The Fall of the Roman Empire

What caused the fall of Rome? Since Gibbon's day scholars have hotly debated the question and come up with answers ranging from blood poisoning to rampant immorality. In recent years, however, the most likely explanation has been neglected: was it not above all else a military collapse? Professor Ferrill believes it was, and puts forth his case in this provocative book. In the last decade of the fourth century AD one emperor-Theodosius-still ruled over an Empire larger than that of the great Augustus, and commanded a massive army. Less than eighty years later, both Empire and army in the West had been wiped out. How did this happen? Barbarian invasions certainly played their part, but the fundamental cause, Professor Ferrill shows, lay within the Roman army itself. The huge mobile reserve created by Constantine (306-337) fatally weakened the frontier forces and emphasized cavalry at the expense of infantry. The defeat of Roman infantry led ultimately to the defeat of Rome herself. With its vivid descriptions of the key personalities and events-from Julian the Apostate and Alaric the Visigoth to the battle of Adrianople and the sack of Rome-this is a gripping and fully up-to-date account of one of the most momentous epochs in human history. Book jacket.