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Romans Demise Brought European Standard of Living Down for 1,000 Years
"When the Romans left Britain in 410 AD, the quality of life fell dramatically. The standard of living did not recover in Britain (and Europe) until, perhaps, more than 1,000 years later."
[NOTE: Curiously enough it took the Rinascimento (often inaccurately referred to as Renaissance ) originating and predominately flourishing in Italy, to pull Europe out of it's funk, whereupon Columbus with his Discovery of America assisted Spain to become a predominate world power, which also led to the demise of the power of the Italy City States, which led to "foreign occupation" for 350 years.]
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StockScape states:
Most people take material progress for granted. But it is not guaranteed. Investors are shocked by the idea of a 17-year bear market. Economists are appalled at the suggestion of a Japan-style 11-year slowdown. But markets, assets, living standards, and incomes can go down for very long periods.
The Romans brought innovations such as baths and running water to Britain. When they left in 410 AD, the quality of life fell dramatically. The standard of living did not recover in Britain until, perhaps, more than 1,000 years later. That "perhaps" is there because no one really knows. But it is almost certain that the Anglo-Saxons in Britain lived more primitively than the Romans, at least until after the Norman Conquest in 1066...and probably until the 18th century.
Throughout Europe, the story was much the same. The Romans stopped a long decline and fall early in the First Millennium which finally "returned to trend" when Rome was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 AD...the same year the Romans left Britain.
Thereafter, standards of material prosperity declined...only to return to Roman Empire levels many centuries later. Economists and historians have used up many pens, much ink, and a lot of typewriter ribbon attempting to explain why - but no one really knows.
In the Middle Ages progress was very slow - with some areas "backwards walking" for decades...and all of Europe hit by periodic setbacks, caused by disease, bad weather, and war.
The wars of religion, for example, created such havoc that fields and whole towns were abandoned or destroyed. Peasants took refuge from murderous armies by hiding in the hills and forests - where they often starved.
Most people grew richer in the 20th century, but not all. In the Soviet Union, for example, people labored hard for 70 years - only to get poorer each year. And even while people made material progress, trends in art, architecture, crime, politics, and manners were mostly retrograde.
In America, stocks rose in the average year of the 20th century. But an investor could have held stocks for 50 years - from 1929 to 1979 - with zero capital gains in real terms.

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