When an individual or a society is God-fearing, the focus is on the inward (Matthew 22:37-39). This leads to a depth of life that is truly worth living (John 10:10). As the Roman Empire pursued show and luxury, they experienced instant gratification (Philippians 3:19), but missed out on what truly brings satisfaction (John 6:35) and what truly matters. 

The Love of Show and Luxury

In Part 1, I explained historian Edward Gibbon’s first two reasons why the Roman Empire fell. As he looked at its history, he noticed a great decline in the quality of art. Good art comes from an ethical society that understands what is true, good, and beautiful. Bad art was a symptom of deeper moral problems that led to Rome’s fall. As poor art was a symptom, there were other symptoms as well. We will now look at Gibbon’s third reason for the Roman Empire’s decline and eventual fall: “A Mounting Love of Show and Luxury (Affluence).”

One author summarizing Gibbon’s observation wrote, “Gibbon highlighted the growing emphasis on spectacle and extravagance, with the wealthy increasingly indulging in lavish displays of wealth and power.”

Entertainment and Extravagance in Abundance

In the Roman Empire, attending public entertainment became one of the most important values and pastimes. We know from history that in the Roman Colosseum, where major events took place, gladiators fought and people watched. This amphitheater, built in the 70s AD, was the largest in the world and seated as many as fifty thousand people. You can also see in films like Ben Hur the chariot races that took place there. Society became about show and luxury.

Obviously, it isn’t bad to enjoy things of quality, but extravagance is taking nice things to a level of excess. This was also the problem with the corrupt Roman Catholic Church around the time of the Reformation. The corrupt, medieval church was marked by luxury and lavishness. The Roman community, too, was about lavishness instead of common sense.

We also see this in abundance in America.

America has become a place of lavishness, and this has only intensified over time. I grew up a Minnesota sports fan. In my early years, the Twins and Vikings played in the Metrodome. This was a budget facility that “did the job.” The Twins played in the spring and summer, and the Vikings in the Fall. The facility wasn’t a dump, but it was far from lavish. As time went on, these sports teams needed to “keep up with the Joneses.” What “got the job done” wasn’t good enough; they needed what the rest of the major cities in the US were building.

First, in 2010, the Twins built a State-of-the-Art stadium on the southwest side of Minneapolis. This one cost $545 million. A few years later, the Vikings followed with US Bank Stadium on the other side of town. The new Vikings stadium cost the lofty price of $1.1 billion. The values of our society became evident. Now the American public values sports and other entertainment far beyond what their level of importance ought to be.

In 2023, Texas A&M football coach Jimbo Fisher was paid $76 million to no longer be their coach. Half a century ago, this would have been unthinkable, but in our day, this is commonplace. There is an entire city in America built for entertainment and luxury, Las Vegas. The city is known as “America’s Playground.” Once an obscure place in southern Nevada, it has become the center of entertainment for America and the world. This occurred as the desire for entertainment and lavishness skyrocketed in the second half of the 20^th century.

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