Download or read book The Sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 A D written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-02-21 with total page 58 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts describing the sack *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "The City which had taken the whole world was itself taken." - St. Jerome For the people of the ancient Mediterranean and beyond, the city of Rome had been a symbol of power for centuries, and entering the early 5th century A.D., the Eternal City hadn't been taken by an enemy force since the Gauls had done it about 800 years, an unheard of period of tranquility in a world wracked with almost constant warfare. Thus, when the Visigoths, who the Romans considered uncultured and inferior, took the city of Rome and sacked it in 410, the world was stunned. It made theologians of the newly Christianized empire question God's plan on Earth, and it encouraged many leading Romans to look east to Constantinople for their future. Indeed, the Western Roman Empire would completely collapse in the late 5th century, less than 70 years after the Visigoths sacked Rome, and just how it went from being a superpower to a poorly led, weak, and vulnerable shadow of its former self has preoccupied historians for centuries. To this day, it remains difficult to trace just when the decline began, but it's fair to say that the sack of Rome was the result of a number of factors that had been coalescing for many years. Only Roman arrogance kept the empire from seeing the grave peril its capital was in, which helped bring about the events leading up to that fateful day, but either way, the sack of Rome had world-changing ramifications. The Sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410 A.D. analyzes the history and legacy of the most famous sack of the Eternal City. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the 410 Sack of Rome like never before, in no time at all.
Download or read book Alaric the Goth An Outsider s History of the Fall of Rome written by Douglas Boin and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2020-06-09 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire. Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent “barbarians” who destroyed “civilization,” at least in the conventional story of Rome’s collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive. Alaric grew up near the river border that separated Gothic territory from Roman. He survived a border policy that separated migrant children from their parents, and he was denied benefits he likely expected from military service. Romans were deeply conflicted over who should enjoy the privileges of citizenship. They wanted to buttress their global power, but were insecure about Roman identity; they depended on foreign goods, but scoffed at and denied foreigners their own voices and humanity. In stark contrast to the rising bigotry, intolerance, and zealotry among Romans during Alaric’s lifetime, the Goths, as practicing Christians, valued religious pluralism and tolerance. The marginalized Goths, marked by history as frightening harbingers of destruction and of the Dark Ages, preserved virtues of the ancient world that we take for granted. The three nights of riots Alaric and the Goths brought to the capital struck fear into the hearts of the powerful, but the riots were not without cause. Combining vivid storytelling and historical analysis, Douglas Boin reveals the Goths’ complex and fascinating legacy in shaping our world.
Download or read book The Last Statues of Antiquity written by R. R. R. Smith and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016-02-04 with total page 544 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Spanning centuries and the vastness of the Roman Empire, The Last Statues of Antiquity is the first comprehensive survey of Roman honorific statues in the public realm in Late Antiquity. Drawn from a major research project and corresponding online database that collates all the available evidence for the 'statue habit' across the Empire from the late third century AD onwards, the volume examines where, how, and why statues were used, and why these important features of urban life began to decline in number before eventually disappearing around AD 600. Adopting a detailed comparative approach, the collection explores variation between different regions-including North Africa, Asia Minor, and the Near East-as well as individual cities, such as Aphrodisias, Athens, Constantinople, and Rome. A number of thematic chapters also consider the different kinds of honorand, from provincial governors and senators, to women and cultural heroes. Richly illustrated, the volume is the definitive resource for studying the phenomenon of late-antique statues. The collection also incorporates extensive references to the project's database, which is freely accessible online.
