The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians by Peter Heather

Jun 30, 2011 Chris rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm trashing the majority of what I have previously written here, along with opting to round up my three-and-a-half rating to a fulsome and fully merited four; scrubbing the slate clean and making an effort to do this book some justice. Prior allusions to the Mighty Gibbon and his masterpiece are inherently unfair to Heather—he's certainly no Gibbon, but then again, who is? The fact of the matter is that the British author is a pleasant and engaging writer who suffers from spells of dryness—but...more

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Jul 06, 2011 Travis rated it 4 of 5 stars

An excellent book, Heather does a good job reaffirming and further proving that the Roman empire collapsed due to large scale barbarian invasions, led primarily by Germanic tribes (pushed across the Rhine by the Huns) who united and reformed into cohesive, advanced groups over the centuries. Their cohesion, of course, being driven by Rome's aggressive imperial expansion and policies towards them; thus they created their own destroyers.

It's a nice contradiction to the peaceful assimilation theori...more

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Mar 16, 2013 Marcus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: history, history-political, military-history, classical-warfare

Let's start with the easy part of this review and answer the question whether I liked this book or not and if so, why. Yes, I enjoyed it very much, for following reasons: the author presents a coherent, logical and compact overview of one of Western Europe's most cataclysmic historical events. The "history" part is presented in very accessible manner even for a person with only rudimentary previous knowledge of this period of history. Author's own conclusions and arguments are at first glance lo...more

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Feb 26, 2013 Max rated it 5 of 5 stars

The best book about Rome and European history that I have ever read. An eye opener. It starts with the Hun invasion of the Polish plains.. when the precursors to the Vandals Flee to the west. They beg Rome to let them flee into Romes protection on the south side of the Danube. Rome tries to trick them and massacre their leaders. The plan goes awry and results in an end run by the Vandals through Germany, France, Spain, and Africa to the gates of Rome itself. The end run took over 200 years but c...more

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Jan 28, 2013 Mal Warwick rated it 3 of 5 stars

Roman generals, barbarians, and a compulsive historian to tell the tale

Remember having to memorize all those dates when you were back in school? 1066, 1776, and all that? Right? So, what epochal events do you associate with the years 376, 405, 410, and 476? Give up? No, I’m not going to give you the answers. If you really want them, you can immerse yourself in the pages of Peter Heather’s The Fall of the Roman Empire. By the time you’re finished — assuming you have the stomach to get through the...more Roman generals, barbarians, and a compulsive historian to tell the tale

Remember having to memorize all those dates when you were back in school? 1066, 1776, and all that? Right? So, what epochal events do you associate with the years 376, 405, 410, and 476? Give up? No, I’m not going to give you the answers. If you really want them, you can immerse yourself in the pages of Peter Heather’s The Fall of the Roman Empire. By the time you’re finished — assuming you have the stomach to get through the whole ordeal — you’ll know not only what significance those dates hold but also the names of godknowshowmany inconsequential Roman emperors, generals, and barbarian kings. Frankly, I can’t believe I read the whole thing.

Here, dates and battles and names aside, is the message that British historian Peter Heather was attempting to get across:

Gibbon got it all wrong. The Roman Empire didn’t fall because of its internal weaknesses.
What actually happened, according to the latest findings by archaeologists and historians, is that the barbarians ganged up on the Romans.
OK, it was a little more complicated than that. Around the middle of the 4th Century, the Huns — those nomadic horsemen from the Central Asian steppes — began pushing westward. They didn’t get as far as the Roman frontier, but their relentless drive pushed hordes of Germanic tribes (the original barbarians, from the Roman perspective) further west, and the Germani began crowding the borders that Rome had so carefully kept sparsely populated. In fact, about 100,000 of them actually managed to cross into Roman territory in the Balkans — and that started the ball rolling. They had permission from the Eastern Roman Emperor in Constantinople — you remember, of course, that the Empire was then divided in two? — but the hapless fellow later had occasion to regret the decision, because the Germani started raising all manner of hell very shortly. (For good reason, too. The Roman generals and provincial officials assigned to their settlement took them to the cleaners.)

