There is also the possibility that things get connected that aren't really part of the collapse as such. Rome got their asses handed to them in Parthia, lost tens of thousands of soldiers, Crassus and control over Armenia as well as causing devestating civil wars due to the power vacuum left by Marius Crassus and Caesar. And this was almost 200 years before the Roman Empire would peak, so it would be hard to connect to the collapse.
There is also the possibility that things get connected that aren't really part of the collapse as such. Rome got their asses handed to them in Parthia, lost tens of thousands of soldiers, Crassus and control over Armenia as well as causing devestating civil wars due to the power vacuum left by Marius Crassus and Caesar. And this was almost 200 years before the Roman Empire would peak, so it would be hard to connect to the collapse.