There were several reasons for the decline and eventual end of the Roman Empire. Let's look at one of these reasons.
One reason was excessive military spending on an overstretched army, fighting on multiple fronts against "uncivilized barbarians." Due to the overstretching of the army and the lack of interest of the Roman citizenry to volunteer for the army, as they had in the past, the Romans were forced to more and more frequently rely upon mercenary soldiers to fight their battles. These mercenaries were both more expensive and less reliable than the professional, citizen soldiers had been.
Well, there you go. Sorry to bother you with some boring ancient history that has no relevance today. It's just Trey's post about blackwater made me think about mercenaries and I'm teaching Rome right now now, so my mind just kind of wandered in this direction.
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