Later, when the Huns, eventually under the gifted leadership of Attila, moved all the way westward toward the Romans’ Rhine frontier in what is now Germany, the Germanic tribes living there decided the time was convenient to actually invade Roman territory, namely Gaul (now France), Spain, and later North Africa. Though Roman generals began hiring Huns as mercenaries to help them fight the other barbarians, and they actually had some success from time to time, it was a losing battle. Soon enough, Germanic armies managed to sack Rome, not once but twice within the space of a half-dozen years. For several more decades, the Romans tried to pretend nothing had happened while the territory under their control steadily shrank. After all, Rome had ruled the world (well, the Mediterranean, anyway) for nearly half a Millennium, so how could it possibly all end? Eventually, though, before the end of the 5th Century, all the last of the Western Emperors had left was Italy. Being able to read the writing on the wall, he turned out the lamps in Rome and retired to his summer villa.

Why did all this happen? Peter Heather says it was the Romans’ own fault. Their unnecessarily harsh imperial policies drove the Germani to attack them. I would add that Rome had simply bitten off more than it could chew. The Empire had overreached.

Now, why couldn’t he just have said that?(less)

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Aug 02, 2012 port22 rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history, non-fiction

Historic orthodoxy dismisses barbarians and puts forward reasons like corruption, decline in agriculture, over-taxation, and religion in the center of what brought the empire down. To Peter Heather it was the barbarians who destroyed it.

Historians, while attributing fault to the barbarian forces, felt a power as great as Rome couldn't have been brought down by disparate hordes of illiterates. Rome had established a civilization -- it had central administration, weapons factories, schools of phil...more

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Dec 06, 2011 Christopher rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

This is a thoroughly exciting narrative and analysis of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Throughout, Heather displays a firm grasp of the complex relationship between the Romans and the barbarian hordes that would ultimately destroy the empire. He also analyzes the arguments of other historians on this era and systematically shoots down their arguments with firm evidence and convincing conjecture. An added plus to this narrative is that he attempts to leave nothing out. On an era that is so...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Juan-Pablo rated it 5 of 5 stars

Peter Heather is upfront in his Introduction: he's about to summarize the main theses of the last couple of decades of academic research. The novelty of this research is that it is informed by archeological discoveries not available to early historians. Using this information, Heather destroys the usual believe that the Roman Empire collapsed mainly because of internal causes.

His prose is clear and to the point. His research expertise is on the Barbarians, and as such that world is really well...more

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Jan 26, 2011 Jim Pfluecke rated it 5 of 5 stars

Heather ambitiously attempts to revisit the Fall of the Roman Empire and debunk the idea that the Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of of its own decedent morality and the softening effect of Christianity.

Instead, he makes a strong, richly researched argument that changes in the economic and political life of the "barbarians" led to the decline of the western half of the Roman Empire.

First, he ascertains that the division of East and West Empires was not a sign of growing weakness but a s...more Heather ambitiously attempts to revisit the Fall of the Roman Empire and debunk the idea that the Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of of its own decedent morality and the softening effect of Christianity.

Instead, he makes a strong, richly researched argument that changes in the economic and political life of the "barbarians" led to the decline of the western half of the Roman Empire.

First, he ascertains that the division of East and West Empires was not a sign of growing weakness but a sustainable response to the size of the Empire, the need to spread patronage (two imperials centers providing more than one, and spreading it farther), and the need for a quicker imperial response to external threats.

Second, he looks at the changes forced by the threat of a stronger, reorganized Persian Empire. The military power of the Persians required 40% of the Romans elite mobile forces be positioned against them and required the raising of taxes. However, Heather shows that, contrary to past (pre 1980's) scholarly interpretations, this raise in taxes did not lead to a population or economic decline. Quite the opposite, in fact. Recent discoveries have shown economic and population expanses in the late Roman period.

Third, he shows that the rise of Christianity merely restructured the allocation of elite resources rather than sucking up otherwise useful funds and leaders. Also, he shows that Christianity did not sap the martial strength of the Empire.

