THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT BAY (2025)

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History

Interrogating the "Collapse" of the Roman Empire: Historiography and Instruction

2015

54.“Structural Weaknesses in Rome’s Power? Historians’ Views on Roman Stasis”

K. Berthelot, ed., Reconsidering Roman Power: Roman, Greek, Jewish and Christian Perceptions and Reactions, l’École Française de Rome 2020, 255-67. , 2020

Rome's Empire prompted historians to think universally. From the Second Punic War, the history of the oikoumenē was for Greek and Latin historians a history of Rome's empire. Polybius said this first. In the Preface to his innovative and ambitious History, he explained that «previously the doings of the world had been, so to say, dispersed, as they were held together by no unity of initiative, results or locality; but ever since this date [of the second war between Rome and Carthage] history has been an organic whole». 2 Polybius claims not only that world history had entered a new, unprecedented age, in which everything is connected, but that his account of it will perforce be a unique (idion) way of writing history. Many others followed, their names familiar even if their texts have not survived: Posidonius, Pompeius Trogus, Nicolaus of Damascus; the remains of Diodorus Siculus' compilation are illuminating about the genre. These writers often-logically-began their histories long before the rise of Rome to emphasize not only the theme of unifying conquest but also the pattern of rise and fall, the fate of empires. 3 Even histories solely of Rome from its foundation, and even accounts solely of early Rome before its empire, could have a kind of universalizing purpose, to explain the

The Roman Predicament: How the Rules of International Order Create the Politics of Empire - By Harold James

Historian, 2008

rev. of K. Berthelot (ed.), Reconsidering Roman Power: Roman, Greek, Jewish and Christian Perceptions and Reactions, Rome 2020, "Electrum" 28, 2021, 329-332.

Contemporary historians of the Roman Empire have frequently sought to explain why this multiethnic and multicultural state endured and thrived for as long as it had. Rome remained the dominant player in the ancient Mediterranean until the 3rd century CE, its power undermined neither by its ongoing internal turmoil nor its multiple violent coups d'état. The Empire owed its stability to its efficient administration, military power and, significantly, nuanced domestic policies, with Roman emperors employing a gamut of measures to keep their subjects content. Although we have a relatively thorough understanding of Roman administration, we still know little about relations between the imperial administration and various ethnic and religious groups that made up the Empire. A group of scholars congregated at the École française de Rome (May 10-12, 2017) to take part in a conference devoted to studying Roman social and religious policies in the imperial provinces. The international conference, a capstone of the European Research Council grant ("Judaism and Rome," principal investigator: Katell Berthelot), included twenty papers that were later issued as its proceedings, with seventeen contributions in English and three in French. The volume divides into five thematic blocks. The first section: "Rome and Previous Empires: translatio imperii and Comparative Perspectives," focuses on Greek and Jewish texts reflecting on Rome's place among empires of the ancient world (F. Russo, "Rome as the Last Universal Empire in the Ideological Discourse of the 2nd century BCE," pp. 21-36; N. Sharon, "Rome and the Four-empires Scheme in Pre-Rabbinic Jewish Literature," pp. 37-60; H. Inglebert, "Compare Rome, Alexandre et Babylone: la question de l'exceptionnalité de l'empire de Rome aux IV e-VI e siècles," pp. 61-82). The contributions consider the strand of Greek historiography that recast the political history of the known world as the succession of four great empires. In the eyes of the Greeks, the four empires were those of the Assyrians, Medes, Persians and Macedonians. Nevertheless, resounding Roman victories over the Macedonians and Antiochus III induced several Greek historians of the 2nd century BCE to designate Rome as the fifth empire. The four empire tradition also appears in the Jewish tradition: unlike the Greeks, Jewish writers did not add to the four empires but included Rome among their number. The author of the Book of Daniel pioneered the notion of Rome as the fourth empire (cf.

