What reforms do you think were necessary during the time of Marcus Aurelius (from his ascension to Emperor to his death, although you can make someone else emperor instead of him if you really want to) to prevent the West Roman collapse in the 5th century?
The goal of this thread is to find a way to make Rome more like China - that is, while borders and dynasties fluctuate, the imperial tradition remains alive, at least in the core provinces.
Feel free to discuss any ideas within this thread.
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Here are some ideas I have;
1. Rome needs a clearer system of succession to minimize the amounts of civil wars it has to fight. I'm not sure what the best system would be.
2. It might help to give Rome faster means of communication. Semaphore towers seem possible technologically, provided the justification to build them and a person to invent them are found. Combined with a courier system it might be possible to more rapidly disseminate commands and news regarding troop movements across the empire. The problems are properly encrypting orders; anyone can see what message a semaphore is sending.
3. Rome could benefit by at least partially feudalizing. Setting up a system of marches near the borders (settled by Germans in a style similar to the Foederati, perhaps?) would create a buffer between Rome's enemies and its armies, which would make it harder for Rome to be invaded or tribes to migrate into its territory. The problem with this is, well, a bunch of armed barbarians on the border was Rome's problem in the first place.
4. This is a more general point: Rome's attitude towards technology needs to change. Tactics and technologies were not innovated on when they should have been for fear of interrupting tradition and costing people jobs, and as a result Rome's technological and tactical superiority over its neighbors faded with time.