[Leaning Right]

> What?? we have troops in Syria now? <

It’s no big deal. We are just emulating the Roman Empire. They liked to have troops everywhere, too.

Of course that policy helped cause the Roman Empire’s collapse. But it will be different with us.
I guess.

[Right_Wing_Madman]

We are just emulating the Roman Empire. They liked to have troops everywhere, too. Of course that policy helped cause the Roman Empire’s collapse.

The Roman Empire's situation was a little different. They deployed their legions to their colonies, basically each province (Hispania, Brittania, Syria, etc.) had one legion to respond to an insurrection or any trouble in that province. The Romans rarely garrisoned troops outside the empire's borders.

The trouble with Rome's legions wasn't the deployment of these forces in the empire, but rather the composition of them. By the third century, the legions were manned by people from Rome's colonies, rather than Romans and Italians, and these legions were often disloyal to Rome.