THE FALL OF ROME

A British historian examines the fall of the Roman Empire.

This second installment of a nonfiction series on the decline of the Roman Empire explores the pivotal events that led to the Goths’ sacking of Rome in 410 C.E. The book begins with a gripping description of the Battle of Adrianople (378 C.E.), where ostensibly disciplined Roman legionaries lost to disorderly, “savage” Goths. Just 32 years later, Goth fighters would occupy the streets of Rome itself. The rapid decline of antiquity’s most powerful military empire has long captivated historians, who have pointed to a myriad of sometimes paradoxical explanations that range from moral decay to the rise of Christianity. One German historian, Holmes notes, listed more than 200 contributing factors to the empire’s collapse. Offering “new answers to the old questions,” this book concurs with many contemporary scholars in stressing the “failure of Roman political leadership” and other internal factors but adds a convincing, novel explanation of its own. Drawing on cutting-edge paleoclimatology, the author argues that a fourth-century “megadrought” in the Asian steppes sparked a mass migration of nomadic Huns to “find new pastures” in Europe. This migration initiated a “domino effect that pushed the Germans west” and into inevitable competition with Rome. A skilled storyteller whose books are accompanied by a popular podcast (The Fall of the Roman Empire), Holmes presents a riveting account that eschews jargon for an engaging retelling of the wars, intrigue, and personalities that contributed to Rome’s decline, with entire chapters devoted to single battles. This emphasis on accessibility is accompanied by more than two dozen images and maps as well as useful appendices that offer timelines of the reigns of Roman emperors and major events. Some scholars may look skeptically at a 346-page book that features only 88 endnotes, but Holmes generally has a solid command of the relevant history and provides a short essay that lists “essential reading” in lieu of “a general bibliography.”

This absorbing history emphasizes climate change, delivering important lessons about the Roman Empire’s decline.