Romulus Augustulus was deposed as Western Roman Emperor in 476 while still young. Julius Nepos however continued to claim the title of Western Emperor after his deposition.

The Decline of the Roman Empire, also called the Fall of the Roman Empire, or the Fall of Rome, is a historical term of periodization for the end of the Western Roman Empire. Edward Gibbon, in his famous study The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), was the first to use this terminology after Montesquieu, but he was neither the first nor the last to speculate on why and when the Empire collapsed. "From the eighteenth century onward," Glen W. Bowersock has remarked,^[1] "we have been obsessed with the fall: it has been valued as an archetype for every perceived decline, and, hence, as a symbol for our own fears." It remains one of the greatest historical questions, and has a tradition rich in scholarly interest. In 1984, German professor Alexander Demandt published a collection of 210 theories on why Rome fell, and a number of new theories have emerged since then.^[2] For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... This article is about the book. ... The Fall of the Roman Empire is a 1964 epic film made by Samuel Bronston Productions and The Rank Organisation, and released by Paramount Pictures. ... Image File history File links RomulusAugustus. ... Image File history File links RomulusAugustus. ... Romulus Augustus (460s/470s - after 511) was the last of the Western Roman Emperors. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ... Julius Nepos on a coin. ... Historiography studies the processes by which historical knowledge is obtained and transmitted. ... Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into discrete named blocks. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ... Edward Gibbon (1737–1794). ... The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, a major literary achievement of Eighteenth Century, was written by the British historian, Edward Gibbon. ... Montesquieu can refer to: Charles de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu Several communes of France: Montesquieu, in the Hérault département Montesquieu, in the Lot-et-Garonne département Montesquieu, in the Tarn-et-Garonne département This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the... Alexander Demandt (born 1937 in Marburg, Hesse) is a renowned German historian. ...

The traditional date of the fall of the Roman Empire is September 4, 476 when Romulus Augustulus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire was deposed by Odoacer. Some modern historians question the relevance of this date,^[3] as the Ostrogoths who succeeded considered themselves as upholders of the direct line of Roman traditions, and noting, as Gibbon did, that the Eastern Roman Empire was going from strength to strength and continued until the Fall of Constantinople in 29 May 1453. Some other notable dates are the Battle of Adrianople in 378, the death of Theodosius I in 395 (the last time the Roman Empire was politically unified), the crossing of the Rhine in 406 by Germanic tribes after the withdrawal of the legions in order to defend Italy against Alaric I, the death of Stilicho in 408, followed by the disintegration of the western legions, the death of Justinian I, the last Roman Emperor who tried to reconquer the west, in 565, and the coming of Islam after 632. Many scholars maintain that rather than a "fall", the changes can more accurately be described as a complex transformation.^[4] Over time many theories have been proposed on why the Empire fell, or whether indeed it fell at all. is the 247th day of the year (248th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events August - The usurper Basiliscus is deposed and Zeno is restored as Eastern Roman Emperor. ... Romulus Augustus (460s/470s - after 511) was the last of the Western Roman Emperors. ... This is a list of Roman Emperors with the dates they controlled the Roman Empire. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This article deals with the continental Ostrogoths. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Byzantine Empire. ... Combatants  Byzantine Empire Ottoman Sultanate Commanders Constantine XI †, Loukas Notaras, Giovanni Giustiniani †[1] Mehmed II, ZaÄŸanos Pasha Strength 80,000[2] 80,000[1]-200,000[1][3] Casualties 4,000 dead[4] [5][6] unknown The Fall of Constantinople refers to the capture of the Byzantine Empires... is the 149th day of the year (150th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... April 2 - Mehmed II begins his siege of Constantinople (Ä°stanbul). ... Combatants Eastern Roman Empire Goths Commanders Valens â€  Fritigern, Alatheus, Saphrax Strength 15,000–30,000 10,000–20,000 Casualties 10,000–20,000 Unknown The second Battle of Adrianople (August 9, 378), sometimes known as the Battle of Hadrianopolis, was fought between a Roman army led by the Roman... Events Mid-February: Lentienses cross frozen Rhine, invading Roman Empire. ... An engraving depicting what Theodosius may have looked like, ca. ... Events After the death of emperor Theodosius I, the Roman Empire is divided in an eastern and a western half. ... For other uses, see Rhine (disambiguation). ... Events December 31 - Vandals, Alans and Suebians cross the Rhine, beginning an invasion of Gallia Roman legions in Britain mutiny against the Roman Emperor and select Marcus as new Roman Emperor. ... Thor/Donar, Germanic thunder god. ... An 1894 photogravure of Alaric I taken from a painting by Ludwig Thiersch. ... Stilicho (right) with his wife Serena and son Eucherius Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico) (ca. ... Events Theodosius II succeeds his father Arcadius as Emperor of the Eastern half of the Roman Empire In the summer of this year, the usurper Constantine III captures Spain, destroying the loyalist forces defending it. ... This article is about the Roman emperor. ... Events January 22 - Eutychius is deposed as Patriarch of Constantinople by John Scholasticus. ... For people named Islam, see Islam (name). ... Events Abu Bakr becomes first caliph or Successor of the Prophet, leader of Islam Abu Bakr defeats Mosailima in the Battle of Akraba. ...

The Western and Eastern Roman Empires by 476

Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Byzantine Empire. ...

Overview

See also: Late Antiquity and Crisis of the Third Century

The decline of the Roman Empire is one of the events which traditionally mark the end of Classical Antiquity and the start of the European Middle Ages. Throughout the fifth century, its territories in western Europe and northwestern Africa, including Italy, fell to various invading or indigenous peoples in what is sometimes called the Migration period. Although the eastern half survived with borders essentially intact for several centuries still, until the Arab expansion, the Empire as a whole had suffered major cultural and political transformations since the Crisis of the Third Century, with the shift towards a more openly autocratic and ritualized form of government, the adoption of Christianity as the state religion, and a general rejection and abandonment of the traditions and values of Classical Antiquity. While traditional historiography emphasized this break with Antiquity by using the term Byzantine Empire for the latter, eastern phase of the Roman Empire, recent schools of history offer a more nuanced view, seeing mostly continuity rather than a sharp break. The Empire of Late Antiquity was already a very different state from classical Rome. Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... Emperor Maximinus Thrax, ruled 235-238, was the first of the emperors during the Crisis of the Third Century. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... Age of the Caliphs  Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632  Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661  Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750 The initial Muslim conquests (632–732), also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests,[1] began after the death of the Islamic prophet... Emperor Maximinus Thrax, ruled 235-238, was the first of the emperors during the Crisis of the Third Century. ... Forms of government Part of the Politics series Politics Portal This box:      An autocracy is a form of government in which the political power is held by a single self appointed ruler. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... South America Europe Middle East Africa Asia Oceania Demography of religions by country Full list of articles on religion by country Religion Portal         Nations with state religions:  Buddhism  Islam  Shia Islam  Sunni Islam  Orthodox Christianity  Protestantism  Roman Catholic Church A state religion (also called an official religion, established church... Byzantine redirects here. ... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ...

