About this item
A sweeping new history of how climate change and disease helped bring down the Roman EmpireHere 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.
About the Author
Kyle Harper is a historian of the classical world at his alma mater, the University of Oklahoma. He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Letters from OU and then received his Ph.D. in History from Harvard University in 2007. His first book was published by Cambridge University Press as Slavery in the Late Roman World, AD 275-425. The book was awarded the James Henry Breasted Prize by the American Historical Association and the Outstanding Publication Award from the Classical Association of the Middle West and South. His second book, From Shame to Sin: The Christian Transformation of Sexual Morality was published by Harvard University Press in 2013 and received the Award for Excellence in Historical Studies from the American Academy of Religion. Kyle's third book, The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire, appeared in 2017. The book argues that climate change and pandemic disease were integral to the fall of the Roman Empire. It has been translated into twelve languages. In October of 2021, his fourth book, Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History, will appear. A committed teacher, Kyle offers a range of courses on ancient history and early Christianity. He blogs at kyleharper.net.