Fourth, Heather turns to the growing adoption of Roman farming and economic methods amongst the Germans/Goths and their corresponding increase in population. This, he says, changed the nature of the threat facing the Roman empire, as it enabled the Goths to field larger armies and achieve higher degrees of political unity, leading to still stronger armies.

Finally, the pressure put on the Goths by the Huns (who built their own multi-ethnic empire) pushed many large Gothic formations into the Roman Empire, where they eventually seized the richest provinces (North Africa especially), Spain and Gaul, which reduced the ability of the Western Empire to field a large army. Finally, the chaos of the collapse of the Hunnic empire created a final re-weighting of the political-military balance and lead to the end of the Western Empire.

I recommend this to anyone interested in Roman history.
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Jan 26, 2011 James rated it 5 of 5 stars

Heather ambitiously attempts to revisit the Fall of the Roman Empire and debunk the idea that the Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of of its own decedent morality and the softening effect of Christianity.

Instead, he makes a strong, richly researched argument that changes in the economic and political life of the "barbarians" led to the decline of the western half of the Roman Empire.

First, he ascertains that the division of East and West Empires was not a sign of growing weakness but a s...more Heather ambitiously attempts to revisit the Fall of the Roman Empire and debunk the idea that the Roman Empire collapsed under the weight of of its own decedent morality and the softening effect of Christianity.

Instead, he makes a strong, richly researched argument that changes in the economic and political life of the "barbarians" led to the decline of the western half of the Roman Empire.

First, he ascertains that the division of East and West Empires was not a sign of growing weakness but a sustainable response to the size of the Empire, the need to spread patronage (two imperials centers providing more than one, and spreading it farther), and the need for a quicker imperial response to external threats.

Second, he looks at the changes forced by the threat of a stronger, reorganized Persian Empire. The military power of the Persians required 40% of the Romans elite mobile forces be positioned against them and required the raising of taxes. However, Heather shows that, contrary to past (pre 1980's) scholarly interpretations, this raise in taxes did not lead to a population or economic decline. Quite the opposite, in fact. Recent discoveries have shown economic and population expanses in the late Roman period.

Third, he shows that the rise of Christianity merely restructured the allocation of elite resources rather than sucking up otherwise useful funds and leaders. Also, he shows that Christianity did not sap the martial strength of the Empire.

Fourth, Heather turns to the growing adoption of Roman farming and economic methods amongst the Germans/Goths and their corresponding increase in population. This, he says, changed the nature of the threat facing the Roman empire, as it enabled the Goths to field larger armies and achieve higher degrees of political unity, leading to still stronger armies.

Finally, the pressure put on the Goths by the Huns (who built their own multi-ethnic empire) pushed many large Gothic formations into the Roman Empire, where they eventually seized the richest provinces (North Africa especially), Spain and Gaul, which reduced the ability of the Western Empire to field a large army. Finally, the chaos of the collapse of the Hunnic empire created a final re-weighting of the political-military balance and lead to the end of the Western Empire.

I recommend this to anyone interested in Roman history.

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Aug 22, 2009 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Heather covers Gibbon's old stomping grounds, but backed up w/ recent archeological finds. Heather is an expert when it comes to the various “barbarian” groups that hammered the Roman Empire. He’s probably one of best when it comes to the mysterious Huns (historians still don’t know where they came from – just educated guesses). However, Heather parts with Gibbon on the cause of Rome’s fall, seeing not so much decadence (he feels that Rome, as an Empire, was running probably as well as ever, mak...more

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Oct 12, 2011 W rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-and-civilizations

