"Available to us is the work of Edward Gibbon who, in 1787, after 20 years of labor, completed his The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. In it he attributed the fall of the Empire as being
‘The rapid increase of divorce; the undermining of the dignity and sanctity of the home, which is the basis of human society.’
‘Higher and higher taxes and the spending of public monies for free bread and circuses for the populace.’
‘The mad craze for pleasure; sports becoming every year more exciting and more brutal.’
‘The building of gigantic armaments when the real enemy was within, the decadence of the people.’
‘The decay of religion—faith fading into mere form, losing touch with life and becoming impotent to ward and guide the people.’ "
