The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather

I finally got around to digging into the fall of the Roman Empire. No, I didn’t read Edward Gibbon’s famous study of the decline and fall of said Roman Empire. Instead, I picked something more recent.  There has been so much new archeology, so much new scientific work on the classical period, that I thought it made sense to read something more contemporary.  I will get to Gibbon someday.

Purchase at The Fall of the Roman Empire at Amazon: https://amzn.to/45tMQT3 

Instead, I read The Fall of the Roman Empire, by historian Peter Heather.  In this major reconsideration of the history the collapse of the western Roman Empire, Heather argues that Rome did not fall because of the decline of Roman martial virtue, internal moral decay or economic collapse, or even the spread of Christianity.

Instead, Heathers argues that centuries of Roman friction with the Germanic peoples across the Rhine transformed neighboring these tribes into economically more advanced, politically more powerful, and generally more capable of dealing with Roman power with a sophisticated response.

In order to argue this point, Heathers spends a significant amount of time analyzing the state of the Empire in the fourth century, its economic strength, its political structure, its capabilities generally. In particular, he digs deep into the Roman response to the rise of the Persian Empire on its eastern border and the challenge that posed to Rome’s position, militarily and domestically. Ultimately, Heathers argues that Rome was doing pretty well notwithstanding some of the general pressures faced by the ruling powers at the time.  

Unfortunately for Rome, the arrival of the Huns on the Hungarian plains pushed Germanic peoples into the provinces of Gual, and this led to the formation of supergroups like the Visigoths and the Vandals within Rome’s borders.  Rome’s inability to integrate the Germanic arrivals or defeat them military, famously losing the Battle of Hadrianople in 378 AD, led to the Vandals seizing North Africa in 439 AD. Along with areas of Hispania and Gual, the loss of territory and taxes undermined Rome’s ability to pay its professional army.  

Heathers argues that there were chances for Rome to defeat the Germanic peoples and bring lost areas back into the Empire, but these opportunities passed by in failure. Ultimately, power passed into the hands of various gothic rulers and the powers of separation caused Imperial power in the west to collapse.

 This book has a great mix of analytical history, narrative history and sensitivity to contemporary sources. I found it compelling and fascinating. In addition to learning about the Roman Empire of the period, the exploration of the Germanic peoples and the Huns was equally fascinating. 

Love Roman history? Check out my review of Nero: Matricide, Music and Murder in Imperial Rome by Anthony Everitt and Roddy Ashowrth.

Purchase at The Fall of the Roman Empire at Amazon: https://amzn.to/45tMQT3 

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Publication date: May 2006 | Publisher: Pan Macmillan| Page Count: 592

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