While studying Rome with my children it became fascinating to me how politicized the fall of Rome’s Western Empire had become. Partizans made arguments that the Empire fell due to poorly managed immigration, small wars designed to boost the popularity of emperors, over taxation, a legal structure calculated to keep the rich on the top of society, currency manipulation, poorly conceived diplomacy and foreign aid, and large trade deficits with China. I am guessing these all sound familiar to us to...more While studying Rome with my children it became fascinating to me how politicized the fall of Rome’s Western Empire had become. Partizans made arguments that the Empire fell due to poorly managed immigration, small wars designed to boost the popularity of emperors, over taxation, a legal structure calculated to keep the rich on the top of society, currency manipulation, poorly conceived diplomacy and foreign aid, and large trade deficits with China. I am guessing these all sound familiar to us today in the US and Europe, and to be sure these were all elements of the longest standing government in human history. Hence, being no historian, I was motivated to read one of the more manageable yet comprehensive works on this topic, and this one was recommended as one that didn’t have a political “axe to grind.“ The author forges a compelling argument that none of these very real issues alone can be blamed for Rome’s demise, and in fact all together they still do not adequately explain the rapid decline that took place between 376 AD and 476 AD. Without including too many spoilers, a mixture of large scale migrations in Europe and Eurasia, with miscalculated Roman diplomacy, along with governmental, economic, and military development gains that came from hundreds of years of living next to and trading with Roman provinces are put forth as closer to the center of this epic fall. While I am sure the author might take issue with this, I saw a picture painted that could be described as providential.

I would admit, given my work, this following quote concerning the unification of small German communities into the larger ones that occurred during the first three centuries AD that would eventually become formidable challengers to Roman supremacy grabbed my attention:

“Once these more powerful coalitions had come into existence, Roman diplomatic practice tended to further the process. A tried and trusted tactic was to alight on a leader who was willing to help keep the peace, then seek to promote his hold over his subjects, by targeted foreign aid, combined, very often, with trading privileges. Annual gifts were a feature of Roman foreign policy from the early centuries AD. But there was always some ambiguity in these relationships; favored kings had to respond to the demands of their own followers as well as to those of their new imperial sponsors. More than one king of the Alamanni found himself forced by his followers to join in Chnodomarius’ rebellion or face demotion. Inevitably, leaders who could attract Roman largesse were likely to attract the largest number of followers.”

Bottom line, I enjoyed this book enough to go out and purchase its nearly 800 page "sequel," "Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europe."(less)

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Aug 03, 2012 Kroth rated it 5 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed Heather's writing style, with its irreverent asides that make important points (e.g. speculating on how easily or not the Iranian-speaking Alans negotiated their alliance with the German-speaking Goth tribes on the north side of the Rhine) and enjoyed watching him savage Gibbon's thesis that Christianity was To Blame. Heather tried a similar dare-devil act, walking the tightrope of a thesis that Rome fell, not at all because of any internal implosion, but because they mishandled t...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Michael Klein rated it 5 of 5 stars

Although the title of the book is very "common" and plain, Peter Heather has greatly, if quietly, revolutionized our understanding of the Roman Empire and it's "fall." For everyone that was brought up with the classic Gibbon perspective of empirical decline, this is the counter argument to what most view as Gibbon's narrow-minded and short-sighted "retelling" of Rome's last days. The real and true lesson that runs wonderfully rampant through "A New History" is that we, as individuals, societies,...more

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Mar 27, 2013 David Gullen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Filled with fact and informed opinion, I found Peter Heather's comprehensive history of the fall of the western Roman empire to be well-written, fascinating, and absorbing. There's a mass of information here, some new, some based on contemporary accounts of the wars, invasions, set-backs and recoverys the empire suffered in its final century, all while the emperors and aspirants and pretenders fight it out for control and leadership. Its dramatic stuff and Heather really brings it alive from the...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Chris rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction-history

A magisterial history of the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Part detective story, part scientific investigation, and part narrative history——all rolled into one. It must be unimaginably difficult to distill such a shocking complex series of events into a coherent understanding of “what went wrong,” yet the author, Peter Heather, has managed to distill the past half-century of scholarship on Rome’s downfall into one 500-page book. And, it should be noted, in his own academic work the author hi...more

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Feb 26, 2010 Jeff Lanter rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: roman-history

I guess I should start off by saying that if you are like I was when thinking about reading this book, you can tackle this even if you don't know much about the Roman Empire or are a history major. I have little knowledge about this period and am the literature type. The book is heavy and dense, but it's still readable and mostly self-contained. The author makes his case for the barbarians being the actual cause of Rome's downfall. My understanding is that this is somewhat revolutionary and new....more

