The Roman Empire was at one time all powerful Its range stretched from the Britain in the west to Persia and beyond in the East and North Africa in the South to the borders of Germany and Russia in the North. At the edges its well organized armies kept various warlike tribes in order. Within its borders the ‘pax romana’ reigned. Roman law was harsh but predictable, and far preferable to the chaos that preceded it. Rome at the centre grew rich. However as its democratic structure weakened various factions competed for power. Politicians bribed the populace to vote for them by offering what came to me known as ‘bread and circuses’. A circus in those times was brutal entertainment. Hapless Christians torn to death and eaten by hungry lions, or gladiators fighting to death. The corruption eventually degraded the empire which split into two competing factions before collapsing.