>>509955335
However, to give a serious answer, all those civilizations, most of them barbarians who hadn’t mastered writing yet, *could* have one day stopped being shitholes, while Rome *did*. One mustn’t be distracted by endless considerations about potentials.
Moreover, Greek culture, the most advanced of those subjugated by Rome, actually thrived under their rule, to the point it was still the dominant culture in the eastern portion of the empire when it split ; this Greek half would go on to evangelize the slavs.