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Dec 11, 2012 Jeni Enjaian rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was much larger than I thought it would be. However, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Heather deals with an immense amount of information, most of it unfamiliar to the average reader, and does so with an easy style. He also manages to avoid condescending to the readers. At times I wondered why he included certain information because the narratives did not necessarily connect. However, Heather's concluding chapter is a masterpiece in summary. He reviews all the information he presented e...more

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Feb 24, 2012 Frank Martin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Great book. I always understood that the barbarians were the cause for the fall of the Western Roman Empire and even took that knowledge for granted but Heather's book reminds me that I wasn't asking the right questions or even any questions at all. "The Fall of the Roman Empire" expertly weaves a picture of the fifth century roman life, its political establishments, its economy and that of the "barbarians" too. I was first turned off by this book because of the term "Barbarian" because does lit...more

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Oct 11, 2012 Denerick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Heather does a good job at putting order to the significant chaos that is the last 150 years of western Roman history. Illuminating in places, providing some excellent analysis and is a worthy exemplar of historical scholarship that can be both engaging and informative.

I'm not informed enough to debate the historiography present, but for someone who knew nothing about the collapse of the (western) Roman Empire, this book is a godsend.

Bloody immigrants. Nick Griffin would love the idea that weste...more

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Jan 03, 2009 Juan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyable read! If you have any interest at all in ancient European history, this is a must read.

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May 11, 2013 Olethros rated it 4 of 5 stars

-Siguiendo las tendencias más actuales sobre el asunto y con ganas de refutar a sus mayores.-

Género. Ensayo.

Lo que nos cuenta. Con un pequeño vistazo atrás para situar al lector mediante la comparación, relato del crepúsculo y caída del Imperio Romano (occidental) desde el siglo IV que revisa muchos eventos y razones que pudieron contribuir pero principalmente centrado en las causas puramente exógenas.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://www.librosdeolethros.blogspot......more

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Dec 05, 2012 John rated it 4 of 5 stars

Initially, I used this book as a sleep aide. Gradually, however the author's down to earth turn of phrase won me over. Although an academic tome by almost any standard, he brings life to this civilization that managed to survive as a nation state for half a millenium. Any question about Heather's depth of preparation is quickly put to rest when the citations compose more than 10% of the 570 pages.

From high school, my impression was that decadence of the society led to its eventual downfall. This...more Initially, I used this book as a sleep aide. Gradually, however the author's down to earth turn of phrase won me over. Although an academic tome by almost any standard, he brings life to this civilization that managed to survive as a nation state for half a millenium. Any question about Heather's depth of preparation is quickly put to rest when the citations compose more than 10% of the 570 pages.

From high school, my impression was that decadence of the society led to its eventual downfall. This moralistic imperative, along with the Huns, made for a simplistic cautionary tale. After reading this historical treatment of the Roman era, the certitudes of a thumbnail overview are quickly revised. Equally suspect are any parallels between the crassness of most popular current entertainment with the cliche of "bread and circus" for the rabble.

The Roman empire worked for five centuries because it had a recipe for success. Take one large army, with its basic structure of a small, well trained and iron disciplined basic squad. Conquer and subjugate any nation close, ever spreading influence and spanning geographic boundaries. Impress the locals into said army and extract enough of the pie, but not too much from whatever resources are in the region. Set up landowners with a share of the profits going to local officials. Decentralize by having regional administrators that know the lay of the land. Make these locals only advance by learning "grammar" (the language and secret handshake of those in power). REPEAT!

In the fifth century, things finally began to unravel. The various "barbarian" groups began to acquire the technology of agriculture that the Romans used. Their people no longer had to be on the move to get fed. Larger alliances were formed. The slowness of communication worked to the advantage to those on the edge of the empire. As a separate issue, the Huns began to nibble at the resources and dilute the force of the army. Finally, an offshoot the the Germanic groups with a 30,000 army took the breadbasket of the empire, North Africa. Without the money to pay the troops, things began to get back to the local tough taking over his little fiefdom.

