The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization
by Bryan Ward-Perkins
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Book Summary Information
Author: Bryan Ward-PerkinsEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-09-07
ISBN: 0192807285
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Book Reviews of The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization
Book Review: Odin's Revenge!
Summary: 5 Stars
Its politically incorrect to say this, but those hairy barbarians plundered a sophisticated Roman civilization, raped the women, enslaved the men, torched the villages, desecrated the alters and raped the nuns, and, generally speaking, killed civilization! This was not a peaceful transformation from stable Roman Empire to new Germanic confederates. The supposedly cosy foederati, with the jovial emperors passing on the batten of civility to the fresh Germanic kingdoms, is a miss-reading of the evidence; and, according the Bryan Ward-Perkins, the better picture is good old fashioned anarchy and pillage!
This bludgeon and axe mischief fuelled the end of civilization and led to the dark ages; but this idea is frowned upon in modern scholarship, however, Ward-Perkins believes this is the correct interpretation, even though it is considered politically incorrect to say so. That is, you are not allowed to say one culture is better than another and thus the Romans were just as barbaric as those painted tribes on the fringes. Bryan Ward-Perkins thinks otherwise. He uses evidence from architecture, pottery and other exciting finds to say that when the Empire disappeared, in the west, something real was lost, thus the Roman Empire achieved a level of civilisation which was, in Europe anyway, not reignited for centuries. (Ward-Perking is obviously `Euro-centric' but this is a book about the Roman Empire, so I think you're allowed to be so).
This is what the evidence from the period suggests, and it's only in the past few decades that the idea of the friendly barbarians, welcomed with open arms by the Roman women, has held sway in the academy. Ward-Perking thinks that we should look at the evidence and not sugar coat history. The evidence suggests, during the 5th and 6th centuries, horror and a decline into chaos and disorder reigned absolutely. The writers of the time used apocalyptic imagery to describe the furious barbaric hordes. No one was spared! On page 22 there is a quote from a Victor of Vita, "everywhere throughout the regions of Mauretania... they [the Vandals] gave vent to their rage by every kind of atrocity and cruelty, devastating everywhere they possibly could by pillage, murder, various tortures, fires, and other indescribable evil deeds. No sex was spared, not even Gods priests"... Ward-Perkins points out that this is rhetoric and obviously written from a Christian point of view, however, his point is that there is archaeological evidence for destruction and subsequent decline to back up this rhetoric.
Bryan Ward-Perkins backs his arguments up with a generous dose of pictures (all black and white) and maps and diagrams peppered and well spaced throughout the book (they are not all lumped in the middle like do many lazy books). Ward-Perkins is trained in archaeology and the evidence he provides is convincing. So this is a materialist interpretation of history, with plenty of talk of tax revenues, market economics and the economic base influencing the superstructure (though he doesn't use these lazy words and thankfully doesn't sound as crude as I). You may think that this materialist view of history will be as dull as, erm, well economics, and as dry as saw dust, as you can't exactly write a sweeping Hollywood narrative with pottery remains. Thankfully, Ward-Perkins writes very well and the bloody nature of the story keeps us interesting. Plus, the book is sparingly under 200 pages. A good book.
Summary of The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization
Was the fall of Rome a great catastrophe that cast the West into darkness for centuries to come? Or, as scholars argue today, was there no crisis at all, but simply a peaceful blending of barbarians into Roman culture, an essentially positive transformation?In The Fall of Rome, eminent historian Bryan Ward-Perkins argues that the "peaceful" theory of Rome's "transformation" is badly in error. Indeed, he sees the fall of Rome as a time of horror and dislocation that destroyed a great civilization, throwing the inhabitants of the West back to a standard of living typical of prehistoric times. Attacking contemporary theories with relish and making use of modern archaeological evidence, he looks at both the wider explanations for the disintegration of the Roman world and also the consequences for the lives of everyday Romans, who were caught in a world of marauding barbarians, and economic collapse. The book recaptures the drama and violence of the last days of the Roman world, and reminds us of the very real terrors of barbarian occupation. Equally important, Ward-Perkins contends that a key problem with the new way of looking at the end of the ancient world is that all difficulty and awkwardness is smoothed out into a steady and positive transformation of society. Nothing ever goes badly wrong in this vision of the past. The evidence shows otherwise.
Up-to-date and brilliantly written, combining a lively narrative with the latest research and thirty illustrations, this superb volume reclaims the drama, the violence, and the tragedy of the fall of Rome.
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