Contested Monarchy: Integrating the Roman Empire in the Fourth Century AD, ed. Johannes Wienand, Oxford/New York: Oxford University Press 2015 [Oxford Studies in Late Antiquity]; ISBN 978-0-19-976899-8

Contested Monarchy reappraises the wide-ranging and lasting transformation of the Roman monarchy between the Principate and Late Antiquity. The book takes as its focus the century from Diocletian to Theodosius I (284–395), a period during which the stability of monarchical rule depended heavily on the emperor’s mobility, on collegial or dynastic rule, and on the military resolution of internal political crises. At the same time, profound religious changes modified the premises of political interaction and symbolic communication between the emperor and his subjects, and administrative and military readjustments changed the institutional foundations of the Roman monarchy. This volume concentrates on the measures taken by emperors of this period to cope with the changing framework of their rule. The collection examines monarchy along three distinct yet intertwined fields: Administering the Empire, Performing the Monarchy, and Balancing Religious Change. Each field possesses its own historiography and methodology, and accordingly has usually been treated separately. This volume’s multifaceted approach builds on recent scholarship and trends to examine imperial rule in a more integrated fashion. With new work from a wide range of international scholars, Contested Monarchy offers a fresh survey of the role of the Roman monarchy in a period of significant and enduring change. // – – – “This exceptionally valuable book offers multiple perspectives on the development of the institutional, ideological and religious aspects of the Roman empire’s first Christian century. Breaking away from traditional divisions according to dynasty or religion, we see how the Roman state developed new answers to the central question of its own legitimacy. Eschewing simplistic generalizations, the diverse contributions offer multiple perspectives on the way the Roman system of government interacted with its subjects. Wienand has performed an invaluable service by facilitating a wide ranging encounter among scholarly styles to promote a well-articulated discussion of significant themes in the governance of the Roman Empire, illuminating not only the period under consideration, but earlier and later periods as well.” —David Potter, University of Michigan Reviews Journal of Roman Studies 106 (2016), 361-363 [Alexander Skinner]; Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2015.11.34 [Jan Willem Drijvers]; Sehepunkte 15 (2015) Nr. 11 [Adrastos Omissi]; H-Soz-Kult 18.5.2015 [Raphael Brendel] Reviewers Quotes: "This is a book that deepens our sense of the complexity, and unexpectedness, of the late Roman Empire. It is a landmark." —Alexander Skinner "Contested Monarchy is an enormously valuable volume without a weak link in its chain of articles. It is a must have for any scholar working on late Roman political, social, or religious history and for the library of any university that offers courses on the fourth century. Its depth of inquiry and range of coverage means that it will be of great value to researchers but the articles are all sufficiently accessible that advanced students will be able to gain much from them as well. The articles can be read individually, but the volume repays reading as a whole." —Adrastos Omissi "This is a fine collection of articles articulating the contested Roman imperial rule of late antiquity. Everybody interested in the late Roman empire will profit from it." —Jan Willem Drijvers CONTENTS <Introduction> 1. Johannes Wienand: "The Cloak of Power: Dressing and Undressing the King" <Part One: Administering the Empire> 2. John Weisweiler: "Domesticating the Senatorial Elite: Universal Monarchy and Transregional Aristocracy in the Fourth Century AD" 3. John Noël Dillon: "The Inflation of Rank and Privilege: Regulating Precedence in the Fourth Century AD" 4. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner: "Ostentatious Legislation: Law and Dynastic Change, AD 364–365" 5. Doug Lee: "Emperors and Generals in the Fourth Century" 6. Joachim Szidat: "Gaul and the Roman Emperors of the Fourth Century" 7. Michael Kulikowski: "Regional Dynasties and Imperial Court" <Part Two: Performing the Monarchy> 8. Mark Humphries: "Emperors, Usurpers, and the City of Rome: Performing Power from Diocletian to Theodosius" 9. Johannes Wienand: "O tandem felix civili, Roma, victoria! Civil-War Triumphs from Honorius to Constantine and Back" 10. Hartmut Leppin: "Coping with the Tyrant’s Faction: Civil-War Amnesties and Christian Discourses in the Fourth Century AD" 11. Christopher Kelly: "Pliny and Pacatus: Past and Present in Imperial Panegyric" 12. Henning Börm: "Born to Be Emperor: The Principle of Succession and the Roman Monarchy" 13. Christian Reitzenstein-Ronning: "Performing Justice: The Penal Code of Constantine the Great" <Part Three: Balancing Religious Change> 14. Harold Drake: "Speaking of Power: Christian Redefinition of the Imperial Role in the Fourth Century" 15. Bruno Bleckmann: "Constantine, Rome, and the Christians" 16. Noel Lenski: "Constantine and the Tyche of Constantinople" 17. Steffen Diefenbach: "A Vain Quest for Unity: Creeds and Political (Dis)Integration in the Reign of Constantius II" 18. Johannes Hahn: "The Challenge of Religious Violence: Imperial Ideology and Policy in the Fourth Century" 19. Rita Lizzi Testa: "The Famous ‘Altar of Victory Controversy’ in Rome: The Impact of Christianity at the End of the Fourth Century" <Epilogue> 20. Johannes Wienand: "The Empire’s Golden Shade: Icons of Sovereignty in an Age of Transition"

