How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower by Adrian Goldsworthy

As the title of the book suggests, and as the author makes plain within, this book tries not only to find the causes of the fall of the Roman empire in the west - itself no easy task - but also to discover if there are any lessons relevant to today which can be drawn from this fall.

Thus, in attempting this book, Goldsworthy attempts an epic task. Firstly the sheer time-scale of the fall of the western empire is impressive. Goldsworthy starts with the death of the emperor Marcus Aurelius in AD 180 and finishes well into the sixth century with a rough sketch of the campaigns of Belisarius, which means that over four action-packed centuries have to be compressed into little more than a year per page...

...read Philip Matyszak's full review of How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower by Adrian Goldsworthy

...read Ursus`full review of How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower by Adrian Goldsworthy

I enjoyed this review. I'd like to see Peter Heather's reaction to Goldsworthy's book.

I enjoyed this review. I'd like to see Peter Heather's reaction to Goldsworthy's book.

Haven't read this one, but i've read a couple of Goldsworthy's books(In The Name Of Rome, Caesar: Life Of A Colossus and Cannae: Hannibal's Greatest Victory), and I have nothing but great things to say about all of them. I'll have to keep an eye out for this book.

I must have missed this review first time around.

I'm a big fan of Goldsworthy work and also a big fan of Maty's so to have the two combined in one review is a big plus for the book review section.

A great review, very well written as we would expect. I look forward to reading Goldsworthy's take on Rome's downfall.

I picked this up yesterday, and I'm about 60 pages into it. I'm a fan of Goldsworthy, so I've been looking forward to reading this. Although, I must admit, it probably won't have a huge impact on me--negative or positive--because I'm not as well read in the late Empire as I am in the Republican period.

Now I've got to blast through this because Tom Holland's new one comes out in a few days.

Judging from Maty's review and some extracts, it seems that Mr. Goldsworthy's core arguments, like the nature of the decline and fall and the explanation for why the West fell and the East didn't, were essentially the same of Mr. Ward-Perkins (The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, 2005), the last one almost verbatim.

The introduction of the undefined term "superpower" doesn't seem to have contributed much to the analysis of this book; it looks more like a clinch to attract more readers, given the explicit comparison with the United States.

Judging from Maty's review and some extracts, it seems that Mr. Goldsworthy's core arguments, like the nature of the decline and fall and the explanation for why the West fell and the East didn't, were essentially the same of Mr. Ward-Perkins (The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization, 2005), the last one almost verbatim.

 

The introduction of the undefined term "superpower" doesn't seem to have contributed much to the analysis of this book; it looks more like a clinch to attract more readers, given the explicit comparison with the United States.

Actually, in his introduction, he makes reference to the ubiquitous comparisons between the US and Rome. He does not seem to be a fan on continual comparisons, especially at the expense of the USA.

As for his arguments, his central thesis is that Roman civil wars are ultimately what ended the empire, allowing external enemies to exploit Roman weakness.

There will be another a review of Goldsworthy's book, and possibly an interview with the author. Look for it in the coming weeks!

Saw episode 12 of History channel's "Rise and fall..." . They made Ricimer the one person who was the most responsible, directly , for the fall of Rome . The sources are clear enough, what Goldsworthy has to say about it ?

Actually, in his introduction, he makes reference to the ubiquitous comparisons between the US and Rome. He does not seem to be a fan on continual comparisons, especially at the expense of the USA.

Thanks; after reading your post and listening to the audio interview linked by DDickey, it's clear to me how mistaken I was.

On the other hand, from Mr. Poe's commentary (same site):

"In Goldsworthy