The Roman Empire had emerged from the Roman Republic as a result of the rise of Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar who undertook its transformation from a republic into a monarchy. It reached its zenith in the second century AD, and from that point onward saw its fortunes slowly decline, albeit with many revivals and restorations along the way. The reasons for the decline of the Empire are still debated today, and likely multiple. There is, in any case, evidence of some demographic contraction. The population appears to have diminished in many provinces, especially in western Europe, as can be inferred from the size of the fortifications built to protect the cities from Barbarian incursions from the 3rd century on, often restricted to the center of the city only, suggesting that parts of the periphery were not inhabited anymore. This article is about the state which existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. For the state which existed in the 18th century, see Roman Republic (18th century). ... For other uses, see Julius Caesar (disambiguation). ... Augustus Caesar Caesar Augustus (Latin: IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS)¹ (23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), known earlier in his life as Gaius Octavius or Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was the first Roman Emperor and is traditionally considered the greatest. ... For other uses, see Barbarian (disambiguation). ...

By the late third century AD the city of Rome no longer served as an effective capital for the Emperor and various cities were used as new administrative capitals. Successive emperors, starting with Constantine, privileged the eastern city of Byzantium, which he had entirely rebuilt after a siege. Later renamed Constantinople, and protected by formidable walls in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, it was to become the largest and most powerful city of Christian Europe in the Early Middle Ages. Since the Crisis of the Third Century, the Empire was intermittently ruled by more than one emperor at once (usually two), presiding over different regions. At first a haphazard form of power sharing, this eventually settled on an East-West administrative division between the Western Roman Empire (centered on Rome, but now usually presided from other seats of power such as Trier, Milan, and especially Ravenna), and the Eastern Roman Empire (with its capital initially in Nicomedia, and later Constantinople). The Latin-speaking west, under severe demographic crisis, and the wealthier Greek-speaking east, also began to diverge politically and culturally. Although this was a gradual process, still incomplete when Italy came under the rule of Barbarian chieftains in the last quarter of the 5th century, it would deepen further afterwards, and have lasting consequences for the medieval history of Europe. Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew from a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th century BC to a massive empire straddling the Mediterranean Sea. ... Ordinary Magistrates Extraordinary Magistrates Titles and Honors Emperor Politics and Law This article discusses the nature of the imperial dignity, and its dynastic development throughout the history of the Empire. ... Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus[2] (27 February c. ... Byzantium (Greek: Βυζάντιον) was an ancient Greek city, which, according to legend, was founded by Greek colonists from Megara in 667 BC and named after their king Byzas or Byzantas (Βύζας or Βύζαντας in Greek). ... This article is about the city before the Fall of Constantinople (1453). ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Justinians wife Theodora and her retinue, in a 6th century mosaic from the Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ... Trier (French: ; Luxembourgish Tréier) is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle River. ... Arcadius solidus, from Mediolanum mint, 400s. ... Province of Ravenna Ravenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Byzantine Empire. ... Nicomedia (modern İzmit, also known as Iznik) was founded by Nicomedes I of Bithynia at the head of the Gulf of Astacus (which opens on the Propontis) in 264 BC. The city has ever since been one of the chief towns in this part of Asia Minor. ... For other uses, see Latins and Latin (disambiguation). ...

In the fifth century emperors in the Western Roman Empire were usually figureheads, while the emperors in the East were generally the clear leaders of their dominion. For most of the time, the actual rulers in the West were military strongmen who took the title of magister militum, patrician, or both. Although Rome was no longer the capital in the West it remained the West's largest city and its economic center. But the city was sacked by rebel Visigoths in 410 (for three days) and later again by the Vandals in 455 (for fourteen days), events which shocked the contemporaries and signalled the disintegration of Roman authority. Saint Augustine wrote The City of God partly as an answer to critics who blamed the sack of Rome by the Visigoths on the abandonment of the traditional pagan religions. Magister militum (Latin for Master of the Soldiers) was a top-level command used in the later Roman Empire, dating from the reign of Constantine. ... This article is about the social and political class in ancient Rome. ... An anachronistic fifteenth-century miniature depicting the sack of 410. ... The second of three barbarian sacks of Rome, the sack of 455 was at the hands of the Vandals, then at war with the usurping Western Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus. ... Augustinus redirects here. ... The City of God, opening text, created c. ...

In June 474, Julius Nepos became Western Emperor but in the next year the magister militum Orestes revolted and made his son Romulus Augustus emperor. Romulus, however, was not recognized by the Eastern Emperor Zeno and so was technically an usurper, Nepos still being the legal Western Emperor. Nevertheless, Romulus Augustus is often known as the last Western Roman Emperor. In 476 after being refused lands in Italy, Orestes' Germanic mercenaries, led by the chieftain Odoacer, captured and executed Orestes and took Ravenna, the Western Roman capital at the time, deposing Romulus Augustus. The whole of Italy was quickly conquered and Odoacer was granted the title of patrician by Zeno effectively recognizing his rule in the name of the Eastern Empire. Since, as a barbarian, he was not allowed the title of Emperor,^{[citation needed]} Odoacer returned the Imperial insignia to Constantinople and ruled as King in Italy. Following Nepos' death Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, conquered Italy with Zeno's approval. Julius Nepos on a coin. ... Flavius Orestes (d. ... This article is about the Roman Emperor. ... Flavius Zeno (c. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Province of Ravenna Ravenna is a city and comune in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. ... Theodoric the Great (454 - August 30, 526), known to the Romans as Flavius Theodoricus, was king of the Ostrogoths (488-526), ruler of Italy (493-526), and regent of the Visigoths (511-526). ... This article deals with the continental Ostrogoths. ...

The East Roman Empire and Barbaric Kingdoms in 480

Meanwhile, much of the rest of the Western provinces were conquered by waves of Germanic invasions, most of them being disconnected politically from the East altogether and continuing a slow decline. Although central authority in the West had been lost, Roman culture would continue to exist in most of parts of the former Western provinces into the sixth century and beyond. Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ...

