" He's talking about the Roman Empire. In some form or another, the Roman Empire has continued to flourish, long after its apparent demise, taking on various disguises....

It may not be literally true, but psychologically, spiritually, economically, militarily, you might say, THE EMPIRE really has NEVER ENDED....

I've believed for years that the modern day Catholic church is the present heir to the Roman Empire, that in the 4th century AD the Roman Empire did not fall so much as it incorporated the might of the barbarian warlord and civilized them with the Christian message so that they would become warriors for God, and more importantly, for Rome instead of against her. "