How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower

A major new history of the fall of the Roman Empire, by the prizewinning author ofCaesar

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.