5 2 
ECONOMIC DETERMINISM 
It is a time-honored fashion of the historian to 
ascribe the down-fall of Rome to its “dissolute 
women.” This is, of course, a departure from the 
“economic interpretation” of history. And when 
the economic causes of the decay of that ancient gov 
ernment are so glaringly apparent to even the most 
casual student, it is only by extreme perversity that 
the historian can close his eyes upon them, and go 
so far out of the way as to hold the alleged im 
morality of the women responsible. This, however, 
has been done even recently, by writers who are 
ordinarily keen at making the “economic interpreta 
tion.” It seems hard, indeed, to get away from the 
old, old habit of saying, “the woman did it.” 
Rome being in this enfeebled condition, and its 
powerful citizen-princes being no longer engaged 
in foreign wars, they turned their arms against each 
other; and the country was ravaged and plundered 
by their depredations, until there was no longer any 
security for either life or property. The highways 
became so insecure, and travel so dangerous that 
commerce became well-nigh impossible; and in 
dustry suffered in like proportion. The owners of 
slaves, having now no employment for them and 
no means of feeding them, freedom became easy to 
secure or was willingly bestowed as a gift. 
The Greek philosophers had started with the 
theory that human nature was perfect,—that if a 
man followed all the impulses of his being he would 
lead a perfect moral life. One wonders that such