Why Rome fell : decline and fall, or drift and change? / Dr. Michael Arnheim.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Arnheim, M. T. W. (Michael T. W.), author.

Contributor:

James A. Crawford Memorial Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Rome--History.

Rome.

Rome (Empire).

History.

Rome--Historiography.

Historiography.

Rome--Politics and government.

Politics and government.

Rome--History--Empire, 284-476.

Rome--History--Germanic Invasions, 3rd-6th centuries.

Genre:

History.

Physical Description:

xiv, 476 pages ; 26 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

Hoboken, NJ : Wiley Blackwell, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2022.

Summary:

Why Rome Fell: Decline and Fall, or Drift and Change? discusses the causes of the fall of the Roman Empire in the West in the context of concepts of monarchy, power structure, social mobility, religion, and the aristocratic ethos. Dr. Michael Arnheim, an accomplished scholar of Roman history, delivers compelling comparisons of the later Roman Empire with the Principate and the Byzantine Empire. Unlike (in Gibbon's phrase) "the indissoluble union and easy obedience that pervaded the government of Augustus and the Antonines," the later Roman Empire is revealed in this book as a fractured society rent by divided loyalties. --

Why Rome Fell includes coverage of the transition from the ancient to the medieval world, exploring the monarchy, and the relationship with the aristocracy of Diocletian, by contrast with that of Constantine and his successors. It also discusses Constantine's role in the rise of Christianity, together with the general significance of religion and religious persecution. There are also expansive treatments of conflicting theories, including Gibbon's "decline and fall," the Pirenne thesis, the malaria hypothesis, and the approach of the school of "late antiquity." The book also explores the criteria for optimal professional history writing, with comparative case studies of a number of societies spanning three thousand years. --Book Jacket.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: 1. Rome: From Monarchy to Monarchy

2. Diocletian: Hammer of the Aristocracy

3. Constantine the Reformer

4. The Christian Empire

5. Continuity and Change

6. Two Models of Government

Prologue to Part II

7. Varieties of History

8. Gibbon's The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

9. The Malaria Hypothesis

10. The Role of Religion

11. The Pirenne Thesis

12. "Late Antiquity"

13. Assassination or Accommodation?

14. Conclusion.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 439-451) and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the James A. Crawford Memorial Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Arnheim, M. T. W. (Michael T. W.) Why Rome fell

ISBN:

9781119691372

1119691370

OCLC:

1277183045

Publisher Number:

99990194621