Why Rome Fell Decline and Fall, or Drift and Change?

Explore an insightful and original discussion of the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire

In Why Rome Fell: Decline and Fall, or Drift and Change?, celebrated scholar of Roman history Dr. Michael Arnheim delivers a fascinating and robust exploration of the causes of and reasons for Rome’s fall in the West. Steeped in applications of elite theory to the later Roman Empire, the author discusses several interconnected issues that influenced the decline of Rome, including monarchy, power structure, social mobility, religion, and the aristocratic ethos.

Incisive comparisons of the situation in Rome to those in the Principate and the Byzantine Empire shed light on the relative lack of “indissoluble union and easy obedience” (in Gibbon’s phrase) in the later Roman Empire. Instead, the book reveals the divided loyalties of a fractured society that characterized Rome in its later years. Why Rome Fell also includes:

• A thorough introduction to the transition from the ancient to the medieval world, including discussions of monarchy, Diocletian and his relationship to the aristocracy, and Constantine’s reforms
• Comprehensive explorations of the rise of the Roman Christian empire and Constantine’s role
• Practical discussions of conflicting theories of what caused the fall of the Roman empire, including the Pirenne thesis, the malaria hypothesis, Gibbon’s ‘decline and fall’ theory, and the role played by religion

An indispensable resource for students, scholars and the general reader with an inquiring mind about history, Why Rome Fell deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone with an interest in a sophisticated and original take on historical continuity and change.

Dr. Michael Arnheim is a Sometime Fellow of St. John’s College, Cambridge, and a practicing London Barrister. After he was awarded his Ph.D at 25, his doctoral thesis was published by the Oxford University Press under the title of The Senatorial Aristocracy in the Later Roman Empire—the first of 23 published books to date. At age 31, Arnheim was appointed full Professor and Head of the Department of Classics at his old university in South Africa, subsequently returning to Britain to take the Bar.

CONTENTS

Introduction: The Problem

Part I : Transition from the Ancient to the Medieval World 

Chapter 1 -- From Principate to Dominate

Chapter 2 -- Diocletian, Hammer of the Aristocracy

Chapter 3 -- Constantine the Reformer

Chapter 4 -- The Christian Empire

Chapter 5 -- The Fundamental Paradox

Chapter 6 -- Political Fragmentation and the Manorial System

Part II -- Conflicting Theories

Chapter 7 -- Two Models of Government

Chapter 8 -- Competing Schools of History 

Chapter 9 -- Gibbon's Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Chapter 10 -- The Role of Christianity

Chapter 11 -- The Military Explanation

Chapter 12 – “Late Antiquity”  

Chapter 13 -- "Eirenic" Settlements

Chapter 14 -- The Pirenne Thesis

Chapter 15 -- The Malaria Hypothesis

Part III -- Conclusion

Chapter 16 -- Fall plus Continuity 

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