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How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower Paperback – Illustrated, September 28, 2010

by Adrian Goldsworthy (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 216 ratings
Editors' pick Best History
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A major new history of the fall of the Roman Empire, by the prizewinning author of Caesar

In AD 200, the Roman Empire seemed unassailable, its vast territory accounting for most of the known world. By the end of the fifth century, Roman rule had vanished in western Europe and much of northern Africa, and only a shrunken Eastern Empire remained. In his account of the fall of the Roman Empire, prizewinning author Adrian Goldsworthy examines the painful centuries of the superpower’s decline. Bringing history to life through the stories of the men, women, heroes, and villains involved, the author uncovers surprising lessons about the rise and fall of great nations.

This was a period of remarkable personalities, from the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius to emperors like Diocletian, who portrayed themselves as tough, even brutal, soldiers. It was a time of revolutionary ideas, especially in religion, as Christianity went from persecuted sect to the religion of state and emperors. Goldsworthy pays particular attention to the willingness of Roman soldiers to fight and kill each other. Ultimately, this is the story of how an empire without a serious rival rotted from within, its rulers and institutions putting short-term ambition and personal survival over the wider good of the state.

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  1. Print length
    560 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    September 28, 2010
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 1.5 x 9.35 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300164262
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300164268
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Goldsworthy . . . claims the empire's fatal move was to make the centre of authority—Rome and its experienced senatorial government—irrelevant. . . . Goldsworthy's expertise guarantees his clearly and powerfully articulated thesis will open up the debate all over again."—Peter Jones, Telegraph



"Meticulously researched, complex and thought-provoking."—Diana Preston, The Washington Post Book World (Best of 2009 Review)

"Goldsworthy gives a vivid account. . . . [he] tells us clearly and well—and without attempts at literary majesty—about the series of events that brought Rome’s western empire to a state of collapse."—Wall Street Journal



"On a more profound level, Goldsworthy has depicted the grim process by which the Res Publica, the common good of the Roman many, was sacrificed for the self-preservation of the Imperial few, leading in due course to the destruction of all."—California Literary Review


"As in Caesar, Goldsworthy excels at recounting important battles. Where many accounts only briefly cover the Battle of Adrianople in 378, Goldsworthy provides a detailed discussion of the battle itself and the aftermath of the catastrophic Roman defeat. Descriptions of military maneuvering and organization are not unduly technical for the lay reader and are supplemented by accessible charts and maps."—Daniel Larison, The American Conservative

"Goldsworthy's writing is easy to follow, sometimes almost conversational in tone without being overly colloquial. How Rome Fell is both enjoyable and thought-provoking."—Carolyn Nelson, The Journal of Military History

"How Rome Fell is an interesting and compelling analysis. It is definitely worth the price to obtain and the time to digest, even if you are not a student of classical history."—Brandon Crocker, The American Spectator



"A very important book for anyone interested in Roman history."—The NYMAS Review



"[A] masterful survey."—The New Criterion



". . . weaves a compelling narrative that has enough new research to keep even well seasoned 'Romanphiles' satisfied."—Washington Times



"Goldsworthy is one of the most productive, most readable of contemporary military historians of ancient Rome. . . . Excellent chronology, glossary, bibliography."—P. B. Harvey Jr., Choice

"A very important book for anyone interested in Roman history."—A. A. Nofl, strategypage.com

". . . hugely informative sections on military, economic, and sociological issues . . . terrific book."—Tony Lewis, Providence Sunday Journal

"Goldsworthy is not the first historian to note the self-destructiveness of Roman imperial and military institutions. He has, however, provided one of the most penetrating and well-written analyses of how this dysfunction led to the fall of the Roman Empire."—Daniel P. Murphy, Magill's Literary Annual 2010

Selected as one of the Best Books of 2009 in the World History category, Diana Preston, Washington Post Book World

"Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the new generation of young classicists who combines scholarship with storytelling to bring the ancient world to life."—Simon Sebag Montefiore

About the Author

Adrian Goldsworthy is a preeminent historian of the ancient world. His many acclaimed works include Caesar, a New York Times Notable Book and winner of the Society of Military History’s Distinguished Book Award for Biography. Goldsworthy, who received his doctorate at Oxford, lectures widely and consults on historical documentaries produced by the History Channel, National Geographic, and the BBC.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Illustrated edition (September 28, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0300164262
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300164268
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.5 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.5 x 9.35 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 216 ratings

About the author

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Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

