the way to being thoroughly discredited. Populations do change. Catastrophes do happen. War was rampant. Ancient DNA confirms it.

Civilization and order are fragile and worth preserving, and an honest examination of the past and strike the fear of decay into us. It took the world until the 19th century (!) to recover from Rome's collapse in all respects; for us, there will be no recovery at all.