The Princeton History of the Ancient World Series
By Kyle Harper and Josiah Ober
4/5
()
About this series
How devastating viruses, pandemics, and other natural catastrophes swept through the far-flung Roman Empire and helped to bring down one of the mightiest civilizations of the ancient world
Here is the monumental retelling of one of the most consequential chapters of human history: the fall of the Roman Empire. The Fate of Rome is the first book to examine the catastrophic role that climate change and infectious diseases played in the collapse of Rome’s power—a story of nature’s triumph over human ambition.
Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. He takes readers from Rome’s pinnacle in the second century, when the empire seemed an invincible superpower, to its unraveling by the seventh century, when Rome was politically fragmented and materially depleted. Harper describes how the Romans were resilient in the face of enormous environmental stress, until the besieged empire could no longer withstand the combined challenges of a “little ice age” and recurrent outbreaks of bubonic plague.
A poignant reflection on humanity’s intimate relationship with the environment, The Fate of Rome provides a sweeping account of how one of history’s greatest civilizations encountered and endured, yet ultimately succumbed to the cumulative burden of nature’s violence. The example of Rome is a timely reminder that climate change and germ evolution have shaped the world we inhabit—in ways that are surprising and profound.
Titles in the series (2)
- The Rise and Fall of Classical Greece
1
A major new history of classical Greece—how it rose, how it fell, and what we can learn from it Lord Byron described Greece as great, fallen, and immortal, a characterization more apt than he knew. Through most of its long history, Greece was poor. But in the classical era, Greece was densely populated and highly urbanized. Many surprisingly healthy Greeks lived in remarkably big houses and worked for high wages at specialized occupations. Middle-class spending drove sustained economic growth and classical wealth produced a stunning cultural efflorescence lasting hundreds of years. Why did Greece reach such heights in the classical period—and why only then? And how, after "the Greek miracle" had endured for centuries, did the Macedonians defeat the Greeks, seemingly bringing an end to their glory? Drawing on a massive body of newly available data and employing novel approaches to evidence, Josiah Ober offers a major new history of classical Greece and an unprecedented account of its rise and fall. Ober argues that Greece's rise was no miracle but rather the result of political breakthroughs and economic development. The extraordinary emergence of citizen-centered city-states transformed Greece into a society that defeated the mighty Persian Empire. Yet Philip and Alexander of Macedon were able to beat the Greeks in the Battle of Chaeronea in 338 BCE, a victory made possible by the Macedonians' appropriation of Greek innovations. After Alexander's death, battle-hardened warlords fought ruthlessly over the remnants of his empire. But Greek cities remained populous and wealthy, their economy and culture surviving to be passed on to the Romans—and to us. A compelling narrative filled with uncanny modern parallels, this is a book for anyone interested in how great civilizations are born and die. This book is based on evidence available on a new interactive website. To learn more, please visit: http://polis.stanford.edu/.
- The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire
2
How devastating viruses, pandemics, and other natural catastrophes swept through the far-flung Roman Empire and helped to bring down one of the mightiest civilizations of the ancient world Here is the monumental retelling of one of the most consequential chapters of human history: the fall of the Roman Empire. The Fate of Rome is the first book to examine the catastrophic role that climate change and infectious diseases played in the collapse of Rome’s power—a story of nature’s triumph over human ambition. Interweaving a grand historical narrative with cutting-edge climate science and genetic discoveries, Kyle Harper traces how the fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and devastating viruses and bacteria. He takes readers from Rome’s pinnacle in the second century, when the empire seemed an invincible superpower, to its unraveling by the seventh century, when Rome was politically fragmented and materially depleted. Harper describes how the Romans were resilient in the face of enormous environmental stress, until the besieged empire could no longer withstand the combined challenges of a “little ice age” and recurrent outbreaks of bubonic plague. A poignant reflection on humanity’s intimate relationship with the environment, The Fate of Rome provides a sweeping account of how one of history’s greatest civilizations encountered and endured, yet ultimately succumbed to the cumulative burden of nature’s violence. The example of Rome is a timely reminder that climate change and germ evolution have shaped the world we inhabit—in ways that are surprising and profound.
Read more from Kyle Harper
The Princeton Economic History of the Western World
Related to The Princeton History of the Ancient World
Related ebooks
The Eternal City: Roman Images in the Modern World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsJournalists between Hitler and Adenauer: From Inner Emigration to the Moral Reconstruction of West Germany Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBarbarian and Noble Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Barbarian West, A.D. 400-1000: The Early Middle Ages [1952 ed.] Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRome, the Greek World, and the East: Volume 1: The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Legacy of Rome: How the Roman Empire Shaped the Modern World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsReligion in Republican Rome: Rationalization and Ritual Change Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Classical Debt: Greek Antiquity in an Era of Austerity Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBefore Augustus: The Collapse of the Roman Republic Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDio's Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Secret History Of The Court Of Justinian Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Grand Tour of the Roman Empire by Marcus Sidonius Falx Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Volume II of VI) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Constructing Autocracy: Aristocrats and Emperors in Julio-Claudian Rome Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Battle of Marathon Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Forty Sieges of Constantinople: The Great City's Enemies & Its Survival Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Patrician Tribune: Publius Clodius Pulcher Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Pharaohs: Egypt Under the Ptolemies, 305-30 BC Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Successor: Tiberius and the Triumph of the Roman Empire Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLaughter in Ancient Rome: On Joking, Tickling, and Cracking Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hannibal (Barnes & Noble Library of Essential Reading) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of the Peloponnesian War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsTheodoric the Goth: Barbarian Champion of Civilisation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Civil Wars. Illustrated Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSocial Life at Rome in the Age of Cicero Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Delphi Complete Works of Cassius Dio (Illustrated) Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Economics For You
Economics 101: From Consumer Behavior to Competitive Markets--Everything You Need to Know About Economics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed: The Definitive Book on Value Investing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Divergent Mind: Thriving in a World That Wasn't Designed for You Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Richest Man in Babylon: The most inspiring book on wealth ever written Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Quiet Leadership: Six Steps to Transforming Performance at Work Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Confessions of an Economic Hit Man, 3rd Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Age of Selfishness: Ayn Rand, Morality, and the Financial Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Chip War: The Fight for the World's Most Critical Technology Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Wise as Fu*k: Simple Truths to Guide You Through the Sh*tstorms of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5You Can't Lie to Me: The Revolutionary Program to Supercharge Your Inner Lie Detector and Get to the Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5How to Be Everything: A Guide for Those Who (Still) Don't Know What They Want to Be When They Grow Up Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Talking to My Daughter About the Economy: or, How Capitalism Works--and How It Fails Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A People's Guide to Capitalism: An Introduction to Marxist Economics Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Principles for Dealing with the Changing World Order: Why Nations Succeed and Fail Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lords of Easy Money: How the Federal Reserve Broke the American Economy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capitalism and Freedom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A History of Central Banking and the Enslavement of Mankind Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bottle of Lies: The Inside Story of the Generic Drug Boom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hard Truth About Soft Skills: Soft Skills for Succeeding in a Hard Wor Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Peter Principle: Why Things Always Go Wrong Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Sovereign Individual: Mastering the Transition to the Information Age Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Capital in the Twenty-First Century Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Getting to Yes with Yourself: (and Other Worthy Opponents) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Disrupting Sacred Cows: Navigating and Profiting in the New Economy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Physics of Wall Street: A Brief History of Predicting the Unpredictable Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related categories
Reviews for The Princeton History of the Ancient World
66 ratings0 reviews