But slavery was not the only cause of depopulation. There
was a great deal of what has been called "race suicide" in the old
Roman world. Well-to-do people, who could easily support large families, often
refused to be burdened with them. Childlessness, however, was not confined to
the wealthy, since the poorer classes, crowded in the huge lodging houses of the
cities, had no real family life. Roman emperors, who saw how difficult it was
to get a sufficient number of recruits for the army, and how whole districts
were going to waste for lack of people to cultivate them, tried to repopulate
the empire by force of law. They imposed penalties for the childlessness and
celibacy of the rich, and founded institutions for the rearing of children,
that the poor might not fear to raise large families. Such measures were
scarcely successful. "Race suicide" continued during pagan times and
even during the Christian age.
LOSS OF REVENUES
The next most obvious element of weakness was the
shrinkage of the revenues. The empire suffered from want of money, as well as
from want of men. To meet the heavy cost of the luxurious court, to pay the
salaries of the swarms of public officials, to support the idle populace in the
great cities required a vast annual income. But just when public expenditures
were rising by leaps and bounds, it became harder and harder to secure sufficient
revenue. Smaller numbers meant fewer taxpayers. Fewer taxpayers meant a heavier
burden on those who survived to pay.
