If men went crazy over finding gold in the Southern Hemisphere, what happened in the Northern Hemisphere?
Would there not have been a ‘gold rush’ there too?
Through pondering I came up with another possible reason for the Fall of Rome...
The theory is that the gold ran out, i.e. the Northern Hemisphere’s alluvial gold.
I cannot prove this but here are some questions to answer.
Why were the Romans so relentless?
Why were the Roman roads so straight and so well made?
Why were walls needed – across Scotland twice, also the Great Wall of China?
Could some of the desert be man-made?
Why were wild animals brought to Rome?
What was the Golden Fleece legend really all about?
Why is there a lot of evidence of gold but no how it was won, or have I missed something?
A stash of golden artifacts was found by Heinrich Schliemann at Troy, also many Egyptian artifacts are covered in gold leaf.
Many temples in India and Asia seem to be covered in gold. When had all that happened?
Also I saw a gold roof in Innsbruck. Then there are vague references to Irish gold, and Welsh gold.
There is even a place in Wales that means ‘gold’.
Has anyone thought about the timeline? The finding of the gold was probably done by slaves, with urgings from their masters,
regardless of human cost. Slaves were a third of the population then. Workmanship would have taken time to evolve to the
high standard found at Troy. Also wood would be required to smelt the gold, and going on today’s happenings, people are not
that interested in replacing trees taken… (Could that be the beginnings of the desert?)
Some of this appears to have happened before written records, i.e. in the Mesopotamia region. Walls kept out intruders or
anyone wanting to get the gold. And the caves, could they have been a means of getting at a gold seam or lead or two?
Rome was dependent on wealth gained from capturing new tribes and exploiting their lands. This seemed to stop when
Europe and Britain were fully explored, i.e. about the time when Rome ‘fell’. The Romans were not able to push south in Africa
because of the wild animals. Maybe bringing the animals to Rome was evidence they were having troubles. Wild animals had
become extinct in Europe [the lion gates were possibly a memorial to them], so were now a novelty. The first ones may have
been added to the amusements at the Colosseum and were so well received that more were brought. This also showed how
much opposition the Romans had to getting any gold from Africa. This also prevented them from discovering the Southern
Hemisphere, as you know...
The masters would have given up easily when only fragments and dust was left to find. There does not seem to be any
evidence of quartz stamping engines or machinery or underground workings except the odd cave, that I can see unless
their methods of crushing quartz, was different. The Incas in Peru have underground places. Were these a search for a
gold seam perhaps? Also I remember going into cave homes in Spain, another possibility...
China and India appear to have mined their own gold. Was that why the Chinese knew to keep looking long after everyone
had moved away from the diggings, both in Australia and New Zealand?
Then there is this relentlessness of the Romans who could outlast the locals by decades. They were under orders probably.
‘Do not come back without any gold’. The straight and well-made roads would mean no gold would be lost and as it was heavy it is quicker on straight roads as well.
It is possible some of the locals were amenable at first, and these were shown smelting skills, etc.
The Golden Fleece was probably smuggled by slaves. It would be heavy because gold is nineteen times heavier than water.
It would have come from a cradle rocked to trap gold dust and fragments from sluiced sludge. This also suggests that such a method is ages old.
So this is my theory concerning the gold. The Romans simply ran out of lands to explore. The geography was such that
Scandinavia was possibly not known of.
I have not referenced this as all the items are well-known. All I have done is read between the lines...
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