Migration

The Roman Empire began to decline after Germanic tribes crossed the river Rhine in 406 CE. When Constantine III recalled the legions from Britain, three years later, the Angles and Saxons invaded and Britain became known as Angleland.

The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410. The Vandals invaded north Africa in 429 and conquered Carthage before crossing the Mediterranean to sack Rome in 455 CE.

Meanwhile, Christianity grew from a minor Hebrew religious cult to dominate much of Europe.

With the continual violence, people reverted to a poorer lifestyle. However, the metal workers, glass blowers, carpenters, leather workers, rope makers, weavers, potters and farmers developed more efficient horse drawn plows, improved crop yields, build better boats and the first engineers designed water wheels to irrigate crops, grind seeds and saw wood. They invented wooden barrels, wagon wheels and windmills as the Chinese invented paper and printing. Meanwhile, the Indians revolutionized mathematics and Moslems discovered chemistry.

WHO THE HELL ARE WE? is a series of short books and videos describing the evolution of civilization.

Almost everyone on the planet is five times wealthier than their ancestors only 50 years ago. This astonishing phenomenon has also improved health, education, and longevity. The cause; an explosive growth in ideas and productivity.

It began when we learned to control fire, evolved articulate speech and stumbled onto the way to create infinite wealth; free trade. The discovery of agriculture made us richer but we also learned how to destroy wealth. Great civilization grew up but then disappeared leaving only incredible ruins and ideas.

Later books detail some of the ideas and developments that increased the average life span from about 40 years to more than 80 and the average world income from less than $3 to more than $33 per person per day (and to $140 per day in some countries).