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Adrian Keith Goldsworthy
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How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower Hardcover – May 12, 2009

by Adrian Goldsworthy (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 224 ratings
Editors' pick Best History
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In AD 200, the Roman Empire seemed unassailable, its vast territory accounting 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. In his account of the fall of the Roman Empire, prizewinning author Adrian Goldsworthy examines the painful centuries of the superpower’s decline. Bringing history to life through the stories of the men, women, heroes, and villains involved, the author uncovers surprising lessons about the rise and fall of great nations.

This was a period of remarkable personalities, from the philosopher-emperor Marcus Aurelius to emperors like Diocletian, who portrayed themselves as tough, even brutal, soldiers. It was a time of revolutionary ideas, especially in religion, as Christianity went from persecuted sect to the religion of state and emperors. Goldsworthy pays particular attention to the willingness of Roman soldiers to fight and kill each other. Ultimately, this is the story of how an empire without a serious rival rotted from within, its rulers and institutions putting short-term ambition and personal survival over the wider good of the state.

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  1. Print length
    560 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    May 12, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    6.13 x 1.81 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0300137192
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300137194
  8. See all details
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4.5 out of 5 stars
224 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book provides a good overview of the time period and interesting insights. They describe it as an easy, entertaining read that is a worthwhile addition to their library. However, opinions differ on the level of detail provided, with some finding it thorough and informative, while others feel it's too detailed and lacks depth. There are also mixed reviews on the writing style, with some finding it readable and well-written, while others consider it difficult to read or poorly written.

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32 customers mention "History"32 positive0 negative

Customers find the book provides a good overview of the time period and helps them reframe problems from the past in the context of today. It's a useful addition to the subject, though some readers have issues with the electronic version.

"This author is an excellent writer of history, knowledgeable, well organized, and thoroughly readable...." Read more

"...who want an informative , entertaining and interesting read about a fascinating and controversial topic-all this in less than 500 pages." Read more

"...for the serious amateur or armchair historian and provides a great narrative of the last centuries of the glory that was Rome and a convincing..." Read more

"This was an excellent book, describing the history of the Roman Empire from the latter part of the reign of Marcus Aurelius (from say 170 CE) to the..." Read more

29 customers mention "Readability"29 positive0 negative

Customers find the book an interesting and easy read about the Roman Empire. They say it's a worthwhile addition to their library and a good complement to Peter Heather's book on the subject. Readers mention the author has a sound thesis and the book is a good way to get up to speed.

"...the development of their own empire, this tome is a worthy addition to their library. M. T. Philipps, author of ‘Keeping Calm’" Read more

"...opus will be a delight to read for those who want an informative , entertaining and interesting read about a fascinating and controversial topic-all..." Read more

"...Long story short (too late, I know)--this is a good book that provides a compelling narrative, but falls short of greatness." Read more

"This was an excellent book, describing the history of the Roman Empire from the latter part of the reign of Marcus Aurelius (from say 170 CE) to the..." Read more

32 customers mention "Detail"16 positive16 negative

Customers have different views on the book's detail. Some find it thorough and informative, with a good analysis of leadership changes. Others feel it's too detailed for those interested in history but not deep enough, lacking depth and documentation, and boring.

"This author is an excellent writer of history, knowledgeable, well organized, and thoroughly readable...." Read more

"...However, the narrative takes up so much space, that there is little time left for analysis and empirical study...." Read more

"...Not only does he have a brilliant command of his sources ,but he has also the ability to keep the reader's interest alive along 448 pages,the..." Read more

"...factual basis (at least according to the known sources), the author's analysis is weak and hardly seminal...." Read more

22 customers mention "Readable writing"14 positive8 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing. Some find it readable and well-written, with a colloquial style. Others find it difficult to read, poorly written, and tedious.