The first invasions had disrupted the West to some degree, but it was the Gothic War launched by the Eastern Emperor Justinian in the sixth century, and meant to reunite the Empire, that eventually caused the most damage to Italy, as well as straining the Eastern Empire militarily. Following these wars Rome and other Italian cities would fall into severe decline (Rome itself was almost completely abandoned). A last blow came with the Persian invasion of the East in the seventh century, immediately followed by the Muslim conquests, especially of Egypt, which curtailed much of the key trade in the Mediterranean on which Europe depended. Combatants Byzantine Empire Ostrogoths Franks Visigoths Commanders Belisarius Narses Mundalias Germanus Justinus Liberius Theodoric the Great Witigis Totila The Gothic War, was a war fought in Italy in 535-552. ... This article is about the Roman emperor. ... Combatants Roman Republic, succeeded by Roman Empire and Eastern Roman Empire later Persian Empire projected through Parthian and Sassanid dynasties Commanders Lucullus, Pompey, Crassus, Mark Antony, Trajan, Valerian I, Julian, Belisarius, Heraclius Surena, Shapur I, Shapur II, Kavadh I, Khosrau I, Khosrau II, Shahin, Shahrbaraz, Rhahzadh The Roman-Persian Wars... Age of the Caliphs  Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632  Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661  Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750 The initial Muslim conquests (632–732), also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests,[1] began after the death of the Islamic prophet...

The Empire was to live on in the east for many centuries, and enjoy periods of recovery and cultural brilliance, but its size would remain a fraction of what it had been in classical times. It became an essentially regional power, centered on Greece and Anatolia. Modern historians tend to prefer the term Byzantine Empire for the eastern, medieval stage of the Roman Empire. This article is about two nested areas of Turkey, a plateau region within a peninsula. ... Byzantine redirects here. ...

Explaining the fall of the Empire

Vegetius

The historian Vegetius theorized, and has recently been supported by the historian Arthur Ferrill, that the Roman Empire – particularly the military – declined partially as a result of an influx of Germanic mercenaries into the ranks of the legions. This "Germanization" and the resultant cultural dilution or "barbarization", led to lethargy, complacency and loyalty to the Roman commanders, instead of the Roman government, among the legions and a surge in decadence amongst Roman citizenry. Vegetius (Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus) was a celebrated military writer of the 4th century. ... Please wikify (format) this article or section as suggested in the Guide to layout and the Manual of Style. ...

Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon famously placed the blame on a loss of civic virtue among the Roman citizens. They gradually entrusted the role of defending the Empire to barbarian mercenaries who eventually turned on them. Gibbon considered that Christianity had contributed to this, making the populace less interested in the worldly here-and-now and more willing to wait for the rewards of heaven. "[T]he decline of Rome was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. Prosperity ripened the principle of decay; the causes of destruction multiplied with the extent of conquest; and as soon as time or accident had removed the artificial supports, the stupendous fabric yielded to the pressure of its own weight," he wrote. "In discussing Barbarism and Christianity I have actually been discussing the Fall of Rome." Edward Gibbon (1737–1794). ... For the Wikipedia policy regarding civility, see Wikipedia:Civility Civic virtue is the cultivation of habits of personal living that are claimed to be important for the success of the community. ... For other uses, see Barbarian (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Mercenary (disambiguation). ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ... For other uses, see Heaven (disambiguation). ...

Gibbon's work is notable for its erratic, but exhaustively documented, notes and research. Gibbon also mentioned the climate, while reserving naming it as a cause of the decline, saying "the climate (whatsoever may be its influence) was no longer the same." While judging the loss of civic virtue and the rise of Christianity to be a lethal combination, Gibbon did find other factors possibly contributing to the decline.

Henri Pirenne

In the second half of the 19th century some historians focused on continuing events in the Roman world and the post-Roman Germanic kingdoms. Fustel de Coulanges in Histoire des institutions politiques de l'ancienne France (1875–1889) argued that the barbarians simply contributed to a running process in their role of transforming Roman institutions. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Numa Denis Fustel de Coulanges (March 18, 1830 - September 12, 1889) was a French historian. ...

Henri Pirenne continued this idea in "Pirenne Thesis", published in the 1920s, which remains influential to this day. It holds that the Empire continued, in some form, up until the time of the Muslim conquests in the 7th century, which disrupted Mediterranean trade routes, leading to a decline in the European economy. This theory stipulates the rise of the Frankish realm in Europe as a continuation of the Roman Empire, and thus legitimizes the crowning of Charlemagne as the first Holy Roman Emperor as a continuation of the Imperial Roman state. Henri Pirenne (December 23, 1862, Verviers - October 25, 1935, Uccle) was a leading Belgian historian. ... The 1920s they were sexy referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... Age of the Caliphs  Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632  Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661  Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750 The initial Muslim conquests (632–732), also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests,[1] began after the death of the Islamic prophet... The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... The Frankish Empire was the territory of the Franks, from the 5th to the 10th centuries, from 481 ruled by Clovis I of the Merovingian Dynasty, the first king of all the Franks. ... Charlemagne (left) and Pippin the Hunchback. ... The Holy Roman Emperor was, with some variation, the ruler of the Holy Roman Empire, the predecessor of modern Germany, during its existence from the 10th century until its collapse in 1806. ...

Pirenne's view on the continuity of the Roman Empire before and after the Germanic invasion was supported by recent historians such as François Masai, Karl-Ferdinand Werner and Peter Brown. Peter Robert Lamont Brown (b. ...

However, some critics maintain the "Pirenne Thesis" erred in claiming the Carolingian realm as a Roman state, and mainly dealt with the Islamic conquests and their effect on the Byzantine or Eastern Empire. Also see: France in the Middle Ages. ...

Other modern critics stipulate that while Pirenne is correct in his assertion of the continuation of the Empire beyond the sack of Rome, the Arab conquests in the 7th century may not have disrupted Mediterranean trade routes to the degree that Pirenne suggests. Michael McCormick in particular notes that more recent sources, such as unearthed collective biographies, notate new trade routes through correspondences in communication. Moreover, records such as book-keepings and coins suggest the movement of Islamic currency into the Carolingian Empire. McCormick concludes that if money is coming in, some form of trade is going out – possibly European slaves to the Arabic states. The 7th century is the period from 601 - 700 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ...

J. B. Bury

John Bagnell Bury's History of the Later Roman Empire gives a multi-factored theory for the Fall of the Western Empire. He presents the classic "Christianity vs. pagan" theory, and dismisses it, citing the relative success of the Eastern Empire, which was far more Christian. John Bagnell Bury (16 October 1861 – 1 June 1927) was an eminent British historian, classical scholar, and philologist. ...