The End of the Roman Empire: Civil Wars, the Imperial Monarchy, and the End of Antiquity, in: M. Gehler - R. Rollinger - P. Strobl (eds.), The End of Empires, Wiesbaden: Springer 2022, pp. 191ff.

2022

The question of how the end of the Western Roman Empire came about has preoccupied scholars for centuries. After introducing some of the most prominent attempts at explanation, the present paper emphasizes the important role played by internal conflicts. The specter of civil war had threatened the Roman Empire since the first century BCE, and as clashes in the western half got out of hand during the fifth century, this led to a gradual disintegration and a weakening of border defenses. In these Roman civil wars, soldiers who had migrated into the empire were used more and more often. A new military elite emerged, and in the end, imperial rule was replaced by warlords filling the power vacuum created by the self-destruction of the central government. The Eastern Roman Empire survived the fifth century; however, after 600 CE the empire in Constantinople lost its stability as well; the subsequent internal and external wars marked the end of antiquity.

A Summary of "Roman Power"

Roman Power: a Thousand Years of Empire, 2016

It should be plain, first of all, that we can gain a great deal from comparing the Romans of widely diverse periods. Strange to say, the Romans who constructed an empire and the Romans who lost one have very seldom met each other in the pages of a scholarly history. The contrast between these two populations is extremely illuminating. While it is in any case reasonably obvious that the Romans of the third and second centuries BC were warlike and very often aggressive, no one who compares their behaviour with the behaviour of the markedly different Romans of late antiquity could possibly doubt it. Conversely, no one who has studied the mid-republican Romans could possibly write very favourably about the military capacities of the Roman state in either of the two late-antique periods described in Chapters 6 and 7.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, by Edward Gibbon; Edited, Abridged, and with a Critical Foreword by Hans-Friedrich Mueller; Introduction by Daniel J. Boorstin; and Illustrations by Giovanni Battista Piranesi (New York: The Modern Library [Random House]: 2003, ISBN: 0375758119), pp. 1312.

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 2003

Edward Gibbon’s masterpiece, which narrates the history of the Roman Empire from the second century A.D. to its collapse in the west in the fifth century and in the east in the fifteenth century, is widely considered the greatest work of history ever written. This abridgment retains the full scope of the original, but in a breadth comparable to a novel. Casual readers now have access to the full sweep of Gibbon’s narrative, while instructors and students have a volume that can be read in a single term. This unique edition emphasizes elements ignored in all other abridgments—in particular the role of religion in the empire and the rise of Islam.

Rome: An Empire's Story