Leaders of the late Roman Empire faced at least as many threats from within as without. Over-extension, declining trust in its institutions, falling middle class and a series of ineffective leaders that failed to address these looming threats all contributed to the decline of antiquity’s greatest force.
That’s the theme from “Home Rome Fell,” published in 2010 by British historian Adrian Goldsworthy. I picked it up for my own sense of every amateur historian’s favorite period.
Over nearly 500 pages, the book adds considerable depth to the simple tables we learn in high school. Speaking of which, I recreated one of those over-simplified tables below, heh.
| 753 BCE: Rome is established | 509 BCE: Roman Republic established | 27 BCE: Octavian made first Roman emperor | 476 CE: Germans depose last Roman emperor | 1453: Ottoman Empire overthrows Constantinople |
| Rome’s Period of Kings (244 years) | Roman Republic (482 years) | Roman Empire (503 years) | Byzantine Empire (977 years) | |
Below are my notes for future reference.
Continue reading How Rome fell
