How Rome fell
by Adrian Keith Goldsworthy · first published 2009
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"In AD 200, the Roman Empire seemed unassailable. Its vast territory accounted 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. What accounts for this improbable decline? Here, Adrian Goldsworthy applies the scholarship, perspective, and narrative skill that defined his monumental Caesar to address perhaps the greatest of all historical questions - how Rome fell. It was a period of remarkable personalities, from the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius to emperors lik
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…histories, it's easy to fundamentally fall in love with all the stories and realities of the people travelling down these seemingly infinite rivers. for example, read Adrian Goldsworthy's "Pax Romana" and "How Rome Fell" for a very entertaining and up to date view of rome at its height and decline, with hundreds of little nonlinear story details. The audiobooks are on the audiobook bay. Listen to them view a Smart Audiobook…
on “History is just one damn thing after another” ↗…and more sophisticated, and thus harder to handle. But just this year Adrian Goldsworthy has written a book countering the new revisionist view that Heather and Williams present ( http://www.amazon.com/How-Rome-Fell-Death-Superpower/dp/0300... ). Goldsworthy argues that the barbarian threat really wasn't that much greater, and that the empire collapsed from within, due to civil war and political strife. I haven't…
on “Ask HN: What have you changed your mind about recently?” ↗True, true. If you read the book who's title is something to the effect of How Rome Fell, "The Military Explanation", there were signs of a different type, like the slow withdrawal of resources from the frontier. A failure of will? A lack of resources for whatever reason, perhaps including…
on “US army overhauls basic training because new recruits weakened by computer games” ↗