ROME

/USDC

One of the things that is overlooked by probably most historians is the role of low birth rate in the decline of civilizations. Around 50 BC, Rome passed a bill to give a bonus to any Roman citizen that would have a third child. So a birth rate was a problem in Rome in 50 BC. The Romans weren’t making Romans. The same is true of ancient Greece. The birth rate far exceeded the death rate, which is why you had Greek cities popping up all over the Mediterranean. But then it seems to be that prosperity destroys the birth rate. When a civilization feels like it has no meaningful external threat and is very prosperous, that is what causes the birth rate to plummet.