The Emperor Claudius on Immigration

Well, not really. I found this passage in I, Claudius by Robert Graves and my mind immediately went to some of the complaints I hear about all of the illegal immigrants coming here with their Spanish and Papism.

Augustus did all he could by legislation to encourage marriage among men of family. The Empire was very big and needed more officials and senior army officers than the nobility and gentry were able to supply, in spite of constant recruiting to their ranks from the populace. When there were complaints from men of family about the vulgarity of these newcomers, Augustus used to answer testily that he chose the least vulgar he could find. The remedy was in their own hands, he said: every man and woman of rank should marry young and breed as large a family as possible.

The importance of birth-rates is not very often addressed in history books, but it should be. One of the major reasons for the fall of Rome was the low birth rate. One of the reasons that American Independence was inevitable was the high birth rate in the colonies. Examples can be found from the fall of the Mycenaean civilization to the coming Islamic takeover of Europe. Democracy, Freedom of Religion, Peaceful Transfer of Power.... Say, "Goodbye to All That."