From the Publisher
"One of Medium.com’s Books of the Year 2017"
"One of The Times Literary Supplement’s Books of the Year 2017"
"One of the Forbes.com “Great Anthropology and History Books of 2017” (chosen by Kristina Killgrove)"
One of The Federalist’s Notable Books for 2017
Honorable Mention for the 2018 PROSE Award in Classics, Association of American Publishers
One of Strategy + Business's Best Business Books in Economics for 2018
One of Choice Reviews' Outstanding Academic Titles of 2018
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2017-08-28
A view of the fall of Rome from a different angle, looking beyond military and social collapse to man's relationship to the environment."The fate of Rome might serve to remind us that nature is cunning and capricious. The deep power of evolution can change the world in a mere moment. Surprise and paradox lurk in the heart of progress," writes Harper (Classics and Letters/Univ. of Oklahoma; From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality in Late Antiquity, 2013, etc.) in this astute "account of how one of history's most conspicuous civilizations found its dominion over nature less certain than it had ever dreamed." The empire's very strength, built on travel, trade, and migration, also enabled the spread of tuberculosis, leprosy, smallpox, plague, and other diseases. The kindness of the climate played a large part in the expansion of the empire, especially agriculturally, but the close proximity of humans and animals brought new parasites and diseases. Furthermore, the high level and density of urbanization in over 1,000 cities facilitated the widespread transmission of germs. The empire survived a pandemic in the age of Marcus Aurelius, then a mix of drought, pestilence, and political upheaval called the "Crisis of the Third Century," or the first fall of Rome, beginning in the 230s. At that time of political upheaval, suddenly the Aurelian walls rose around Rome, coins were debased, and fear enabled the rise of Christianity. Though Rome rebuilt and recovered, more was to come as the climate turned. The empire suffered drought in the southern Mediterranean, especially Rome's breadbasket, Egypt, and the Plague of Cyprian (250-270) spread throughout the empire. Among many other intriguing hypotheses, Harper proposes that it was Ebola; regardless, it devastated the population and invited invasion by Goths, Persians, Franks, and others at the weakened borders. There is much to absorb in this significant scholarly achievement, which effectively integrates natural, social, and humanistic sciences to show how the fall of the empire caused the decline of Rome.