Download or read book The Gothic A Very Short Introduction written by Nick Groom and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2012-09-27 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Gothic is wildly diverse. It can refer to ecclesiastical architecture, supernatural fiction, cult horror films, and a distinctive style of rock music. It has influenced political theorists and social reformers, as well as Victorian home décor and contemporary fashion. Nick Groom shows how the Gothic has come to encompass so many meanings by telling the story of the Gothic from the ancient tribe who sacked Rome to the alternative subculture of the present day. This unique Very Short Introduction reveals that the Gothic has predominantly been a way of understanding and responding to the past. Time after time, the Gothic has been invoked in order to reveal what lies behind conventional history. It is a way of disclosing secrets, whether in the constitutional politics of seventeenth-century England or the racial politics of the United States. While contexts change, the Gothic perpetually regards the past with fascination, both yearning and horrified. It reminds us that neither societies nor individuals can escape the consequences of their actions. The anatomy of the Gothic is richly complex and perversely contradictory, and so the thirteen chapters here range deliberately widely. This is the first time that the entire story of the Gothic has been written as a continuous history: from the historians of late antiquity to the gardens of Georgian England, from the mediaeval cult of the macabre to German Expressionist cinema, from Elizabethan Revenge Tragedy to American consumer society, from folk ballads to vampires, from the past to the present. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Download or read book The Fall of Rome written by Bryan Ward-Perkins and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2006-07-12 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why did Rome fall? Vicious barbarian invasions during the fifth century resulted in the cataclysmic end of the world's most powerful civilization, and a 'dark age' for its conquered peoples. Or did it? The dominant view of this period today is that the 'fall of Rome' was a largely peaceful transition to Germanic rule, and the start of a positive cultural transformation. Bryan Ward-Perkins encourages every reader to think again by reclaiming the drama and violence of the last days of the Roman world, and reminding us of the very real horrors of barbarian occupation. Attacking new sources with relish and making use of a range of contemporary 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, in a world of economic collapse, marauding barbarians, and the rise of a new religious orthodoxy. He also looks at how and why successive generations have understood this period differently, and why the story is still so significant today.
Download or read book The Fall of the Roman Empire written by Peter Heather and published by OUP USA. This book was released on 2007-06-11 with total page 605 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Shows how Europe's barbarians, strengthened by centuries of contact with Rome on many levels, turned into an enemy capable of overturning and dismantling the mighty Empire.
Download or read book New History written by Zosimus and published by DigiCat. This book was released on 2022-05-29 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: New History is a historical narrative by Zosimus. The author was a Greek historian known for condemning Constantine's rejection of the traditional polytheistic religion.
Download or read book The Fate of Rome written by Kyle Harper and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2017-10-02 with total page 436 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.
Download or read book The Seven Books of History Against the Pagans written by Paulus Orosius and published by CUA Press. This book was released on 2010-04 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is valuable as history, containing as it does contemporary information on the period after 278 A.D. It was used widely during the Middle Ages, and the existence today of nearly 200 manuscript copies is evidence of its past popularity.
Download or read book The Complete Roman Emperor written by Michael Sommer and published by Thames and Hudson. This book was released on 2010-10-26 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive and detailed book ever published on the Roman emperor and his world. The eighty-five emperors who ruled Rome for five centuries are among the most famous and notorious leaders in history. But what do we really know about how they ran the empire and their behind-the-scenes machinations? How did they manage relations with their wives, courtiers, and officials? How indeed did they rise to the purple in the first place? Organized thematically, this intriguing and enlightening book covers everything from the establishment of the role of emperor by Augustus to imperial building projects in Rome and Constantinople and the emperors on campaign. A day in the life of an emperor reveals that Vespasian started work before dawn, while Constantine read the Bible. Morning audiences hearing petitioners’ pleas and lawsuits were followed perhaps by a modest lunch of bread, fish, cheese, and figs (Augustus), an afternoon spent on correspondence or with concubines (Vespasian), or a lavish evening dinner (Nero showered his guests with flowers and perfume). Hardy emperors such as Trajan, who imagined himself as a new Alexander, or Septimius Severus, who marched huge distances on foot with the legions, are contrasted with dissolute rulers such as Nero, who was said never to travel without a retinue of one hundred coaches. Above all, the book charts the immense changes over time, from the original “emperor as first among equals” to the soldier emperors of the third century, the aloof superhuman figures of Constantine’s era, and the weak, passive rulers of Rome’s decline and fall. SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE • Information boxes on subjects ranging from the Roman Triumph to the empress Julia Domna • An extensive reference section including biographies of all the emperors •
Download or read book The Roman West AD 200 500 written by Simon Esmonde Cleary and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2013-03-07 with total page 551 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book focuses on the archaeological evidence, allowing fresh perspectives and new approaches to the fate of the Roman West.