"...excellent writer of history, knowledgeable, well organized, and thoroughly readable...." Read more

"...The author seems very removed from his subject matter, despite his obvious vast wealth of knowledge...." Read more

"...Goldsworthy is an excellent writer and knows his material very well." Read more

"...this piece is a desire not to prophesize doom, but to empirically examine scholastic writing, both past and present, and deliver a well thought up..." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • M. T. Philipps
    5.0 out of 5 stars Intriguing analysis, and much to reflect on.
    Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2024
    Verified Purchase
    This author is an excellent writer of history, knowledgeable, well organized, and thoroughly readable. As educated Americans have always reflected on the Roman Empire as a model that informs the development of their own empire, this tome is a worthy addition to their library.
    M. T. Philipps, author of ‘Keeping Calm’
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  • Paul Y. Gelman
    5.0 out of 5 stars SPLENDID ,FASCINATING AND HIGHLY READABLE
    Reviewed in the United States on January 16, 2010
    Verified Purchase
    One of the unresolved questions still keeping historians at work concerns the fall of the Roman Empire.So far hundreds of books and articles discussed and scrutinized every detail of the Empire's demise and each one has come up with different answers.Indeed,such a topic is barely possible to handle for one single historian.One must be in an extremely good command of primary and secondary sources and if he or she wants to have a wide audience, he or she must also be able to write in a very lively style, since such a topic could become boring in a matter of seconds if the style of writing is dry and contains only an endless number of facts.
    However, in the case of Mr. Goldsworthy's case, this is not the case.Not only does he have a brilliant command of his sources ,but he has also the ability to keep the reader's interest alive along 448 pages,the length of the text.What is original about this book concerns his conclusions and they are very simple: the real reason for the fall and demise of the Roman Empire had to do with the endless number of civil wars which started maily in 217 AD and proved to be fatal for the Empire which expired in the fifth century. Each conflict has sapped the empire's energy.Corruption was rampant and just to illustrate, one emperor, Elagabalus,had nominated his governors on the merit of the size of their respective penises.One cannot escape the famous -and cited-sentence written by Gibbon in the 18th century who proclaimed that "the story of the Empire's ruin is simple and obvious;and instead of inquiring why the Roman empire was destroyed,we should rather be surprised that it lasted so long".
    In addition, the author has managed to examine almost every aspect of the Roman life under the tens-perhaps-hundreds- of emperors.The period between the second and fifth century was one of extreme economic crises, religious strife, plagues and endless wars.There was a succession of earthquakes in the fifth century which spread devastation throughout the Eastern Empire.Consider this:in sixty years there were more than sixty emperors! Sometimes one brother would kill the other in order to ascend to the throne.This book also examines at length the relations between the Empire and the Sassanid Persians.
    Towards the end,Mr.Goldsworthy warns us about making analogies with the Romans when talking about the demise of other Empires or superpowers, such as the USA.For example, he writes(on p.419) that "theses days,countries and governments do not face enemies likely to overthrow them by military force."And then(p.421):"Like the Romans,the bodies involved are usually just too big to come to immediate and final collapse". When speaking about the collapse of superpowers,such as the USA,one should be extremely careful in pronouncing their downfall, because such a process in not only uncertain, but also extremely slow and takes a very long time.However, no superpower is guaranteed its supremacy and this is true of modern America as well as it was of Rome.
    In short, this opus will be a delight to read for those who want an informative , entertaining and interesting read about a fascinating and controversial topic-all this in less than 500 pages.
    9 people found this helpful
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  • Cato
    4.0 out of 5 stars Good book--but it could have been great.
    Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2009
    Verified Purchase
    I want to start off by noting that any book dealing with the fall of the Roman Empire will be unsatisfactory to some because an author has only two choices: 1) cram as much info into a set amount of space to make the book marketable or 2) publish an academic treatise. In this regard, any commercial work on the subject will not be fully complete.

    Operating within these confines, this is a good book. To answer another commentator, this book is intended for the serious amateur or armchair historian and provides a great narrative of the last centuries of the glory that was Rome and a convincing explanation for the primary cause of its collapse. This book is also clearly meant to refute Peter Heather's work, which claims that Rome fell not because of internal weakness, but because of the superiority of newly formed barbarian supergroups.

    What I find fascinating is that both authors use the same evidence to reach drastically different conclusions. For instance, a cache of weapons found in a lake in Northern Europe is used by Heather to demonstrate that the Germanic tribes had achieved a new level of sophistication and material wealth, as well as weapons equal to that of Rome. Goldsworthy uses the same find to conclude that only the top echelon of Germanic tribes had access to such weapons.

