Frandy,
Ancient Rome did have better drinking water than most of us.
Actually, the Romans got their water through lead pipes. Lead poisoning, which leads to insanity, is considered one of the many causes of Rome's fall.
Lindenburger,
Give me a break. I know that in academia you distinguish yourself from the crowd by staking out some new territory and defending it with some, hopefully, witty reasoning. I wouldn't expect anyone here to be impressed by that methodology though.
Everyone knows that Rome fell. How can you tell, you may ask? Simple. Their armies were defeated in the field. Their cities, including Rome, were sacked and burned. Their citizens were murdered in the streets. Foreigners were named Emperor, and the language was changed.
You can talk all you want about how much Latin is left in the English language. We all know though, that if you took out the Germanic, Celtic, and Gaelic, and just spoke Latin, no one would be able to understand a word you were saying.
TheRealHawkeye,
I was starting to get nervous when I found myself in complete agreement with you. Then at the end you restored the natural order of things by being wrong.
Charlemagne's empire was called, by the Roman Catholic Church, the Holy Roman Empire in an effort to ensconce itself as its religious head, and to use it's power to its own benefit. Charlemagn was more than happy to accept this designation, as he also benefited by it.
Although I personally adhere to the traditional interpretation that the term "Holy Roman Empire" came into use during the reign of Otto I in 962, many consider it to have been a gradual process begun with the treaty of Verdun in 843. The idea which Lindenburger threw out, and you bought into, that the term derives from Charlemagne's coronation as emperor in Rome on Christmas day in 800, is not born out by the primary sources such as Einhard. Charlemagne was crowned simply Emperor and Augustus, and he was not that happy about it. It gained him nothing but trouble, and gave the appearance that the Pope was his superior. Charlemagne called himself King of the Franks.
Einhard -- section 28
...
The truth is that the inhabitants of Rome had violently attacked Pope Leo, putting out his eyes and cutting off his tongue, and had forced him to flee to the King for help. Charlemagne really came to Rome to restore the Church, which was in a very bad state indeed, but in the end spent the whole winter there. It was on this occasion that he received the title of Emperor and Augustus. At first he was far from wanting this. He made it clear that he would not have entered the cathedral that day at all, although it was the greatest of all festivals of the church, if he had known in advance what the Pope was planning to do. Once he had accepted the title, he endured with great patience the jealousy of the so-called Roman Emperors, who were most indignant at what had happened.