The Ruin of the Roman Empire, James J. ODonnell
The Ruin of the Roman Empire, James J. ODonnell
2 Rating(s)
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The Ruin of the Roman Empire
A New History

Author: James J. O'Donnell

Narrator: Mel Foster

Unabridged: 18 hr 56 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 10/06/2008

Synopsis

What really marked the end of the Roman Empire? Was it a long, inevitable decay, or did real people make real choices with surprising and unintended effects? The Ruin of the Roman Empire takes us back to the sixth century, into the lives, cultures, and events that influenced ancient Rome. James O'Donnell restores the reputations of many "barbarians," while showing that Rome's last emperors doomed their realm with the hapless ways in which they tried to restore and preserve it.

Sweeping and accessible, The Ruin of the Roman Empire captures the richness of late antique life and the colorful characters of the age while offering insight into today's debates about barbarism, religion, empires, and their threatened borders.

About James J. O'Donnell

James J. O'Donnell is a classicist who served for ten years as Provost of Georgetown University and is now University Librarian at Arizona State University. He is the author of several books, including Augustine, The Ruin of the Roman Empire, and Avatars of the Word. He is the former president of the American Philological Association, a Fellow of the Medieval Academy of America, and the chair of the Board of Directors of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Reviews

Goodreads review by M. D.

This is not exactly a Fall of the Roman Empire book in the usual sense - it actually is concerned with the hundred years or so after the traditional date of 476 A.D. (and the deposition of Romulus Augustulus, traditionally seen as the "last" Roman emperor). In particular, the book examines and criti......more

Goodreads review by Terence

I'm not an overly generous dispenser of four- and five-star reviews but when a book moves me emotionally or intellectually (the latter, in this case) it must be acknowledged. James O'Donnell's The Ruin of the Roman Empire is a brilliant (if flawed) look at a critical moment in the evolution of Weste......more

Goodreads review by Derek

I love this author and am only sorry he launched a successful career as a university administrator and then librarian which apparently limited his time as an historian of late antiquity. His biography of St. Augustine is a brilliant book. This one is almost as good. In it, the author demonstrates hi......more

Goodreads review by Olethros

-Título engañoso, contenidos peculiares.- Género. Ensayo. Lo que nos cuenta. Visión de los últimos años del Imperio Romano de occidente y de los posteriores, cuando el Imperio Romano de oriente tomó protagonismo en el Mediterráneo central y occidental, centrado en tres líderes muy distintos en cuanto......more

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