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A review by maitrey_d
The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather
5.0
Peter Heather's Fall of the Roman Empire was easily one of the most engaging history books I've ever read. Although it may appear that the Roman Empire's Fall has been flogged about as many times a dead horse can be flogged, Heather's history is genuinely new in the sense that it looks at very new archaeological and historical evidences and re-looks at this pivotal moment for the Western world.
Peter Heather specializes in Late Antiquity and is now a Professor of Medieval History at King's College in London and has taught at Oxford and Yale Universities.
If the book has to be summed up quickly, Heather turns Gibbon on it's head and says: the barbarians did it! It wasn't Christianity or licentiousness that brought down the Western Roman system (the Eastern Empire survived after all, indeed flourished in the 5th Century CE), but hordes of barbarians moving in and staying there. The book meticulously builds up, giving the readers a detailed reconstruction of the Empire from the 2nd Century CE onward when the Romans lost disastrously to the Persians. The rise of Sassanians in Persia is now considered to have shook the Roman Empire to its core; if one single reason has to be pinned down for the need for dual power centres and Emperors it was the rise of a rival superpower in the East.
Heather then recounts the sudden influx of barbarians such as the Goths into the Balkans in 376 CE, and a coalition of Vandals, Alans and Suevi in 405 CE across the Rhine. These groups had tremendous impact on both halves of the Empire both economically --entire provinces were lost such as Hispania to the Rhine invaders in 408-- and demographically --massive losses to standing armies which were never replaced, and of course the death and destruction that occurred in these areas. Heather recounts archaeological sources such as excavations in the Balkans ("country" villas disappear only to reappear in fortified towns as large houses) or in Austria; and also literary sources such as the letters by famous Romans.
Various "killing blows" are discussed. The Huns were definitely responsible for quite a bit of the mayhem, but had more of indirect effect such as driving the Germani before them who promptly stripped Rome of it's richest provinces such as North Africa by the Vandal-Alan combine and Southern Gaul by the Visigoths. As Heather points out, the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410, or Attila's forays into the Empire --while would have led to massive losses in terms of med, money and material-- weren't going to harm the Empire in the long run. In the end, Heather ends by pointing out that it was the Roman Empire's own expansionist tendencies which led to sour relations with the barbarians which led the Western half to collapse when it did. The Eastern half's richest provinces meanwhile where out of reach such as Egypt, Anatolia and Syria (Heather mentions in passing that the East's death knell was sounded when it lost these to the Muslims).
The book is also supplemented by a very useful glossary and sequence of dates. The appendix of names and groups is also a handy refresher.
The Fall of the Roman Empire has everything I look for in a history book, it is wittily written yet doesn't compromise on the quality of the scholarship and educates the lay reader on how the conclusions were arrived at. It covers nearly 200 years going into culture, biographies, historiography and economy yet doesn't have the feel of a stodgy, academic work. Even some of its bad puns can be hand-waved away since Heather is British and we all secretly enjoy British humour.
This book can be read by everybody with only a remote interest in history. For people intimidated by Gibbon, this book is the perfect antidote.
Peter Heather specializes in Late Antiquity and is now a Professor of Medieval History at King's College in London and has taught at Oxford and Yale Universities.
If the book has to be summed up quickly, Heather turns Gibbon on it's head and says: the barbarians did it! It wasn't Christianity or licentiousness that brought down the Western Roman system (the Eastern Empire survived after all, indeed flourished in the 5th Century CE), but hordes of barbarians moving in and staying there. The book meticulously builds up, giving the readers a detailed reconstruction of the Empire from the 2nd Century CE onward when the Romans lost disastrously to the Persians. The rise of Sassanians in Persia is now considered to have shook the Roman Empire to its core; if one single reason has to be pinned down for the need for dual power centres and Emperors it was the rise of a rival superpower in the East.
Heather then recounts the sudden influx of barbarians such as the Goths into the Balkans in 376 CE, and a coalition of Vandals, Alans and Suevi in 405 CE across the Rhine. These groups had tremendous impact on both halves of the Empire both economically --entire provinces were lost such as Hispania to the Rhine invaders in 408-- and demographically --massive losses to standing armies which were never replaced, and of course the death and destruction that occurred in these areas. Heather recounts archaeological sources such as excavations in the Balkans ("country" villas disappear only to reappear in fortified towns as large houses) or in Austria; and also literary sources such as the letters by famous Romans.
Various "killing blows" are discussed. The Huns were definitely responsible for quite a bit of the mayhem, but had more of indirect effect such as driving the Germani before them who promptly stripped Rome of it's richest provinces such as North Africa by the Vandal-Alan combine and Southern Gaul by the Visigoths. As Heather points out, the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410, or Attila's forays into the Empire --while would have led to massive losses in terms of med, money and material-- weren't going to harm the Empire in the long run. In the end, Heather ends by pointing out that it was the Roman Empire's own expansionist tendencies which led to sour relations with the barbarians which led the Western half to collapse when it did. The Eastern half's richest provinces meanwhile where out of reach such as Egypt, Anatolia and Syria (Heather mentions in passing that the East's death knell was sounded when it lost these to the Muslims).
The book is also supplemented by a very useful glossary and sequence of dates. The appendix of names and groups is also a handy refresher.
The Fall of the Roman Empire has everything I look for in a history book, it is wittily written yet doesn't compromise on the quality of the scholarship and educates the lay reader on how the conclusions were arrived at. It covers nearly 200 years going into culture, biographies, historiography and economy yet doesn't have the feel of a stodgy, academic work. Even some of its bad puns can be hand-waved away since Heather is British and we all secretly enjoy British humour.
This book can be read by everybody with only a remote interest in history. For people intimidated by Gibbon, this book is the perfect antidote.