He then examines Gibbon's "theory of moral decay," and without insulting Gibbon, finds that to be too simplistic, though a partial answer. He essentially presents what he called the "modern" theory, which he implicitly endorses, a combination of factors, primarily, (quoting directly from Bury):^[5]

… The Empire had come to depend on the enrollment of barbarians, in large numbers, in the army, and … it was necessary to render the service attractive to them by the prospect of power and wealth. This was, of course, a consequence of the decline in military spirit, and of depopulation, in the old civilised Mediterranean countries. The Germans in high command had been useful, but the dangers involved in the policy had been shown in the cases of Merobaudes and Arbogastes. Yet this policy need not have led to the dismemberment of the Empire, and but for that series of chances its western provinces would not have been converted, as and when they were, into German kingdoms. It may be said that a German penetration of western Europe must ultimately have come about. But even if that were certain, it might have happened in another way, at a later time, more gradually, and with less violence. The point of the present contention is that Rome's loss of her provinces in the fifth century was not an "inevitable effect of any of those features which have been rightly or wrongly described as causes or consequences of her general 'decline.'" The central fact that Rome could not dispense with the help of barbarians for her wars (gentium barbararum auxilio indigemus) may be held to be the cause of her calamities, but it was a weakness which might have continued to be far short of fatal but for the sequence of contingencies pointed out above.^[6]

In short, Bury held that a number of contingencies arose simultaneously: economic decline, Germanic expansion, depopulation of Italy, dependency on Germanic foederati for the military, the disastrous (though Bury believed unknowing) treason of Stilicho, loss of martial vigor, Aetius' murder, the lack of any leader to replace Aetius — a series of misfortunes which proved catastrophic in combination. Stilicho (right) with his wife Serena and son Eucherius Flavius Stilicho (occasionally written as Stilico) (ca. ... Flavius Aëtius or simply Aetius, ( 396–454), was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. ...

Bury noted that Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" was "amazing" in its research and detail. Bury's main differences from Gibbon lay in his interpretation of fact, rather than any dispute of fact. He made clear that he felt that Gibbon's conclusions as to the "moral decay" were viable — but not complete. Bury's judgement was that:

The gradual collapse of the Roman power …was the consequence of a series of contingent events. No general causes can be assigned that made it inevitable.

It is his theory that the decline and ultimate fall of Rome was not pre-ordained, but was brought on by contingent events, each of them separately endurable, but together and in conjunction ultimately destructive.

Radovan Richta

On the other hand, some historians have argued that the collapse of Rome was outside the Romans' control. Radovan Richta holds that technology drives history. Thus, the invention of the horseshoe in Germania in the 200s would alter the military equation of pax romana, as would a borrowing of the compass from its inventors in China in the 300s. Radovan Richta (June 6, 1924 - July 21, 1983) was a Czech philosopher who coined the term technological evolution; a theory about societys replacement of physical labour with mental labour. ... For other uses, see Horseshoe (disambiguation). ... Map of the Roman Empire and the free Germania, Magna Germania, in the early 2nd century For other uses, see Germania (disambiguation). ... This article is about the navigational instrument. ...

Lucien Musset and the clash of civilizations

In the spirit of "Pirenne thesis", a school of thought pictured a clash of civilizations between the Roman and the Germanic world, a process taking place roughly between 3rd and 8th century AD.

The French historian Lucien Musset, studying the Barbarian invasions, argues the civilization of Medieval Europe emerged from a synthesis between the Graeco-Roman world and the Germanic civilizations penetrating the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire did not fall, did not decline, it just transformed but so did the Germanic populations which invaded it. To support this conclusion, beside the narrative of the events, he offers linguistic overviews of toponymy and anthroponymy, analyzes archaeological records, studies the urban and rural society, the institutions, the religion, the art, the technology. 2nd to fifth century simplified migrations. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times. ... For other uses, see Europe (disambiguation). ... Greco-Roman refers to the culture of Ancient Greece and Classical Rome and reflects the essential unity of the Mediterranean world at the time when those cultures flourished, between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD. Categories: Historical stubs | Ancient Rome | Ancient Greece ... For the journal, see Linguistics (journal). ... Toponymy is the taxonomic study of toponyms (place-names), their origins and their meanings. ... Anthroponomastics (or Anthroponymy), a branch of onomastics, is the study of anthroponyms (<Gk. ...

Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke

In contrast with the "declining empire" theories, historians such as Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the Roman Empire itself was a rotten system from its inception, and that the entire Imperial era was one of steady decay of institutions founded in Republican times. In their view, the Empire could never have lasted without radical reforms that no Emperor could implement. The Romans had no budgetary system and thus wasted whatever resources they had available. The economy of the Empire was basically a Raubwirtschaft or plunder economy based on looting existing resources rather than producing anything new. The Empire relied on booty from conquered territories (this source of revenue ending, of course, with the end of Roman territorial expansion) or on a pattern of tax collection that drove small-scale farmers into destitution (and onto a dole that required even more exactions upon those who could not escape taxation), or into dependency upon a landed élite exempt from taxation. With the cessation of tribute from conquered territories, the full cost of their military machine had to be borne by the citizenry. Arnold Joseph Toynbee (April 14, 1889 - October 22, 1975) was a British historian whose twelve-volume analysis of the rise and fall of civilizations, A Study of History, 1934-1961, was a synthesis of world history, a metahistory based on universal rhythms of rise, flowering and decline. ... James Burke James Burke (born November 22, 1936) is a British science historian, author and television producer best known for his documentary television series called Connections, focusing on the history of science and technology leavened with a sense of humour. ... This article is about the state which existed from the 6th century BC to the 1st century BC. For the state which existed in the 18th century, see Roman Republic (18th century). ... Raubwirtschaft (German for plunder economy, robber economy, or rapine) is a term for a form of economy where the goal is to plunder the wealth and resources of a country or geographical area. ... Looting (which derives via the Hindi lut from Sanskrit lung, to rob), sacking, plundering, or pillaging is the indiscriminate taking of goods by force as part of a military or political victory, or during a catastrophe or riot, such as during war,[1] natural disaster,[2] or rioting. ... This article is about financial assistance paid by government organizations. ...

An economy based upon slave labor precluded a middle class with purchasing power. The Roman Empire produced few exportable goods. Material innovation, whether through entrepreneurialism or technological advancement, all but ended long before the final dissolution of the Empire. Meanwhile the costs of military defense and the pomp of Emperors continued. Financial needs continued to increase, but the means of meeting them steadily eroded. In the end due to economic failure, even the armor of soldiers deteriorated and the weaponry of soldiers became so obsolete to the extent that the enemies of the Empire had better armor and weapons as well as larger forces. The decrepit social order offered so little to its subjects that many saw the barbarian invasion as liberation from onerous obligations to the ruling class. By the late fifth century the barbarian conqueror Odoacer had no use for the formality of an Empire upon deposing Romulus Augustulus and chose neither to assume the title of Emperor himself nor to select a puppet, although legally he kept the lands as a commander of the Eastern Empire and maintained the Roman institutions such as the consulship. The formal end of the Roman Empire corresponds with the time in which the Empire and the title Emperor no longer had value. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Romulus Augustus (460s/470s - after 511) was the last of the Western Roman Emperors. ... For modern diplomatic consuls, see Consulate general. ...