The above are just a few of the forces at work in the latter stages of the Roman Empire. The inner politics of who ruled at any given time was like Survivor with murder allowed. Brother killing brother, only to be replaced by a returning war hero. The clean line of succession probably never lasted for very long. These people loved power, even if meant that a target was placed on your back as soon as you took over.

When I worked in Germany, I always wondered at the small castles on the rivers and the big walled city of Trier. The latter was not an outpost, it was a little Rome. The former was what happened when the big dog left.

In the end, this book is too diverse to summarize in any meaningful way. Take a look at it and tell me what you think!

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Jan 08, 2012 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: european-history-general

Overall this is a very thorough account of the Fall of Rome from all angles in how the barbarians affected military, economic and political relations within the Eastern and Western Roman Empire. Starting from a quick overview of how Roman power was concentrated and what it meant to be Roman the book quickly moves through a VERY detailed analysis of how the Roman Empire fell from Hunnic assaults to Germanic Revolts, to expanding beyond the limits that their power projection was able to cover. Hea...more

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Jul 17, 2011 Jesse Schexnayder rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook

Rome was really an idea, a culture not tied to any specific race or people. Its greatest strength was a concept of universal Roman glory coupled with its decentralized application. In the Roman Empire, property rights were paramount, and land was the primary means by which to acquire and retain wealth.

Rome's fall (or at least the Western empire) can be attributed primarily to a large influx of illegal immigrants coupled with a foolhardy over-extension of the Roman military in foreign conflicts w...more

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Mar 20, 2012 Lori rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: history fans

Shelves: ancient-history, history, medieval, nonfiction, z-own, z-reviewed

A popular addition to this growing field. Knowledge of the transition from the Roman world to the European world (from about 400AD to about 800AD, aka Late Antiquity, Early Medieval) has been growing rapidly. This knowledge is just now being synthesized and published n books. There are a lot of competing views about the end of the Roman Empire in western Europe. The two ends of the spectrum are, 1) it was the end of civilization (for hundreds of years), 2) it was a 'non-event', just a gradual fa...more A popular addition to this growing field. Knowledge of the transition from the Roman world to the European world (from about 400AD to about 800AD, aka Late Antiquity, Early Medieval) has been growing rapidly. This knowledge is just now being synthesized and published n books. There are a lot of competing views about the end of the Roman Empire in western Europe. The two ends of the spectrum are, 1) it was the end of civilization (for hundreds of years), 2) it was a 'non-event', just a gradual fading away. Heather takes a more cataclysmic view.

His thesis is that western Rome did not need to fall and that the reason it did fall was the Huns. He focuses on military and political history, plus the movement of the Huns. This is a good book to start with because of the political emphasis (which serves as a time framework for me). Another good reason to start with this is the chronology and list of characters at the end of the book.

Two great books to read in conjunction with this are Framing the Early Middle Ages: Europe and the Mediterranean, 400-800 by Chris Wickham and Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376 - 568 by Guy Halsall. In combination they give an excellent view of the changes that occurred, and the current ideas as to why. Their view is less apocalyptic. After reading all three books I think that the answer depends on what you are looking at, especially how long a period. Heather's book covers the shortest period, from about 350AD - 500AD, focusing on 376-476 and the individuals and politics. Halsall takes a slightly longer and more cultural view, and Wickham the longest and least 'personal'. Together these three give a good idea of the current state of the field. (OK, a few years behind, but no major changes.)

It helps if you have a basic understanding of the history of this time. The Civilization of the Middle Ages by Norman Cantor is a good start, although he (necessarily) does not go in depth. If you want to read a classic The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon is also a start. (It's where I started.)(less)

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Mar 10, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Admittedly, I have very little knowledge about the Roman Empire. This has not stopped me from creating a construct in my mind about how Rome fell. The image I’ve created is actually very simple, subtle, and elegant.