    Although I believe the truth lies somewhere in the middle, I believe Goldsworthy has the better argument. Although I do not find Goldworthy's assessment that the Germanic tribes were no different than those facing Caesar to be persuasive (on this point Heather wins), at the same time I cannot accept Heather's conclusion that Rome post-3rd century crises was as vibrant and stable as before.

    Here is where Goldsworthy really shines. To me, it seems a matter of common sense that the main contributing factor to the demise of the Roman Empire was the almost constant civil wars from the beginning of the third century. Almost everything else--debased currency, changed social order, new religious beliefs--all flows from the fact that beginning in the 3rd century, the Roman Empire was operated essentially as a logistics base for the army. The wealth of Rome was based on looting and demolishing of other societies and civilizations. Once Rome stopped expanding, the wealth stopped coming in and the enemies of Rome were no longer worth conquering. However, the army still needs to be paid, and the generals still needed to find glory.

    As such, Rome went from conquering other peoples to conquering itself. Unlike past civil wars, these conflicts were not about ideology or social issues--the were purely about money and power. Whereas the troops in Caesar's time were fighting for land grants and citizenship, by the time of Diocletian, citizenship was universal, money was worthless, and land ownership on a small scale was cost-prohibitive due to high taxation. In every civil war more and more Roman troops were killed, more cities were looted, more land was devastated, more "ordinary" people began to see the imperial power as oppressive and turned to new religion. The coinage was debased because emperors needed to pay (bribe) the troops to pay for wars against contenders for the throne; the senatorial order was destroyed to prevent usurpations; resources previously used to build civic monuments and facilities were instead used to build walls and fortify cities; the middle class was destroyed by oppressive taxation, etc. In the end all of Roman society was reorganized for a singular purpose: to provide resources for emperors to fight each other.

    Here is where Goldsworthy could have offered more detail and analysis and really thrown a knock-out punch so-to-speak. However, the narrative takes up so much space, that there is little time left for analysis and empirical study. Also, while Goldsworthy should be praised for indicating areas where the historical and archeological records are incomplete (or not known at all), I would have liked Goldsworthy to attempt to fill-in-the blanks using available sources and logical deduction.

    However, Goldsworthy's thesis is ultimately sound: For three centuries emperors and so-called usurpers fought over the same pie of resources. After each civil war the pie got smaller and smaller and yet the fighting continued. "Barbarians" were only dealt with once the new Augustus had secured his place (usually by wiping out a significant portion of Rome's available manpower). Eventually, Rome became too weak fighting itself to fight others.

    I give this book four stars instead of five because Goldsworthy should have shortened the narrative and expanded his discussion and analysis of the real economic and social effects of constant civil warfare. Also, the "modern analysis" at the end was quite unnecessary and felt like a scrap thrown to the table to appease fellow academics.

    What I would really like to see is a book that combines Goldsworthy's narrative and thesis with an economic and sociological analysis of the effects of the three centuries of constant warfare both internally and how this affected Rome's foreign policy. Maybe Goldsworthy, Heather and Brian Ward-Perkins can team up to write such a book.

    Long story short (too late, I know)--this is a good book that provides a compelling narrative, but falls short of greatness.
    83 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • Umar Ahmed
    5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best history books ever written!!
    Reviewed in Canada on July 26, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Brilliant. Exceptionally well written and one of the most well researched and objective history books Ive ever read. There's no question the author knows his stuff, but the way he puts it all into context for the reader and really sucks him into that timeframe.

    My one qualm was an insufficient analysis at the end of the causes of Rome's fall. While he chronicles the history of the empire through until its end, some more analysis and thought at the end wouldve been nice. As it is, he leaves it to the reader to draw his/her own conclusions.
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  • Amazon Customer
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in Canada on January 29, 2021
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    The book arrived on time and in perfect condition
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  • Ky Thompson
    3.0 out of 5 stars I found it dry and more like a text for a graduate level course in Roman ...
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I had high hopes when I began to read this book. It makes, no doubt, a contribution to our knowledge of the Roman Empire in its latter years. Regrettably, I found it dry and more like a text for a graduate level course in Roman history. The facts, name, and dates are all there, but their sheer numbers make reading the book like trying to drink from a fire hose. I bogged down and lost interest about two thirds of the way through the book.
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