Michael Rostovtzeff, Ludwig von Mises, and Bruce Bartlett

Historian Michael Rostovtzeff and economist Ludwig von Mises both argued that unsound economic policies played a key role in the impoverishment and decay of the Roman Empire. According to them, by the 2nd century A.D., the Roman Empire had developed a complex market economy in which trade was relatively free. Tariffs were low and laws controlling the prices of foodstuffs and other commodities had little impact because they did not fix the prices significantly below their market levels. After the 3rd century, however, debasement of the currency (i.e., the minting of coins with diminishing content of gold, silver, and bronze) led to inflation. The price control laws then resulted in prices that were significantly below their free-market equilibrium levels. Mikhail Ivanovich Rostovtzeff, or Rostovtsev (October 29, 1870-October 20, 1952) was one of the 20th centurys foremost authorities on ancient Greek and Roman history. ... Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) (pronounced was a notable economist and a major influence on the modern libertarian movement. ... The 2nd century is the period from 101 - 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... A market economy (also called a free market economy or a free enterprise economy) is an economic system in which the production and distribution of goods and services take place through the mechanism of free markets (though completley useless to some dumbasses) guided by a free price system. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        For other uses of this word, see tariff (disambiguation). ... // Overview Events 212: Constitutio Antoniniana grants citizenship to all free Roman men 212-216: Baths of Caracalla 230-232: Sassanid dynasty of Persia launches a war to reconquer lost lands in the Roman east 235-284: Crisis of the Third Century shakes Roman Empire 250-538: Kofun era, the first... Debasement is the practice of lowering the value of currency. ... GOLD refers to one of the following: GOLD (IEEE) is an IEEE program designed to garner more student members at the university level (Graduates of the Last Decade). ... This article is about the chemical element. ... This article is about the metal alloy. ... In economics, incomes policies are wage and price controls, most commonly instituted as a response to inflation. ...

According to Rostovtzeff and Mises, artificially low prices led to the scarcity of foodstuffs, particularly in cities, whose inhabitants depended on trade in order to obtain them. Despite laws passed to prevent migration from the cities to the countryside, urban areas gradually became depopulated and many Roman citizens abandoned their specialized trades in order to practice subsistence agriculture. This, coupled with increasingly oppressive and arbitrary taxation, led to a severe net decrease in trade, technical innovation, and the overall wealth of the empire.^[7] For other uses, see City (disambiguation). ... Like most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this Cameroonian man cultivates at the subsistence level. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ...

Bruce Bartlett traces the beginning of debasement to the reign of Nero. By the third century the monetary economy had collapsed. Bartlett sees the end result as a form of state socialism. Monetary taxation was replaced with direct requisitioning, for example taking food and cattle from farmers. Individuals were forced to work at their given place of employment and remain in the same occupation. Farmers became tied to the land, as were their children, and similar demands were made on all other workers, producers, and artisans as well. Workers were organized into guilds and businesses into corporations called collegia. Both became de facto organs of the state, controlling and directing their members to work and produce for the state. In the countryside people attached themselves to the estates of the wealthy in order to gain some protection from state officials and tax collectors. These estates, the beginning of feudalism, operated as much as possible as closed systems, providing for all their own needs and not engaging in trade at all.^[8] Bruce Bartlett (b. ... For other uses, see Nero (disambiguation). ... Religious socialism Key Issues People and organizations Related subjects Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... A guild is an association of craftspeople in a particular trade. ...

William H. McNeill

William H. McNeill (b.1917), a world historian, noted in chapter three of his book Plagues and Peoples (1976) that the Roman Empire suffered the severe and protracted Antonine Plague starting around 165 A.D. For about twenty years, waves of one or more diseases, possibly the first epidemics of smallpox and/or measles, swept through the Empire, ultimately killing about half the population. Similar epidemics also occurred in the third century. McNeill argues that the severe fall in population left the state apparatus and army too large for the population to support, leading to further economic and social decline that eventually killed the Western Empire. The Eastern half survived due to its larger population, which even after the plagues was sufficient for an effective state apparatus. William H. McNeill (born 1917, Vancouver, British Columbia) is a Canadian historian. ... World History is a field of historical study that emerged as a distinct academic field in the 1980s. ... The Antonine Plague, 165-180 C.E., also known as the Plague of Galen, was an ancient pandemic, either of smallpox or measles brought back to the Roman Empire by troops returning from campaigns in the Near East. ... Smallpox (also known by the Latin names Variola or Variola vera) is a contagious disease unique to humans. ... For other uses, see Pandemic (disambiguation). ...

This theory can also be extended to the time after the fall of the Western Empire and to other parts of the world. Similar epidemics caused by new diseases may have weakened the Chinese Han empire and contributed to its collapse. This was followed by the long and chaotic episode known as the Six Dynasties period. Later, the Plague of Justinian may have been the first instance of bubonic plague. It, and subsequent recurrences, may have been so devastating that they helped the Arab conquest of most of the Eastern Empire and the whole of the Sassanid Empire. Archaeological evidence is showing that Europe continued to have had a steady downward trend in population starting as early as the 2nd century and continuing through the 7th centuries. The European recovery may have started only when the population, through natural selection, had gained some resistance to the new diseases. See also Medieval demography. The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... Six Dynasties (六朝) is a collective noun for the six Chinese dynasties, namely the Kingdom of Wu, Eastern Jin Dynasty, Song Dynasty, Qi Dynasty, Liang Dynasty and Chen Dynasty. ... The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine Empire, including its capital Constantinople, in the years 541–542 AD. It has been speculated that this pandemic marked an early recorded incidence of bubonic plague, which centuries later became infamous for either causing or contributing to the Black... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis). ... The Sassanid Empire or Sassanian Dynasty (Persian: []) is the name used for the third Iranian dynasty and the second Persian Empire (226–651). ... For other uses, see Natural selection (disambiguation). ... Medieval demography is the study of human demography in Europe during the Middle Ages. ...

Peter Heather

Peter Heather offers an alternate theory of the decline of the Roman Empire in the work The Fall of the Roman Empire (2005). Heather maintains the Roman imperial system with its sometimes violent imperial transitions and problematic communications notwithstanding, was in fairly good shape during the first, second, and part of the third centuries A.D. According to Heather, the first real indication of trouble was the emergence in Iran of the Sassanid Persian empire (226–651). Heather says: Peter Heather is a teacher at Worcester College, University of Oxford who is considered a leading authority on the barbarians of the Roman era. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Sassanid Empire at its greatest extent The Sassanid dynasty (also Sassanian) was the name given to the kings of Persia during the era of the second Persian Empire, from 224 until 651, when the last Sassanid shah, Yazdegerd III, lost a 14-year struggle to drive out the Umayyad Caliphate...

