Comet 'Finished Off Roman Empire'

From the Press Association Friday September 8, 2000 3:17 pm

A catastrophe from space 1,500 years ago probably wiped out the remains of the Roman Empire and led to the Dark Ages, an expert has said.

Professor Mike Baillie believes a comet breaking up above the Earth in about the year 540 brought human society to its knees and may have killed a third of Europe's population.

Debris showered down filling the atmosphere with dust and gas that blotted out the sun, causing crop failures, famine and plague, according to his theory.

He says an echo of the disaster can be seen in ancient trees preserved in the peat bogs of Ireland and other parts of the world.

Analysis of tree rings shows that in 540AD in different parts of the world the climate changed.

Temperatures dropped enough to hinder the growth of trees as widely dispersed as northern Europe, Siberia, western North America, and southern South America.

A search of historical records and mythical stories has also pointed to a disastrous visitation from the sky during the same period.

There was one reference to a "comet in Gaul so vast that the whole sky seemed on fire" in 540-41. According to legend, King Arthur died around this time, and Celtic myths associated with Arthur hinted at bright sky Gods and bolts of fire.

In the 530s, an unusual meteor shower was recorded by both Mediterranean and Chinese observers. Meteors are caused by the fine dust from comets burning up in the atmosphere.

Furthermore, a team of astronomers from Armagh Observatory in Northern Ireland published research in 1990 which said the Earth would have been at risk from cometary bombardment between the years 400 and 600AD.

http://www.guardianunlimited.co.uk/Breaking_News/UK/0,2478,404850,00.html

-- (in@the.news), September 08, 2000

Answers

Caesar sat in his cometorium.

-- (nemesis@awol.com), September 08, 2000.

I thought it was cpr along with his little friends Andy Ray and Ken Decker who finished off the Roman Empire.

-- I still think I'm right (?@?.?), September 08, 2000.

A catastrophe from space 1,500 years ago probably wiped out the remains of the Roman Empire and led to the Dark Ages, an expert has said. Professor Mike Baillie believes a comet breaking up above the Earth in about the year 540 brought human society to its knees and may have killed a third of Europe's population. xxxxxxxxxxx Possibly "good Science" but lousy HISTORY unless restricted to the statement that the Comet weakened the "remains" as stated. The "Empire" was decaying for centuries before. At least nobody has post that it was the result of Chemtrails from Velikovsky space ships.

The worst errors about the Fall of Rome is that it was "connected" to the Moral Decadance of the Non-Christians. That was propaganda for the Church. Rome never "fell" it eroded and the erosion took hundreds of years. Said another way, it sort of went away out of "apathy". Nobody could "change the system" so nobody tried. Slaves were slaves, Roman citizens did what their parents did for a living and a few rich played politics. At the core of it all was the Roman Law which you obeyed and Pax Romana which sort of gave other nations quasi-Roman Status. As long as Egypt shipped her grain to Rome, she was allowed a modicum of self rule. Forget to ship and a few spare Roman Legions would drop in for a decade or so to remind you to do your bit for Rome.

A modern example should serve as proof: Italy has existed without a "regular" government since 1945. Periodically, they get tired of looking at the Premier and President so they resign and another Farce of an election is held.

We saw this also with Y2k where the Italian method was applied with "utmost speed" (for Italy). Method can be summarized:

"Y2k? A big problem?? NOT NOW, perhaps after we finish the Pasta and Vino."

About the only reason the Empire was holding together was the alliance with the Christians by Constantine and "the Big Mo". The Empire as a "business/trade" system "worked" and there were few "civil rights" organizations in those days ready to demonstrate for anything unless they wanted to get their head lopped off by the local Roman Soldiers billoted in every niche of the Empire.

So "Big Mo" existed back then in the same form as the Y2k "After the Pasta and Wine, maybe we will change something but..."

Fact also: what was called the Roman Empire was pretty much gonzo by 500 though many like to cite the rise of Charlemagne as a end point. The school books view of 700 years rise and 700 yrs. fall fits that picture. The split into the East and West was clearly in evidence by the time Constantine established the One True Church. That is held by some Historians as a major move to shore up the politics of ruling the far flung mess.

-- cpr (buytexas@swbell.net), September 08, 2000.

A distant ancestor of cpr , CAROLUS P RVEBEN , probably ranted daily in the forum about why * THE PRICE OF OATS FOR THE CHARIOT HORSES HAS REMAINED **UNCHANGED** YOU DIMWITS.THE FARMERS IN GAUL HAVE **PROMISED** TO INCREASE THE OAT SUPPLY *ANY* DAY NOW.* Probably quoted Aristotle about why the comet was impossible because Aristotle had said so...blah,blah,blah,ad infinitum.

-- Sam (wtrmkr52@aol.com), September 08, 2000.

Actually it was probably a large volcanic explosion around Java in the same area that Krakatau exploded in the 1800s. It threw out so much dust and ash that global cooling occurred for several years. This led to lower grain production and a rise in Bubonic Plague. The bug in the fleas becomes active when the temperature falls BELOW a certain ambient.

As for the Roman Empire it didnt fall so much as get absorbed. The so called barbarians that invaded it could read and write as much as the general Roman population could. They really wanted to live like the Romans did. Some actually purchased (i.e. paid) for some old Roman estates.

-- The Engineer (spcengineer@yahoo.com), September 08, 2000.

cpr: some good points. A rotting tree takes only a little push for a fall.

-- A (A@AisA.com), September 08, 2000.

Sam, ROTFL!

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), September 08, 2000.

It was the result of Chemtrails from Velikovsky space ships.

-- David L (bumpkin@dnet.net), September 08, 2000.

Are the Annunaki back yet?

-- Lurker2 (lots@to.lurk.about), September 08, 2000.