Adrian Keith Goldsworthy

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Adrian Goldsworthy has a doctorate from Oxford University. His first book, THE ROMAN ARMY AT WAR was recognised by John Keegan as an exceptionally impressive work, original in treatment and impressive in style. He has gone on to write several other books, including THE FALL OF THE WEST, CAESAR, IN THE NAME OF ROME, CANNAE and ROMAN WARFARE, which have sold more than a quarter of a million copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages. A full-time author, he regularly contributes to TV documentaries on Roman themes.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
216 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Paul Y. Gelman
5.0 out of 5 stars SPLENDID ,FASCINATING AND HIGHLY READABLE
Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2010
Verified Purchase
One of the unresolved questions still keeping historians at work concerns the fall of the Roman Empire.So far hundreds of books and articles discussed and scrutinized every detail of the Empire's demise and each one has come up with different answers.Indeed,such a topic is barely possible to handle for one single historian.One must be in an extremely good command of primary and secondary sources and if he or she wants to have a wide audience, he or she must also be able to write in a very lively style, since such a topic could become boring in a matter of seconds if the style of writing is dry and contains only an endless number of facts.
However, in the case of Mr. Goldsworthy's case, this is not the case.Not only does he have a brilliant command of his sources ,but he has also the ability to keep the reader's interest alive along 448 pages,the length of the text.What is original about this book concerns his conclusions and they are very simple: the real reason for the fall and demise of the Roman Empire had to do with the endless number of civil wars which started maily in 217 AD and proved to be fatal for the Empire which expired in the fifth century. Each conflict has sapped the empire's energy.Corruption was rampant and just to illustrate, one emperor, Elagabalus,had nominated his governors on the merit of the size of their respective penises.One cannot escape the famous -and cited-sentence written by Gibbon in the 18th century who proclaimed that "the story of the Empire's ruin is simple and obvious;and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed,we should rather be surprised that it lasted so long".
In addition, the author has managed to examine almost every aspect of the Roman life under the tens-perhaps-hundreds- of emperors.The period between the second and fifth century was one of extreme economic crises, religious strife, plagues and endless wars.There was a succession of earthquakes in the fifth century which spread devastation throughout the Eastern Empire.Consider this:in sixty years there were more than sixty emperors! Sometimes one brother would kill the other in order to ascend to the throne.This book also examines at length the relations between the Empire and the Sassanid Persians.
Towards the end,Mr.Goldsworthy warns us about making analogies with the Romans when talking about the demise of other Empires or superpowers, such as the USA.For example, he writes(on p.419) that "theses days,countries and governments do not face enemies likely to overthrow them by military force."And then(p.421):"Like the Romans,the bodies involved are usually just too big to come to immediate and final collapse". When speaking about the collapse of superpowers,such as the USA,one should be extremely careful in pronouncing their downfall, because such a process in not only uncertain, but also extremely slow and takes a very long time.However, no superpower is guaranteed its supremacy and this is true of modern America as well as it was of Rome.
In short, this opus will be a delight to read for those who want an informative , entertaining and interesting read about a fascinating and controversial topic-all this in less than 500 pages.
7 people found this helpful
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D. G. Hulan
5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent survey of 3rd-6th centuries
Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2010
Verified Purchase
This was an excellent book, describing the history of the Roman Empire from the latter part of the reign of Marcus Aurelius (from say 170 CE) to the reign of Heraclius (610-641), although events after the reign of Justinian are covered very briefly. (Heraclius isn't even mentioned by name in the main text, though he is in an appendix giving the chronology of the period.) Goldsworthy in general echoes Gibbon's comment that perhaps the real question isn't why Rome fell, but how it lasted so long. The real problem is glaringly obvious when you read a relatively condensed history like this one: from roughly 100 BCE through the reign of Justinian Rome, whether republic or empire, rarely went through a period of as much as 50 years without a civil war where Romans were fighting Romans, from the ones between Marius (and his successors) and Sulla in 88-82 BCE through Caesar and Pompey in 49-4 and Octavian and Mark Antony in 31-30; then an unusual 71-year period of stability under Octavian/Augustus and Tiberius until the overthrow of Caligula in 41 CE (one of the exceptions), the "year of four emperors" in 69, and then the second and longest (124 years) period of stability from the accession of Vespasian in 69 through the Flavian and Antonine dynasties (Domitian was assassinated, but there was no civil war) until the overthrow of Commodus and the "year of five emperors" in 193. After that not a decade went by without Romans fighting Romans until the latter part of the reign of Diocletian, and even then there was only one decade without fighting. And as it became more and more common for emperors to be forcibly overthrown, they more and more became concentrated on survival rather than ruling the empire. Finally, by the fifth century in the West, nobody really wanted to be emperor, so the nominal emperors were basically puppets of one strong man or another. The east, with better communications and a serious enough external threat in Sassanid Persia to concentrate the attention of the generals, managed to muddle through, but the west was essentially done by the mid-5th century. Goldsworthy is an excellent writer and knows his material very well.
3 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Umar Ahmed
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best history books ever written!!
Reviewed in Canada on July 26, 2014
Verified Purchase
Brilliant. Exceptionally well written and one of the most well researched and objective history books Ive ever read. There's no question the author knows his stuff, but the way he puts it all into context for the reader and really sucks him into that timeframe.

My one qualm was an insufficient analysis at the end of the causes of Rome's fall. While he chronicles the history of the empire through until its end, some more analysis and thought at the end wouldve been nice. As it is, he leaves it to the reader to draw his/her own conclusions.
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2021
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The book arrived on time and in perfect condition
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Ky Thompson
3.0 out of 5 stars I found it dry and more like a text for a graduate level course in Roman ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2015
Verified Purchase
I had high hopes when I began to read this book. It makes, no doubt, a contribution to our knowledge of the Roman Empire in its latter years. Regrettably, I found it dry and more like a text for a graduate level course in Roman history. The facts, name, and dates are all there, but their sheer numbers make reading the book like trying to drink from a fire hose. I bogged down and lost interest about two thirds of the way through the book.
3 people found this helpful
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