The Sassanids were sufficiently powerful and internally cohesive to push back Roman legions from the Euphrates and from much of Armenia and southeast Turkey. Much as modern readers tend to think of the "Huns" as the nemesis of the Roman Empire, for the entire period under discussion it was the Persians who held the attention and concern of Rome and Constantinople. Indeed, 20–25% of the military might of the Roman Army was addressing the Persian threat from the late third century onward … and upwards of 40% of the troops under the Eastern Emperors.^[9] Head of king Shapur II (Sasanian dynasty A.D. 4th century). ... See also Legion software and Legion forummer. ... The Roman army was a set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military. ...

Heather goes on to state — and he is confirmed by Gibbon and Bury — that it took the Roman Empire about half a century to cope with the Sassanid threat, which it did by stripping the western provincial towns and cities of their regional taxation income. The resulting expansion of military forces in the Middle East was finally successful in stabilizing the frontiers with the Sassanids, but the reduction of real income in the provinces of the Empire led to two trends which, Heather says, had a negative long term impact. Firstly, the incentive for local officials to spend their time and money in the development of local infrastructure disappeared. Public buildings from the 4th century onward tended to be much more modest and funded from central budgets, as the regional taxes had dried up. Secondly, Heather says "the landowning provincial literati now shifted their attention to where the money was … away from provincial and local politics to the imperial bureaucracies." Having set the scene of an Empire stretched militarily by the Sassanid threat, Heather then suggests, using archaeological evidence, that the Germanic tribes on the Empire's northern border had altered in nature since the 1st century AD. Contact with the Empire had increased their material wealth, and that in turn had led to disparities of wealth sufficient to create a ruling class capable of maintaining control over far larger groupings than had previously been possible. Essentially they had become significantly more formidable foes. A map showing countries commonly considered to be part of the Middle East The Middle East is a region comprising the lands around the southern and eastern parts of the Mediterranean Sea, a territory that extends from the eastern Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. ...

Heather then posits what amounts to a domino theory — namely that pressure on peoples very far away from the Empire could result in sufficient pressure on peoples on the Empire's borders to make them contemplate the risk of full scale immigration to the empire. Thus he links the Gothic invasion of 376 directly to Hunnic movements around the Black Sea in the decade before. In the same way he sees the invasions across the Rhine in 406 as a direct consequence of further Hunnic incursions in Germania; as such he sees the Huns as deeply significant in the fall of the Western Empire long before they themselves became a military threat to the Empire. This article is about the Germanic tribes. ... For other uses, see Hun (disambiguation). ... Map of the Roman Empire and the free Germania, Magna Germania, in the early 2nd century For other uses, see Germania (disambiguation). ...

An empire at maximum stretch due to the Sassanids, then, encountered, due to the Hunnic expansion, unprecedented immigration in 376 and 406 by barbarian groupings who had become significantly more politically and militarily capable than in previous eras. Essentially he argues that the external pressures of 376–470 could have brought the Western Empire down at any point in its history.

His theory is both modern and relevant in that he disputes Gibbon's contention that Christianity and moral decay led to the decline. He also rejects the political infighting of the Empire as a reason, considering it was a systemic recurring factor throughout the Empire's history which, while it might have contributed to an inability to respond to the circumstances of the 5th century, it consequently cannot be blamed for them. Instead he places its origin squarely on outside military factors, starting with the Great Sassanids. Like Bury, he does not believe the fall was inevitable, but rather a series of events which came together to shatter the Empire. He differs from Bury, however, in placing the onset of those events far earlier in the Empire's timeline, with the Sassanid rise. Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Relation to other religions Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Christianity Portal This box:      Christianity is a monotheistic[1] religion centered on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as presented in the New Testament. ...

Joseph Tainter

In his 1988 book "The Collapse of Complex Societies" Tainter presents the view that for given technological levels there are implicit declining returns to complexity, in which systems deplete their resource base beyond levels that are ultimately sustainable. Tainter argues that societies become more complex as they try to solve problems. Social complexity can include differentiated social and economic roles, reliance on symbolic and abstract communication, and the existence of a class of information producers and analysts who are not involved in primary resource production. Such complexity requires a substantial "energy" subsidy (meaning resources, or other forms of wealth). When a society confronts a "problem," such as a shortage of or difficulty in gaining access to energy, it tends to create new layers of bureaucracy, infrastructure, or social class to address the challenge. Social refers to human society or its organization. ... Economics (deriving from the Greek words οίκω [okos], house, and νέμω [nemo], rules hence household management) is the social science that studies the allocation of scarce resources to satisfy unlimited wants. ... For an account of the late 19th-century movement in poetry and the arts, known as Symbolism, see symbolism (arts). ... This article is about the concept of abstraction in general. ... For the Bobby Womack album, see Communication (1972 album). ... Rainforest on Fatu-Hiva, Marquesas Islands Natural resources are naturally occurring substances that are considered valuable in their relatively unmodified (natural) form. ... For the business meaning, see Wealth (economics). ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      This article is about the sociological concept. ... Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ...

For example, as Roman agricultural output slowly declined and population increased, per-capita energy availability dropped. The Romans "solved" this problem by conquering their neighbours to appropriate their energy surpluses (metals, grain, slaves, etc). However, as the Empire grew, the cost of maintaining communications, garrisons, civil government, etc. grew with it. Eventually, this cost grew so great that any new challenges such as invasions and crop failures could not be solved by the acquisition of more territory. At that point, the empire fragmented into smaller units. For economists agricultural productivity is often assessed by measuring the production of an agricultural good (e. ...

We often assume that the collapse of the Roman Empire was a catastrophe for everyone involved. Tainter points out that it can be seen as a very rational preference of individuals at the time, many of whom were actually better off (all but the elite, presumably^{[citation needed]}). Archeological evidence from human bones indicates that average nutrition actually improved after the collapse in many parts of the former Roman Empire. Average individuals may have benefited because they no longer had to invest in the burdensome complexity of empire.

In Tainter's view, while invasions, crop failures, disease or environmental degradation may be the apparent causes of societal collapse, the ultimate cause is diminishing returns on investments in social complexity^[10] Invasion is a military action consisting of troops entering a foreign land (a nation or territory, or part of that), often resulting in the invading power occupying the area, whether briefly or for a long period. ... <nowiki>Insert non-formatted text hereBold text</nowiki>A famine is a social and economic crisis that is commonly accompanied by widespread malnutrition, starvation, epidemic and increased mortality. ... This article is about the medical term. ... Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife. ... Complexity in general usage is the opposite of simplicity. ...

