How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower - Softcover

Goldsworthy, Adrian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0300164262 ISBN 13: 9780300164268

Publisher: Yale University Press, 2010

Synopsis

A major new history of the fall of the Roman Empire, by the prizewinning author of Caesar

In AD 200, the Roman Empire seemed unassailable, its vast territory accounting for most of the known world. By the end of the fifth century, Roman rule had vanished in western Europe and much of northern Africa, and only a shrunken Eastern Empire remained. In his account of the fall of the Roman Empire, prizewinning author Adrian Goldsworthy examines the painful centuries of the superpower’s decline. Bringing history to life through the stories of the men, women, heroes, and villains involved, the author uncovers surprising lessons about the rise and fall of great nations.

This was a period of remarkable personalities, from the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius to emperors like Diocletian, who portrayed themselves as tough, even brutal, soldiers. It was a time of revolutionary ideas, especially in religion, as Christianity went from persecuted sect to the religion of state and emperors. Goldsworthy pays particular attention to the willingness of Roman soldiers to fight and kill each other. Ultimately, this is the story of how an empire without a serious rival rotted from within, its rulers and institutions putting short-term ambition and personal survival over the wider good of the state.

About this title

Review:

Amazon Best of the Month, May 2009: Adrian Goldsworthy's Caesar: Life of a Colossus was a masterly fusion of vivid historical biography and scholarly detail, an impeccably researched work that also succeeded as a compelling read. With How Rome Fell, Goldsworthy's eye turns to the forces that ultimately destroyed the Roman Empire, challenging the traditional assumption that Rome was sacked by ultimately irrepressible foreign armies. Goldsworthy asserts that Rome's foes in the death throes of empire weren't any more formidable than those at its peak, but that the cutthroat nature of its political system fractured and diverted forces better spent maintaining the integrity of provincial borders--it was civil war and paranoia that destroyed the empire from within. Drawing parallels to modern societies might be tempting, but Goldsworthy is interested in Rome and resists foreboding or moralistic tones--even making a point of acknowledging the different dynamics that drive the rise and fall current powers. In just over 400 pages, How Rome Fell speeds the both the casual and Rome-savvy reader through 400 years of tumultuous and world-changing history--it's a worthy successor to the triumph of Caesar.--Jon Foro

From the Author:

A conversation with Adrian Goldsworthy . . .

Q:   How does focusing on an individual life, as in your highly acclaimed Caesar, compare with the sweeping history of empire that you have created in How Rome Fell?

A:  It is very different. In a biography the framework of the book naturally follows that of an individual’s life from birth to death fifty-six years in Caesar’s case. Looking at the decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a much bigger question. The time span I chose covers some four centuries. This makes it a much more complex story to tell, yet this complexity makes it all the more fascinating.  

Q:  Did you have Gibbon in mind as you wrote? 

A:  The scale and perception of Gibbon’s work remains awe inspiring. However, Decline and Fall was very much a product of its author and his age the volumes were released in the shadow of the American Revolution and reflected an eighteenth-century Englishman’s view of society and religion.

Q:  How did you determine your starting and ending points?

A:  Like Gibbon, I begin with the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180, as he is the last emperor for a long period whose character we can know not least through his famous Meditations. It is also a good point to look at the Empire at this period, when it was clearly at its height. Gibbon, however, continued his narrative into the fifteenth century, ending with the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. That marked the end of a state directly descended from the empire of the Caesars. However, the Eastern Roman Empire was already a pale shadow of its united predecessor by the end of the sixth century, even before much of its territory was overrun by the initial conquests of the Muslim Arabs in the seventh century. The theme of How Rome Fell is the process that led to this.

Q:  Your subtitle is Death of a Superpower. Are you suggesting a direct correlation between events of Ancient Rome and America in the twenty-first century?

A:  No, the situations are, of course, very different. Besides, we need to understand the past on its own terms before drawing lessons from the present and future.

About this edition

• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0300164262
• ISBN 13: 9780300164268
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 560