DID HOMOSEXUALITY CAUSE THE FALL OF ROME? (LUKE 13:4-5)

 The fall of Rome is generally dated to 476 AD when the invading Germanic troops deposed the last of the Roman emperors. Much harder to pinpoint, however, is why that powerful empire fell.

An Italian scholar has recently made the unusual proposal that its fall was due to the introduction of homosexual practices into the Roman Empire by the defeated Carthaginians following Rome's conquest of that northern African empire. He believes that practice subsequently became so widespread that it caused a population decline which weakened the Roman world to the point that it could be easily conquered by the Huns.

First, let's look at some problems with this thesis, which include the following:

Carthage was defeated in 146 BC. It is highly improbable that any event separated in time by over 600 hundred years from the actual fall of Rome could be considered as directly responsible for it.

The thesis assumes that homosexual activities were largely unknown in the ancient world before a few such deviant practitioners introduced it to others. Actually, numerous examples of Greek artwork going back as far as 500-400 BC picture homosexual scenes, and the Romans had much better opportunities to be exposed to that sexually lax culture than to a few Carthaginians.

Adding to the above improbability was the fact that Rome absolutely despised all the immoral practices of the Carthaginians, including the giving of human sacrifices to their deity. Therefore, after its capture, all the populace of their cities was dispersed to other countries and their fields sowed with salt so that the culture would never arise again. To suppose that some of these displaced and disgraced “pagans” would have had the clout to influence the widespread Roman Empire is laughable.

Also, there is no hard evidence that the Carthaginians ever condoned homosexuality in the first place. It is actually unlikely due to the fact that Carthage was under the influence of the Persians for centuries and Persia had a long history of anti-homosexual tradition.  

Rome, on the other hand, even before conquering Carthage, condoned homosexual relations of men with participants of lesser social status (slaves, captives, freedmen, etc.) although they did not tolerate it among military personnel, unless the man was the active partner in the relationship.

Among Romans, the practice of homosexuality among the men did not at all displace their attraction to women. And carrying on their bloodline remained of prime importance to the men. It was a common saying at the time that women are for bearing children while boys are for love.

There was indeed a precipitous population decrease in the Roman Empire beginning at the latter part of the 2^nd century AD. But the reasons had nothing to do with the rise of homosexuality in the Empire. Among writers of the later Roman Empire, there was sharp disagreement as to the actual causes of the west's decline. In general, the pagans blamed the Christians for weakening the moral fiber of the men, and vice versa. And this divide is still present with those such as as the noted historian Edward Gibbon in his massive treatise on the subject making the case for the fall of Rome being primarily due to the negative influences brought about by the rise of Christianity. But far more likely causes have been identified, including a series of plagues, unfavorable economic conditions, climate change, over-reliance on slave labor, constant bombardment from hostile armies, and corrupt or incompetent government officials. There has even been a credible minority of scholars who feel that it was the lead content of Rome's drinking utensils and water supply which caused a decline in the general vitality of the populace.

Conclusion

We should become well aware of the trend in history and human nature to put the blame on others when tragedy strikes. Without denying that God can punish a nation or group of people for their immoral behavior if He wishes, we should also recognize that such blame-setting is often quite selective and one-sided. It was not that long ago, for example, that Jerry Falwell placed the blame for the flooding of New Orleans on the gross immorality of the inhabitants of the French Quarter. Now I am certainly not going to say that there is no such problem there since I have witnessed it personally, but such self-appointed “spokesmen for God” conveniently ignore the fact that the French Quarter was one of the areas of New Orleans that was actually spared from the worst of the damage.

And I am sure that there will be Christians who say that the bombing of the Twin Towers was God's judgment on all those politically liberal New Yorkers. At the same time, it is interesting that the yearly death and destruction caused by tornadoes and hurricanes in the so-called Bible Belt of America are never attributed to any sins that those Christians might have committed or any political party they may have supported.

As usual, the New Testament gives us the best counsel on such issues. Jesus presents two pertinent illustrations followed by a general message to all believers in Luke 13. The first one concerns some Jewish inhabitants of Galilee who were executed by Pilate, and the second example was an incident in which eighteen people were killed when the tower of Siloam fell on them. After each of these historical examples, Jesus asks his audience, “Were those individuals worse sinners than any other Jews at the time?” And then he concludes with words we should all keep in mind when we are tempted to point a finger at others as sinners because of some tragedy which occurred in their lives: “No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all perish as they did.”

We should always judge ourselves rightly before attempting to judge others. And when doing so, we should also keep in mind Paul's teachings in Romans 1. After zeroing in on homosexual activity as being unpleasing to God in verses 26-27, he goes on with a litany of twenty-one equally condemned sins in verses 28-31. We may pat ourselves on the back since we have never even have been tempted to engage in homosexual activities, but I would guess that few of us are completely free of having been a gossip, envying someone else, being boastful, etc., etc. We should read that list carefully and repent of our own sins rather than going around attaching blame to others. If we don't, we are no better than Job's not-so-helpful friends.