Bryan Ward-Perkins

Bryan Ward-Perkins's The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (2005) takes a traditional view tempered by modern discoveries, arguing that the empire's demise was brought about through a vicious circle of political instability, foreign invasion, and reduced tax revenue. Essentially, invasions caused long-term damage to the provincial tax base, which lessened the Empire's medium to long-term ability to pay and equip the legions, with predictable results. Likewise, constant invasions encouraged provincial rebellion as self-help, further depleting Imperial resources. Contrary to the trend among some historians of the "there was no fall" school, who view the fall of Rome as not necessarily a "bad thing" for the people involved, Ward-Perkins argues that in many parts of the former Empire the archaeological record indicates that the collapse was truly a disaster. Bryan Ward-Perkins is an archaeologist and historian of the later Roman Empire and early Middle Ages, with a particular focus on the transitional period between those two eras, an historical sub-field also known as Late Antiquity. ...

Ward-Perkins' theory, much like Bury's, and Heather's, identifies a series of cyclic events that came together to cause a definite decline and fall.

Adrian Goldsworthy

In The Complete Roman Army (2003) Adrian Goldsworthy, a British military historian, sees the causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire not in any 'decadence' in the make-up of the Roman legions, but in a combination of endless civil wars between factions of the Roman Army fighting for control of the Empire. This inevitably weakened the army and the society upon which it depended, making it less able to defend itself against the growing of numbers of Rome's enemies. The army still remained a superior fighting instrument than its opponents, both civilized and barbarian; this is shown in the victories over Germanic tribes at the Battle of Strasbourg (AD 357) and in its ability to hold the line against the Sassanid Persians throughout the 4th Century. But, says Goldsworthy, "Weakening central authority social and economic problems and, most of all, the continuing grind of civil wars eroded the political capacity to maintain the army at this level." .^[11] Adrian Goldsworthy (born 1969) is a British historian and military writer. ... Combatants Roman Empire Alamanni Commanders Julian Chnodomar Strength 10,000 infantry 2200 cavalry 32,000 infantry 2000-3000 cavalry Casualties 247 dead 1000-2000 wounded 6000 dead The Battle of Strasbourg, also known as the Battle of Argentoratum, was fought in 357 between the forces of the Roman Emperor Julian...

Environmental degradation

Further information: Deforestation during the Roman period

Another theory is that gradual environmental degradation caused population and economic decline. Deforestation and excessive grazing led to erosion of meadows and cropland. Increased irrigation caused salinization. These human activities resulting in fertile land becoming nonproductive and eventually increased desertification in some regions. Many animal species become extinct.^[12] This theory was explored by Jared M. Diamond in Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. During the time from 500BC to 400AD, a dramatic increase in engineering and technology overwhelmed a region to the point that it could no longer sustain population growth and urbanization. ... This article is about the process of deforestation in the environment. ... For morphological image processing operations, see Erosion (morphology). ... Soil salination results from the accumulation of free salts to such an extent that it leads to degradation of soils and vegetation. ... Jared M. Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer. ...

Mining Output

Ouptut from the silver mine at Rio Tinto peaked in A.D. 79^[13], corresponding to the beginning of the era of coin debasement and inflation and over-taxation. The Roman Emperor debased the coinage because Roman mines had peaked and output was declining. The thesis is that mines of all commodities were being depleted, including gold, silver, iron and so forth. This led to the decline of Roman technological and economic sophistication.

The West Demoted to the Periphery

The Western Roman Empire - not the Eastern Empire - fell because the West, including Italy and the city of Rome itself, had been demoted to the periphery. The East had been promoted to the core of the Empire. This occurred on May 11, 330 AD, with the transfer of the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to Constantinople, by Constantine the Great. This happened because Greek-speaking Christians - after decades of persecution - took over the Roman Empire. Thus, what little resources of metal were available were used to save the new capital city of the Roman Empire, and its adjacent provinces of Greek-speaking Christian Anatolia. As a result, the Greek-Christian Romans drove all the Germanic invaders toward the pagan Latin West. If the capital of the Roman Empire had not been transferred, then the authorities would have driven the Germanic invasions towards Anatolia, and the West could have been saved.^{[citation needed]} This article is about the city before the Fall of Constantinople (1453). ... Constantine. ... This article is about two nested areas of Turkey, a plateau region within a peninsula. ...

Late Antiquity

Historians of Late Antiquity, a field pioneered by Peter Brown, have turned away from the idea that the Roman Empire "fell" refocusing on Pirenne's thesis. They see a "transformation" occurring over centuries, with the roots of Medieval culture contained in Roman culture and focus on the continuities between the classical and Medieval worlds. Thus, it was a gradual process with no clear break. Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ... Peter Robert Lamont Brown (b. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ...

Historiography

Europe in 476, from Muir's Historical Atlas (1911).

Historiographically, the primary issue historians have looked at when analyzing any theory is the continued existence of the Eastern Empire or Byzantine Empire, which lasted over a thousand years after the fall of the West. For example, Gibbon implicates Christianity in the fall of the Western Empire, yet the eastern half of the Empire, which was even more Christian than the west in geographic extent, fervor, penetration and sheer numbers continued on for a thousand years afterwards (although Gibbon did not consider the Eastern Empire to be much of a success). As another example, environmental or weather changes affected the east as much as the west, yet the east did not "fall." Image File history File links 476eur. ... Image File history File links 476eur. ... Historiography studies the processes by which historical knowledge is obtained and transmitted. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Byzantine Empire. ... Byzantine redirects here. ...

