“Gibbon’s fascination with the dissolution of a world that seemed quite literally set in stone is not surprising–deep within the European psyche lies an anxiety that, if Ancient Rome could fall, so can the proudest of modern civilizations.” (p. 3)

Bryan Ward-Perkins opens his short but insightful book by thanking his editor: “She made me prune many of the subordinate clauses and qualifications that scholars love; and above all forced me to say what I really mean, rather than hint at it through Delphic academic utterances.” (p. v)

As a former professor, I too am prone to Delphic academic utterances from time to time. But Ward-Perkin’s brilliant editor turned The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (2005) into something more than Cliff Notes to Edward Gibbon’s classic  Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (a six volume work published between 1776 and 1788). You can read Gibbon’s 3000 page master work…or Ward-Perkin’s 239 page shortcut. I have done both.

Edward Gibbon ran into trouble by suggesting Rome’s fall was caused by Christianity and the spread of monasticism. Gibbon wrote “a large portion of public and private wealth was consecrated to the specious demands of charity and devotion; and the soldiers pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes, who could only plead the merits of abstinence and chastity.” (p. 40)

Bryan Ward-Perkins suggests another reason for Rome’s fall: “In my opinion, the key internal element of Rome’s success or failure was the economic well-being of its taxpayers. This was because the empire relied for its security on a professional army, with in turn relied on adequate funding.” (p. 41) As the wealth of Rome went to building churches and monasteries, the armies regressed because of lack of funding–and were defeated by barbarians.

The state of the world today shares parallels with the decline and fall of Rome. Civilization could disappear again with a few mushroom clouds… GRADE: B+

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Preface — v

I. Did Rome Ever Fall? — 1

Part I: The Fall of Rome

II. The Horrors of War — 13.

III. The Road to Defeat — 33

IV. Living Under the New Masters — 63

Part II: The End of a Civilization

V. The Disappearance of Comfort — 87

VI. Why the Demise of Comfort? — 123

VII. The Death of a Civilization? — 138

VII. All for the Best in the Best of All Possible Worlds — 169

Appendix: From Potsherds to People — 184

Chronology — 188

Notes — 182

Bibliography –– 216

Picture List — 224

Index — 231