Hello there, Holla Forumsacks. If you're reading this, it's because you're about to be granted several truthbombs whenever someone wants to compare the fall of the modern world to the Western Roman Empire.
Christian Germanic kings were held in higher regards to Rome than pagans. This improved diplomacy between both sides and assured that whenever there was a need to hire more soldiers, the tribe you're hiring from has the same beliefs as yours, to prevent rebellions in an economically destroyed empire.
If anything. Christianity gave several months to a patient who was going to die anyway.
More than 95% of the Western Roman Empire's military force was composed of people not from the Empire itself. For a soldier to truly become a Roman citizen, they'd have to serve for enough time that when they do archieve citizenship, they're already too old to fight.
ALL of the world's leaders wanted to become the next Roman emperor. The ultimate goal in life was to become emperor. There was no religion conversion in place. No cultural replacement. They wanted to be the ultimate form of what western society had to offer. This contrasts a lot with modern immigrations.
Yes, the roman Empire prospered in the East because it had so much money it managed to bribe Attila into not raiding it for years. The bribe was one of the highest lumps of money ever paid to someone in the history of men; think something on the lines of a hundred thousand pounds of gold. Yearly. No wonder Attila managed to cross up until eastern France; he had enough gold to bribe, pay and maintain all vassals he could as long as this kind of money kept flowing into Hunnic pockets. Then when his brothers took over when he died, no surprise, the cash flow stopped they retreated into insignificancy.
One could say Byzantium was the ancient George Soros, paying money to sow the chaos to the West, so it could be effectively destroyed, leaving behind only the strongest, most economically sustainable places the Romans could manage; the ever-profitable Black Sea/Mediterranean/Silk Road trade routes in Byzantium.
So a nation fueled by merchant money managed to prosper. Hm. Wonder who does Holla Forums keep mentioning that reminds me of shekels and merchants.
The Tetrarchy served to stop a political problem in the 3rd century, but only fueled the flames for complete sessession of the empire in East and West. So it was a short-term solution which led to long-term problems.
You're welcome, Holla Forums.