The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
by Peter Heather
List Price:
Our Price: $34.69
You Save: $10.31 (23%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $12.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Peter HeatherEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-12-01
ISBN: 0195159543
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
Book Review: "A Pleasing Denouement" ...For the Barbarian Idiots who wrecked Western civilization
Summary: 3 Stars
Peter Heather, an Oxford history professor, offers a "new history" of one of the most controversial subjects in world history - discussing what caused the fall of the (west) Roman Empire. Although this book makes for interesting reading at points, the author's main hypothesis is neither particularly fresh nor well constructed. Heather's main focus is on external factors - Barbarian actions - rather than internal Roman factors such as political corruption or economic disintegration. The author's main thesis revolves around the contention that Germanic society changed rapidly between the 1st and 4th Centuries and allowed the heretofore-weak tribes to form confederations that could challenge Roman power. Once Hunnic aggression pushed these Germanic tribes into Roman territory he argues, the Romans could no longer assimilate or destroy these Germanic "super-groups" such as the Goths, and the resultant loss of territory gradually deprived the empire of revenues. A vicious cycle began with the arrival of the Goths on Roman territory in 378, and eventually resulted in a growing inability of the Empire to defeat the swarm of new foes, such as the Vandals, Franks and Huns. Heather tends to dismiss all other theories about the reasons for imperial collapse out of hand, claiming that internal factors were not essentially irrelevant. Hmmm...not exactly sound historical methodology. Essentially, the author subscribes to the "mono-causal" explanation for this very complex process of imperial collapse - his explanation. It is a telling indictment about the intellectual foundations of this book that the author never questions whether a "mono-causal" theory can even be applied to such a lengthy, complex process.
Heather sees the loss of North Africa to the Vandals in 440 as the crucial blow that ultimately doomed the (west) Roman Empire, although the series of crises began with the Gothic victory at Adrianople in 378. He argues that the loss of Spain and Gaul, followed by the Vandal conquests, deprived the Empire of so much revenue that its ability to defend itself was compromised. However the key weakness in this hypothesis - of the "chicken or the egg" sort - is that it fails to identify whether Roman military weakness led to successful Barbarian invasions or whether successful invasions led to Roman military weakness. Stepping back a bit, Heather sees the growth of Persian "as a rival superpower" in the 3rd Century as diverting Roman military resources away from Western Europe and draining financial reserves. Although Heather tries to link the growth of Persian power to Barbarian successes in the West, this is a non-sequitor since the resources needed to contain the Persians came primarily from the Eastern Empire, which survived the Barbarian onslaughts. Furthermore, the author exaggerates the Persian threat, which did not threaten the heart of the Empire, only border zones.
The author's failure to tackle Roman military or economic issues in a serious manner seriously weakens his ability to support his thesis. First, the author displays a poor understanding of the Roman military, mixing terms like "regiment" and "cohort," claiming that the "testudo" was a common battlefield formation and stating that training in the 4th Century was the same as it was centuries before. The fact is that the Roman Army of the 4th Century was nothing like its forebears in either quantity or quality. In earlier times, the loss of 15,000 Roman troops as occurred at Adrianople would have been regarded as only a setback, but in 378 it was a catastrophe. Why? Simply put, the Empire was incredibly short of troops and could not afford significant losses. The author's claims that the massive influx of Barbarians into the late Roman army had no effect on training or discipline is flatly absurd. The fact is that the Roman Army had gotten quite rotten before Adrianople due to repeated civil wars, mutinies and rebellions that damaged the level of discipline and motivation among the rank and file. That the Romans were desperate to get Barbarian recruits for the army despite the fact that the Empire had a population of 70 million indicates that military recruiting was not inhibited merely by fiscal factors. By 378, the army was a job that very few citizens wanted.
The level of scholarship is surprisingly vulgar at times throughout this book - almost as if the author has chosen to write a juvenile and rather "dumbed-down" history. He describes Saint Augustines' City of God as "the straightforward yah-boo-sucks variety" and describes assassinations as "snuffing it." He also refers to Roman "five star generals" (no such rank), the "year zero" (no such year) and says that legionaries were "just like the Marines, but much nastier." The author also tends to over-use second-rate source material and to draw very broad conclusions from disparate archaeological finds.
It is in the conclusion that the author finally shows his true colors. He writes that, "the Roman Empire had sown the seeds of its own destruction, therefore, not because of internal weakness...but as a consequence of its relationship with the Germanic world...there is in all this a pleasing denouement. By virtue of its unbounded aggression, Roman imperialism was ultimately responsible for its own destruction." Apparently, the author is unaware that Rome was viciously sacked by the Celts in 390 BC, which began cycle of Roman expansion to achieve defensible borders. "Unbounded aggression"? The Roman Empire stopped expanding 200 years before Adrianople. "Pleasing denouement?" Oh, so all the massacres, raping, looting and destruction by the Vandals, Goths, etc - which laid low Western civilization for darn near 1,000 years - was a good thing?? If what the author was saying about the Roman Empire were true, then that civilization would have made no more contribution to human development as the Mongols or the Third Reich. However, the Roman Empire was not just about conquest and this type of "history" - which appears to have some subtle axes to grind -adds little to our understanding of why the Empire fell.
Rome Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Rome Books
The Praetorship in the Roman Republic: 2 Volume Setby T. Corey Brennan
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2000-12-14; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $225.00
Water Baby: The Story of Alvinby Victoria A. Kaharl
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1990-10-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops:
The Roman Empire, 27 B.C.-A.D. 476: A Study in Survivalby Chester G. Starr
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 1982-09-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $124.95
The Madness of Nero (Penguin Epics)by Tacitus
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2006-12-26; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.02
Price in other shops:
Christians & the Fall of Rome (Great Ideas)by Edward Gibbon
Penguin Books; Published: 2004-09-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.02
Dialogues and Letters (Penguin Classics)by Seneca
Penguin Classics; Published: 1997-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
The Fall of the Roman Republic: Six Lives (Penguin Classics)by Plutarch, Rex Warner, Robin Seager
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Classics; Published: 1954-02-28; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.47
Price in other shops:
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)by Edward Gibbon
Penguin Classics; Published: 1983-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Meditations (Penguin Classics)by Marcus Aurelius
Penguin Group USA; Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-10-31; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.99
Price in other shops:
The Civil War of Caesar (Penguin Classics)by Julius Caesar
Penguin Classics; Published: 1976-11-18; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern Worldby Jack Weatherford
Crown; Published: 2004-03-16; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $39.94
Lost to the West: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire That Rescued Western Civilizationby Lars Brownworth
Crown; Published: 2009-09-15; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.84
Price in other shops:
The Crimean War: A Historyby Orlando Figes
Metropolitan Books; Published: 2011-04-12; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $15.88
Price in other shops:
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empireby Simon Baker
BBC Books; Published: 2007-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $39.95
The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilizationby Bryan Ward-Perkins
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2005-09-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $39.95
Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republicby Tom Holland
Doubleday; Published: 2004-02-17; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $27.38
Price in other shops:
The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages, 400-1000 (Penguin History of Europe (Viking))by Chris Wickham
Viking Adult; Published: 2009-07-30; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
1453: The Holy War For Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the Westby Roger Crowley
Hyperion; Published: 2005-08-10; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $17.19
Price in other shops:
Empires and Barbarians: The Fall of Rome and the Birth of Europeby Peter Heather
Oxford University Press, USA; Published: 2010-03-04; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $10.00
Price in other shops:
Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of An Empireby Simon Baker
BBC Books; Published: 2007-07-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.34
Price in other shops: