[DiogenesKynikos]

In a lot of the former Western Roman Empire, taxation ended when the empire fell. Standards of living also rapidly declined.

Taxation in the empire had funded public goods, like aqueducts, roads and security, which enabled large urban centers and long-distance trade.

[bregma]

Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system, and public health ... what have the Romans ever done for us?