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.
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781400888917
Publisert
2017
Utgiver
Vendor
Princeton University Press
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Digital bok
Forfatter