Visigoths, barbarians, sacking and destruction of Rome, to the Charlemagne.

What if civilization and its tools were rolled back. What if you lived in those ruins and couldn’t even come close to recreating what came before.

The inhabitants of Rome during the Middle Ages got experience that. In fact the unifying leader, Charlemagne couldn’t even read. We know nothing of his boyhood, record keeping was not the strong suit of the time. But he made real effort and made sure his children got the best schooling.

The Europeans recovered enough and then surpassed the Roman and other classic technology and went on to rule the world for a time.