The Fall of Rome: And the End of CivilizationWhy did Rome fall? Vicious barbarian invasions during the fifth century resulted in the cataclysmic end of the world's most powerful civilization, and a 'dark age' for its conquered peoples. Or did it? The dominant view of this period today is that the 'fall of Rome' was a largely peaceful transition to Germanic rule, and the start of a positive cultural transformation. Bryan Ward-Perkins encourages every reader to think again by reclaiming the drama and violence of the last days of the Roman world, and reminding us of the very real horrors of barbarian occupation. Attacking new sources with relish and making use of a range of contemporary archaeological evidence, he looks at both the wider explanations for the disintegration of the Roman world and also the consequences for the lives of everyday Romans, in a world of economic collapse, marauding barbarians, and the rise of a new religious orthodoxy. He also looks at how and why successive generations have understood this period differently, and why the story is still so significant today. |
Contents
| 1 | |
| 11 | |
THE END OF A CIVILIZATION | 85 |
From Potsherds to People | 184 |
Chronology | 188 |
Notes | 192 |
| 216 | |
Picture List | 224 |
| 231 | |
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The Fall of Rome:And the End of Civilization: And the End of Civilization Bryan Ward-Perkins No preview available - 2006 |
Common terms and phrases
Aegean Africa Alans amongst amphorae Anglo-Saxon Arab archaeological areas aristocratic Bacaudae Balkans barbarians bishop Byzantine Cassiodorus certainly Christian civil coinage Constantinople copper coins Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum culture Danube decline defeated disappeared distribution early East eastern economic complexity emperor empire’s evidence excavated fall fifth century fourth century Frankish frontiers Gaul Germanic Goffart good-quality Gothic Goths Graufesenque historians History Honorius Huns Hydatius imperial government inscriptions instance invaders invasion Italy king kingdom la Graufesenque large number Late Antiquity Later Roman Empire Levant literacy London medieval Mediterranean military modern Noricum North northern Italy Orosius Ostrogothic Oxford pagan peaceful Persian post-Roman centuries pottery production provinces recent regions Roman army Roman Britain Roman period Roman pottery Roman world Rome Rome’s roof sack settlement seventh century Severinus Sidonius Sidonius Apollinaris sixth slaves soldiers sophisticated Spain Stilicho Sueves survive tablewares Theodahad Theoderic tiles trans Vandals Visigoths West western empire writing Yeavering