Download or read book AD410 written by Sam Moorhead and published by Getty Publications. This book was released on 2010 with total page 188 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Engaging account of the Barbarian sack of Rome.
Download or read book Romans Barbarians written by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. Department of Classical Art and published by . This book was released on 1976 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Emperors of Rome written by David Potter and published by Quercus. This book was released on 2014-04-24 with total page 282 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Emperors of Rome charts the rise and fall of the Roman Empire through profiles of the greatest and most notorious of the emperors, from the autocratic Augustus to the feeble Claudius, the vicious Nero to the beneficent Marcus Aurelius, through to the maniac Commodus and beyond. Interwoven with these are vivid descriptions of sports and art, political intrigues and historic events. In this entertaining and erudite work, acclaimed classical scholar David Potter brings Imperial Rome, and the lives of the men who ruled it, to vivid life.
Download or read book Italy and Its Invaders written by Girolamo Arnaldi and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2005 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the earliest times, successive waves of foreign invaders have left their mark on Italy. Beginning with Germanic invasions that undermined the Roman Empire and culminating with the establishment of the modern nation, Girolamo Arnaldi explores the dynamic exchange between outsider and âeoenative,âe liberally illustrated with interpretations of the foreigners drawn from a range of sources. A despairing Saint Jerome wrote, of the Sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410, âeoeMy sobs stop me from dictating these words. Behold, the city that conquered the world has been conquered in its turn.âe Other Christian authors, however, concluded that the sinning Romans had drawn the wrath of God upon them. Arnaldi traces the rise of Christianity, which in the transition from Roman to barbarian rule would provide a social bond that endured through centuries of foreign domination. Incursions cemented the separation between north and south: the Frankish conquerors held sway north of Rome, while the Normans settled in the south. In the ninth century, Sicily entered the orbit of the Muslim world when Arab and Berber forces invaded. During the Renaissance, flourishing cities were ravaged by foreign armiesâe"first the French, who during the siege of Naples introduced an epidemic of syphilis, then the Spanish, whose control preserved the countryâe(tm)s religious unity during the Counter-Reformation but also ensured that Italy would lag behind during the Enlightenment. Accessible and entertaining, this outside-in history of Italy is a telling reminder of the many interwoven strands that make up the fabric of modern Europe.
Download or read book Are We Rome written by Cullen Murphy and published by HMH. This book was released on 2008-05-05 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What went wrong in imperial Rome, and how we can avoid it: “If you want to understand where America stands in the world today, read this.” —Thomas E. Ricks The rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds since the beginning of our republic. Depending on who’s doing the talking, the history of Rome serves as either a triumphal call to action—or a dire warning of imminent collapse. In this “provocative and lively” book, Cullen Murphy points out that today we focus less on the Roman Republic than on the empire that took its place, and reveals a wide array of similarities between the two societies (The New York Times). Looking at the blinkered, insular culture of our capitals; the debilitating effect of bribery in public life; the paradoxical issue of borders; and the weakening of the body politic through various forms of privatization, Murphy persuasively argues that we most resemble Rome in the burgeoning corruption of our government and in our arrogant ignorance of the world outside—two things that must be changed if we are to avoid Rome’s fate. “Are We Rome? is just about a perfect book. . . . I wish every politician would spend an evening with this book.” —James Fallows
Download or read book Byzantium and the Early Islamic Conquests written by Walter E. Kaegi and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 1995-03-30 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is a study of how and why the Byzantine Empire lost many of its most valuable provinces to Islamic (Arab) conquerors in the seventh century, provinces which included Syria, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Armenia. It investigates conditions on the eve of those conquests, mistakes in Byzantine policy toward the Arabs, the course of the military campaigns, and the problem of local official and civilian collaboration with the Muslims. It also seeks to explain how, after terrible losses, the Byzantine government achieved some intellectual rationalisation of its disasters and began the complex process of transforming and adapting its fiscal and military institutions and political controls in order to prevent further disintegration.
