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Prominent historian Ramsay MacMullen here offers a new perspective on the decline and fall of Rome. MacMullen argues that a key factor in Rome's fall was the steady loss of focus and control over government as its aims were thwarted for private gain by high-ranking bureaucrats and military leaders. Written in an informal and lively style, his book--the culmination of years of research and thoughtful analysis--provides a fascinating, fresh line of investigation and shows convincingly that the decline of Rome was a gradual, insidious process rather than a climactic event. "An important book which will initiate a long debate. . . . What is new in MacMullen's argument is not the existence of this corruption but its sheer scale and long-term global effects. . . . A vivid and frightening picture of how a great state and civilization, the construction of centuries of painfully acquired political culture, can be cripplingly undermined."--Stephen Williams, History Today "A powerful account of the vices of late Roman society, which certainly helps us to understand some aspects of its partial fall."--Jasper Griffin, New York Review of Books "All students of history must welcome this wide-ranging book from so eminent an authority. MacMullen's knowledge of the ancient evidence is encyclopedic and his deceptively casual style and deliberate avoidance of technical terms make this an accessible and stimulating book for the general reader as well as for the specialist."--Jill Harries, International History Review "MacMullen's book is excellent: rich and learned in detail, lively in style, and in argument and insights highly stimulating."--S. J. B. Barnish, Times Higher Education Supplement… (meer)
An excellent book that uses all the evidence of other theories (at least that I’ve read) of Rome’s fall and comes with a compelling, thoroughly convincing explanation: rampant governmental corruption crippled the administration militarily and economically. MacMullen illustrates his point with several revealing anecdotes from Roman contemporaries. He shows us how Roman justice and law really worked: by influence and money. He covers how worthless latter Roman troops were -- and how valuable barbarians came to be. He makes the valuable point that the barbarians who destroyed Rome were citizens of the Empire. MacMullen rightly points out that not all the Empire crumpled at once and some traditions (such as civic benficience) continued sparingly. He shows a compelling picture of a society gone amok, sunk in a morass of greed, extortion, and influence-pedalling.
Perhaps most importantly the book brilliantly portrays what other books I’ve read seem to only gloss over: the exact nature of the patron-client relationship. MacMullen shows the terror the lower class held the potenti in, how jobs, justice, and favors were parlayed. How dignitas worked into this relationship (which explains more fully Caesar crossing the Rubicon and Domitian’s assassination and the prevalence of unanimous votes in the Senate), how slaves parlayed their position, and why soldiers (especially the Praetorian Guard) became dependant on their commanders (and how brutalized soldiers were by their officers and why they turned to extorting from urban dwellers to survive). I loved the vivid descriptions of corruption and extortion. Despite the lack of a definate chronology, it brought Roman society alive. The subverting of Diocletian’s caste system was well explained.
The only problems were the somewhat strange turns of phrase MacMullen used sometimes. However, some passages were very vivid and clear. The last chapter wasn’t as concise a summing up as it could have been, and it seemed to repeat conclusions of the third chapter. Some of the maps were missing crucial labels and the proofreader seemed absent at times. The book also exhibited the annoying feature of other academic history book’s I’ve read: it assumes the reader knows German and French. (I would expect it to asssume a knowledge of Latin.) ( )
Prominent historian Ramsay MacMullen here offers a new perspective on the decline and fall of Rome. MacMullen argues that a key factor in Rome's fall was the steady loss of focus and control over government as its aims were thwarted for private gain by high-ranking bureaucrats and military leaders. Written in an informal and lively style, his book--the culmination of years of research and thoughtful analysis--provides a fascinating, fresh line of investigation and shows convincingly that the decline of Rome was a gradual, insidious process rather than a climactic event. "An important book which will initiate a long debate. . . . What is new in MacMullen's argument is not the existence of this corruption but its sheer scale and long-term global effects. . . . A vivid and frightening picture of how a great state and civilization, the construction of centuries of painfully acquired political culture, can be cripplingly undermined."--Stephen Williams, History Today "A powerful account of the vices of late Roman society, which certainly helps us to understand some aspects of its partial fall."--Jasper Griffin, New York Review of Books "All students of history must welcome this wide-ranging book from so eminent an authority. MacMullen's knowledge of the ancient evidence is encyclopedic and his deceptively casual style and deliberate avoidance of technical terms make this an accessible and stimulating book for the general reader as well as for the specialist."--Jill Harries, International History Review "MacMullen's book is excellent: rich and learned in detail, lively in style, and in argument and insights highly stimulating."--S. J. B. Barnish, Times Higher Education Supplement
Perhaps most importantly the book brilliantly portrays what other books I’ve read seem to only gloss over: the exact nature of the patron-client relationship. MacMullen shows the terror the lower class held the potenti in, how jobs, justice, and favors were parlayed. How dignitas worked into this relationship (which explains more fully Caesar crossing the Rubicon and Domitian’s assassination and the prevalence of unanimous votes in the Senate), how slaves parlayed their position, and why soldiers (especially the Praetorian Guard) became dependant on their commanders (and how brutalized soldiers were by their officers and why they turned to extorting from urban dwellers to survive). I loved the vivid descriptions of corruption and extortion. Despite the lack of a definate chronology, it brought Roman society alive. The subverting of Diocletian’s caste system was well explained.
The only problems were the somewhat strange turns of phrase MacMullen used sometimes. However, some passages were very vivid and clear. The last chapter wasn’t as concise a summing up as it could have been, and it seemed to repeat conclusions of the third chapter. Some of the maps were missing crucial labels and the proofreader seemed absent at times. The book also exhibited the annoying feature of other academic history book’s I’ve read: it assumes the reader knows German and French. (I would expect it to asssume a knowledge of Latin.) ( )