First, picture ~~a room~~ the Coliseum. Now imagine the Coliseum filled with men, women, and goats. Everyone is naked, including the goats. Men are having sex with women. Men are having sex with men. Women are having sex with women. The goats are having sex with everyone. There is an ele...more

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Aug 15, 2011 Evan rated it 4 of 5 stars

Summary of Peter Heather's thesis for why western Empire eventually collapsed…

1. Hunnic invasions led to a greater Germanic presence in Gaul and Spain during the late 4th and early 5th centuries, putting an increasing amount of pressure on border defenses
2.. Presence of an advanced empire near Barbarian borders caused economic and political systems of the latter to become increasingly sophisticated
3. Persian empire was a constant threat, pulling needed forces away from borders shared with Barbar...more

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May 19, 2008 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians, by Peter Heather

This new book by a professor at Worcester College, University of Oxford is a true gem among books covering historical subject matter. The past when covered by most books attempting to educate the reader on historical subject matter covering several hundred years often results in text book like reading without the inspirational individual efforts of the everyday citizen being included or explained.
In this cas...more The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians, by Peter Heather

This new book by a professor at Worcester College, University of Oxford is a true gem among books covering historical subject matter. The past when covered by most books attempting to educate the reader on historical subject matter covering several hundred years often results in text book like reading without the inspirational individual efforts of the everyday citizen being included or explained.
In this case I am happy to report that not only are many individual citizens brought to life through recovered letters and such, but many connecting aspects of interpersonal rivalries and ambitions supported by empirical evidence are interspaced with the big picture events surrounding those people and their lives. This book makes the reader more aware of the issues and subject matter from the view of the small group or individual than any other book on Rome which I am familiar with. The writing is also easy to follow for the average reader who is not a scholar.
If you are interested in finding out just how similar our world events today are to ancient Rome and the issues they faced, read this book! Rome faced many of the same issue as we see today. Examples of these issues include inflation of coinage by deflating the value of the raw metal content in the coins, gorilla warfare on its boarders, political intrigue through spies by rival super powers, citizens who were forced to deal with changing events rapidly if they wanted to start a business or venture into government work, among many other examples.
Heather argues, in my opinion very successfully that it was the barbarians who brought down the Empire rather than any social or moral collapse. However the real value of this book is for the average reader to dive into something, which reads like a fiction narrative trying to persuade the reader to a point of view. In my opinion it succeeds. However, the average reader can learn so much on this subject matter without subjecting themselves to the many long and boring textbooks, which are so abundant for any topic related to Rome and its downfall.
At 459 pages just for the story and persuasive argument for his theme Heather adds a timeline and other sources as well, making the total page count 572. In my experience this book reads like a page turner and should engage any history buff as well as those who shun history for its boring nature or lack of inspired stories to engage in and root for. The characters that Heather has pass in and out of Rome’s history in this detailed book seem real and alive.
Books on Rome are abundant, but few engage the average reader in a way that compels and engages the imagination while failing to debase the story in the usual folly of solely telling everything from the view of the top person looking down on the minions. Rome had entrepreneurs and businessmen between the gladiators and slaves and emperors. Who knew that so many parallels to our modern western civilization would be seen through one book? Read this book for the entertainment as well as the educational value relating to a civilization, which still reaches forward in time to spread its influence on today’s world events.
Whether you are interested in the development of the Germanic peoples influencing Rome and how they continue to influence us up to today or your interests lie with an early cult of Judaism as it emerged from a leadership dominated by martyrs to become the dominant religion of the empire despite its founder being publicly executed by the same empire, this book will put into perspective all of the issues of that time period in a way that is engaging and relevant to digest for the modern westerner.
This book was fun, entertaining and engaging. I highly recommend it.

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Oct 19, 2012 Eddie Clarke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: history

Enormously enjoyable - Heather's is a witty, imaginative and ultimately persuasive account of this stretch of tumultuous history. He argues the limitations of the Roman state in the 4th century were the same as they always had been; what was new was the political development of the Barbarians - itself driven by intimate contact with the Romans over the preceding centuries.

Particularly impressive is the way Heather makes both the archeological record and contemporary sources compellingly vivid -...more

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The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians

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