100 years later when god smote them down with righteous fury. And they could never rebuild or manage their empire because they didn't have the infrastructure because they kicked all the smart people out. They were coasting because they got rid of their largest economic engine. Then they were inundated with goods from the new world that kept them so flush it didn't matter that the Jews were gone for that long.
"up until the moment they weren't"
400 years later?
100 years later when god smote them down with righteous fury. And they could never rebuild or manage their empire because they didn't have the infrastructure because they kicked all the smart people out. They were coasting because they got rid of their largest economic engine. Then they were inundated with goods from the new world that kept them so flush it didn't matter that the Jews were gone for that long.