How Rome Fell, Adrian Goldsworthy
How Rome Fell, Adrian Goldsworthy
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How Rome Fell
Death of a Superpower

Author: Adrian Goldsworthy

Narrator: Derek Perkins

Unabridged: 18 hr 28 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 12/30/2014

Synopsis

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.

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. 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 greater good of the state.

About Adrian Goldsworthy

Adrian Goldsworthy was educated in Penarth and then read ancient and modern history at St. John's College, Oxford, where he subsequently completed his doctorate in ancient history. His DPhil thesis was the basis for his first book, The Roman Army at War 100 BC-AD 200, which looked at how the Roman army actually operated on campaign and in battle.

For several years Adrian taught in a number of universities and then began to write for a wider audience. A succession of books followed dealing with aspects of ancient military history, including Roman Warfare, The Punic Wars (which was later reissued as The Fall of Carthage), Cannae, In the Name of Rome, and The Complete Roman Army. More recently he has looked at wider themes, combining the military focus with discussion of politics and society in a biography of Caesar and a study of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire titled How Rome Fell.

Adrian is now a full-time writer and a visiting fellow at the University of Newcastle. He frequently gives one-off lectures and talks both to universities and other groups in the United Kingdom, United States, Canada, and Europe. He often appears as a talking head or presenter in TV documentaries and has acted as consultant on both documentaries and dramas.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Bill on March 05, 2019

This is a good book, but I did not enjoy it as much as I anticipated, probably because Goldsworthy emphasizes areas of the Roman experience that are less interesting to me than others: I'm interested in religion, philosophy, literature, daily life and popular culture, and Goldsworthy concentrates on......more

Goodreads review by MacWithBooksonMountains on March 17, 2024

This is a well-written treatise on the last 200 years of the Roman Empire in the west. It is by no means equal to the scope and literary quality of Edward Gibbons iconic multi volume work “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire”. This statement does not take anything away from Adrian Goldsworthy’s How......more

Goodreads review by Benjamin on May 14, 2024

I once made a list of every reason people gave for rome falling, I stopped around 67. Most reasons for justifying the dogma or ideology of the declarer. This is a very readable and meticulously researched history of the last three centuries of the Empire gives an overview of how Rome split into two,......more

Goodreads review by Jan on September 07, 2009

A nice thing about this history is that Adrian Goldsworthy states his thesis very clearly in the introduction: as a scholar of the early phases of the Roman Empire, he wishes to provide a different perspective on its fall; he is kind enough to acknowledge the recent classics in the genre (by my reck......more

Goodreads review by ntnl on June 21, 2021

Rome was one of the largest empires in history, lasts for more than five hundred years, yet 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. It has a strong, yet obvious message that most rulers chose......more

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