Managing (Possible) Decline: Lessons from Rome’s Survival Through Crises
MARCO CAPPELLI
Public Historian, Podcaster, Author
In conversation with
Gianluca Galletto
Co-founder Sity, Economist, Author
and
Simona Siri
Journalist, Author
Pandemics, deadly competition with rival superpowers, massive immigration, and internal divisions—these challenges defined the Roman Empire in the third century, much as they characterize the modern West today. However, while Rome in the West eventually “fell” in 476 AD, it endured for centuries in the East, showing that decline can be managed and even reversed when institutions remain resilient, and societies embrace change. The striking parallels between the decline (and partial fall) of the Roman Empire and the challenges faced by the modern West remind us that humanity often forgets the lessons from the past.
Join Marco Cappelli, host of Storia d’Italia – one of the leading Italian podcasts – as we explore how Rome navigated these crises through reform, immigration, and assimilation yet faltered when Rome forgot the lessons it had so painfully learned.
As the West faces its demographic, economic, and political challenges, history offers us critical lessons: can we manage our decline and avoid collapse, as Rome did for so long? What makes a society resilient? And what can we learn from Rome’s struggle to integrate new peoples, maintain strong institutions, and avoid the pitfalls of internal strife and external competition
Born in Abruzzo, born in 1980, Marco Cappelli studied business economics at Bocconi University in Milan. He worked in marketing for European, Japanese and American multinationals. Since 2012 he lives in Brussels and since 2018 has been producing “Storia d’Italia”, one of the most successful podcasts in Italy.
Gianluca Galletto is Co-Founder of Sity, an association devoted to promoting innovation to solve social and environmental challenges. He is an author, economist and entrepreneur specializing in urban tech and finance and a former advisor to New York City’s mayor. With over three decades of executive and advisory experience in business and government, he leads DG Advisors supporting governments and companies on economic transformation, sustainable development and international business development.
Simona Siri is an Italian journalist and writer living in New York City. She is a regular contributor for Vanity Fair Italy and the newspaper La Stampa. Her bylines appear in the New York Daily News, Washington Post and Vulture. She is the author of three books.
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