In the past few decades scholars of late antiquity, such as Peter Brown and Walter Goffart, have put forth the notion that the Roman Empire didn't fall violently, but rather “transformed” gently and peacefully into a new multi-ethnic society ruled by a series of Germanic kings.
Bryan Ward-Perkins will have none of that. His book, along with Peter Heather's “The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History,” is a stringent corrective that seeks to demonstrate that Rome fell violently, with a catastrophic plunge in living standards. The novelty of Ward-Perkins' book lies in
how he uses archaeological evidence such as pottery shards, tile roofs, and stone construction to show how poor, illiterate, and backward Europe became after imperial Rome disintegrated. You know things were bad when even the cows got smaller.
In part one of the book, titled The Fall of Rome, Ward-Perkins begins with a short discussion of the controversy mentioned above and examines how historians from Gibbon on have interpreted Rome's demise. He then looks at eye-witness accounts of the period. What did people who lived through the period, figures like Leo, Bishop of Rome, Hydatius, another bishop in Spain, and the monk Severinus of Noricum have to say about the Germanic invasions? Not surprisingly, they recount years of murder, arson, bloodshed, and horror. Hydatius even connects the arrival of the Germans in his area with the four scourges mentioned in the Book of Revelations and claims that mothers were driven by hunger to kill and eat their own children.
After demonstrating the violence of the Germanic invasions and terrifying us with descriptive scenes of anarchy and chaos, Ward-Perkins spends 50 pages examining how and why this happened. The period from 376, when the Goths first invaded, to 476, when Odovacar deposed Romulus Agustulus, is terribly complicated, with dozens of main actors, abrupt reversals of fortune, betrayal, unexpected death, heroic struggle, and the like. Ward-Perkins does a serviceable job of leading the reader through this maze, but you'll need some background in the period to really make sense of it. Peter Heather's account has more detail, cohesion, and narrative energy, so my advice is to read him first.
In the second part of the book, titled the End of Civilization, Ward-Perkins looks at the Roman economy before and after the Germanic invasions. Using archaeological evidence gleaned from diggings all over the Roman Empire, he shows how even the poor benefited from the fruits of Rome's sophisticated and complex economy. With access to well-made pottery, leather and metal goods, coins, tile roofs, and stone buildings, the Roman everyman of 2,000 years ago enjoyed a standard of living that would not be reached again in many parts of Europe for 1,000 years.
Mr. Ward-Perkins also makes us realize how intellectual life, literacy, and the higher arts always rest on a certain level of material wealth and sophistication. While pots, coins, and tile roofs might seem boring, their presence indicates specialized training and knowledge, and without them, not only are we deprived of good plumbing, we are bereft of art, philosophy, and literary culture.
I loved this book; it is beautifully written and full of arcane information, obscure authors, excellent charts, graphs and maps, and solid original scholarship, In short, it is a history buff's delight. Find it and read it--your view of Rome will never be the same.
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