Theories will sometimes reflect the particular concerns that historians might have on cultural, political, or economic trends in their own times. Gibbon's criticism of Christianity reflects the values of the Enlightenment; his ideas on the decline in martial vigor could have been interpreted by some as a warning to the growing British Empire. In the 19th century socialist and anti-socialist theorists tended to blame decadence and other political problems. More recently, environmental concerns have become popular, with deforestation and soil erosion proposed as major factors, and destabilizing population decreases due to epidemics such as early cases of bubonic plague and malaria also cited. Global climate changes of 535-536 caused by the possible eruption of Krakatoa in 535, as mentioned by David Keys and others,^[14] is another example. Ideas about transformation with no distinct fall mirror the rise of the postmodern tradition, which rejects periodization concepts (see metanarrative). What is not new are attempts to diagnose Rome's particular problems, with Satire X, written by Juvenal in the early 2nd century at the height of Roman power, criticizing the peoples' obsession with "bread and circuses" and rulers seeking only to gratify these obsessions. The Age of Enlightenment (French: ; Italian: ; German: ; Spanish: ; Swedish: ; Polish: ) was an eighteenth-century movement in Western philosophy. ... The British Empire in 1897, marked in pink, the traditional colour for Imperial British dominions on maps. ... Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... Religious socialism Key Issues People and organizations Related subjects Socialism refers to a broad array of ideologies and political movements with the goal of a socio-economic system in which property and the distribution of wealth are subject to control by the community. ... See also Decadent movement Decadence refers to a personal trait and, much more commonly, to a state of society. ... This article is about the natural environment. ... This article is about the process of deforestation in the environment. ... Severe soil erosion in a wheat field near Washington State University, USA. Erosion is the displacement of solids (soil, mud, rock, and so forth) by the agents of wind, water, ice, or movement in response to gravity. ... In epidemiology, an epidemic (from [[Latin language] epi- upon + demos people) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during... The bubonic plague or bubonic fever is the best-known variant of the deadly infectious disease caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis (Pasteurella pestis). ... Malaria is a vector-borne infectious disease caused by protozoan parasites. ... In the years 535 and 536, several remarkable aberrations in world climate took place. ... For the 1969 film about the Krakatoa eruption, see Krakatoa, East of Java. ... David Keys is archaeology correspondent for the London daily paper, The Independent, frequent television commentator on archaeological matters and author of the controversial book, Catastrophe: A Quest for the Origins of the Modern World (1999). ... Postmodernity (also called post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is a term used by philosophers, social scientists, art critics and social critics to refer to aspects of contemporary art, culture, economics and social conditions that are the result of the unique features of late 20th century and early 21st century... Periodization is the attempt to categorize or divide time into discrete named blocks. ... In critical theory, and particularly postmodernism, a metanarrative (sometimes master- or grand narrative) is a global or totalizing cultural narrative schema which orders and explains knowledge and experience.[1] The prefix meta means beyond and is here used to mean about, and a narrative is a story. ... Frontispiece depicting Juvenal and Persius, from a volume translated by John Dryden in 1711. ... The 2nd century is the period from 101 - 200 in accordance with the Julian calendar in the Christian Era. ... Bread and circuses has come to be a derogatory phrase that can criticize either government policies to pacify the citizenry, or the shallow, decadent desires of that same citizenry. ...

One of the primary reasons for the sheer number of theories is the notable lack of surviving evidence from the 4th and 5th centuries. For example there are so few records of an economic nature it is difficult to arrive at even a generalization of the economic conditions. Thus, historians must quickly depart from available evidence and comment based on how things ought to have worked, or based on evidence from previous and later periods, on inductive reasoning. As in any field where available evidence is sparse, the historian's ability to imagine the 4th and 5th centuries will play as important a part in shaping our understanding as the available evidence, and thus be open for endless interpretation. Aristotle appears first to establish the mental behaviour of induction as a category of reasoning. ...

The end of the Western Roman Empire traditionally has been seen by historians to mark the end of the Ancient Era and beginning of the Middle Ages. More recent schools of history, such as Late Antiquity, offer a more nuanced view from the traditional historical narrative. Ancient history is from the period of time when writing and historical records first appear, roughly 5,500 years before the Common Era. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Late Antiquity is a rough periodization (c. ...

See also

• Attila the Hun
• Bronze Age collapse
• Eastern Roman Empire
• G.E.M. de Ste. Croix
• Global Empire
• Middle Ages
• Migration period
• Muslim conquests
• Plague of Justinian
• Roman Empire
• Societal collapse
• Western Roman Empire

Attila redirects here. ... The Bronze Age collapse is the name of the Dark Age period of history of the Ancient Middle East extending between the collapse of the Mycenaean kingdoms, the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and Syria, and the Egyptian Empire in Syria and Palestine between 1206 and 1150 BC, down to the... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Byzantine Empire. ... Geoffrey Ernest Maurice de Ste. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Human migration denotes any movement of groups of people from one locality to another, rather than of individual wanderers. ... Age of the Caliphs  Expansion under the Prophet Muhammad, 622-632  Expansion during the Patriarchal Caliphate, 632-661  Expansion during the Umayyad Caliphate, 661-750 The initial Muslim conquests (632–732), also referred to as the Islamic conquests or Arab conquests,[1] began after the death of the Islamic prophet... The Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that afflicted the Byzantine Empire, including its capital Constantinople, in the years 541–542 AD. It has been speculated that this pandemic marked an early recorded incidence of bubonic plague, which centuries later became infamous for either causing or contributing to the Black... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... For a related concept in sociology, see Social disintegration. ... Motto Senatus Populusque Romanus The Western Roman Empire in 395. ...

Notes

Crooked Timber is a widely-read political weblog run by a group of (mostly) academics from and working in several different nations, including the USA, the UK, Ireland, Australia and Singapore. ... is the 237th day of the year (238th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2003 (MMIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bruce Bartlett (b. ... Ludwig Heinrich Edler von Mises (September 29, 1881 – October 10, 1973) (pronounced was a notable economist and a major influence on the modern libertarian movement. ... Bruce Bartlett (b. ... Adrian Goldsworthy (born 1969) is a British historian and military writer. ... is the 239th day of the year (240th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1883 (MDCCCLXXXIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Saturday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ...

References

• Alexander Demandt (1984). Der Fall Roms: Die Auflösung des römischen Reiches im Urteil der Nachwelt. ISBN 3-406-09598-4
• Edward Gibbon. "General Observations on the Fall of the Roman Empire in the West", from the Internet Medieval Sourcebook. Brief excerpts of Gibbon's theories.
• William Carroll Bark (1958). Origins of the Medieval World. ISBN 0-8047-0514-3

The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is located at the Fordham University Center for Medieval Studies and is part of the Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies (ORB). ...

Further reading

• Peter Heather, The Fall of the Roman Empire, 2005, ISBN 0-19-515954-3, offers a narrative of the final years, in the tradition of Gibson or Bury, plus incorporates latest archaeological evidence and other recent findings.
• Donald Kagan, The End of the Roman Empire: Decline or Transformation?, ISBN 0-669-21520-1 (3rd edition 1992) – a survey of theories.
• Arthur Ferrill The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation" 0500274959 (1998) supports Vegetius' theory.
• "The Fall of Rome – an author dialogue", Oxford professors Bryan Ward-Perkins and Heather discuss The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization and The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians.
• Adrian Goldsworthy The Complete Roman Army, Thames & Hudson (2003); Chapter V 'The Army of Late Antiquity' p.200-215.
• Fall of Rome – Decline of the Roman Empire – Lists many possible causes with references
• The Ancient Suicide of the West – A libertarian theory about the decline and fall of Rome.
• Lucien Musset, Les Invasions : Les vagues germaniques, Presses Universitaires de France, Paris, 1965 (3rd ed. 1994, ISBN 2130467156)
• Waiting for the Barbarians a poem by Cavafy

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