The Fall of Rome: End of a Superpower

Fall of the Roman Empire Book #2

by Nick Holmes

WHY DID ROME FALL?

In this gripping retelling of one of the most momentous chapters in history, Nick Holmes presents a new interpretation of an old story. The fate of Rome was decided not just by emperors, soldiers and barbarians but also by an environmental disaster.

A catastrophic megadrought on the Asian steppes in the fourth century AD forced the migration of entire peoples - Huns, Goths, Vandals and others - west into the Roman Empire. They met an empire weakened from war with Persia. Rome’s misfortunes multiplied as it made tactical errors on the battlefield. Civil war, religious unrest and political incompetence compounded a worsening situation. The result was one of the greatest disasters in the ancient world - the sack of Rome by the Goths in AD 410.

This is the second book in a multi-volume series on the Fall of the Roman Empire. The first book, The Roman Revolution , describes ‘the crisis of the third century’ and Rome’s adoption of Christianity. The third book, due out later in 2023, will continue with the fall of the western empire and the rise of Attila the Hun.

Praise for The Roman Revolution and other books by Nick Holmes
“An enlightening and lively interpretation of an important but neglected historical period.” Kirkus Reviews about The Roman Revolution .
“Clear, succinct and compelling…” AudioFile Magazine about The Byzantine World War.
“A thrilling blend of historical rigor and dramatic storytelling.” Kirkus Reviews about The Byzantine World War.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Ancient History, Ebooks

346 pages, Paperback

Published May 2, 2023

About the author

Hello, I'm a British author, podcaster, and historian, and welcome to my series of books on the Fall Of The Roman Empire. My passion is Roman history. I've wandered among the ruins of the Roman Forum and wondered what happened to this great civilisation? I've stared into the dome of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and reflected on how the Roman Empire lasted for centuries after Rome itself was sacked, even when its capital moved to Constantinople. So, I've embarked on writing the full account of this momentous time.

Immerse yourself in this incredible story. It may surprise you to find that those events so long ago are strangely relevant to our modern times, from the changing climate to religion, and from war to peace. Let us listen to the voices from the past.

And if you like podcasts, try mine "The Fall of the Roman Empire", which accompanies my books, and please check out my website which offers a free book and much more at www.nickholmesauthor.com

Reviews

[Larry (LPosse1) · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fall of Rome by Nick Holmes – 4 Stars

Nick Holmes has written a clear and engaging account of one of history’s most fascinating stories—the decline and fall of Rome. I was impressed with his strong use of research sources, which gives the book both credibility and depth. It’s also a very fluid read, and I found that it correlates nicely with Adrian Goldsworthy’s In the Name of Rome.

One of the most interesting takeaways for me was Holmes’ discussion of how much of Rome’s downfall can be traced to a changing climate. This environmental shift forced Asiatic peoples to migrate west, creating new pressures that the Empire could not fully withstand. He also highlights how, after major defeats in the 3rd century, Rome was increasingly forced to rely on mercenaries such as the Goths. (No, the bands Rammstein and The Cure were not involved! :-) These Germanic tribes often sold their loyalty to the highest bidder—and in the end, they were among those who sacked Rome itself.

Holmes does an excellent job of showing that the fall wasn’t a single dramatic collapse, but a slow erosion over centuries. While at times I wished for more detail in certain sections, the overall narrative is both compelling and thought-provoking.

A very strong read for anyone interested in late Roman history, and one that pairs well with other works on the subject.

[Jeremiah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author makes a good case that civil war, a failure of political leadership, the decline of the Roman army, and the large Germanic migrations of the 4th and 5th centuries were what destroyed the Roman Empire.

[Willy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Fall of Rome: End of a Superpower posits interesting theories regarding the fall of Rome; that a combination of poor leadership, over-reliance on mercenaries, climate change and The forced migration of tribes and clans into Roman territory by the Huns caused Rome’s fall. For the most part, I agree.

Nick Holmes is a great, concise writer. Though he’s definitely not as academically written as, say, Goldsworthy, his simple and straightforward writings offer an easy read that’s at once informative and filled with opinion, which I like.

Though I didn’t really learn much, I definitely shored up my knowledge of this era, and its always good to hear more than one viewpoint on such a deep topic as the fall of the Western Empire.

Overall, I’d recommend this to anyone looking for a good introduction to the last years of the Western Empire as a successful (if ailing) state and the beginning of its death throes.

[Mervyn Eastman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books 1 & 2 Outstanding, intellegent & engaging

Holmes has crafted a really brilliant narrative. I have, since my early teenage years been fascinated by Rome, it's beginnings and the end of the Empires. We often focus on the founding & the Republic and the 12 Caesars and what Nick Holmes has achieved is a comprehensive history, but also insights from current disciplines seldom acknowledged by, let me say, celebrity historians. I

These books lack the ego of their author. Thank God. I look forward to the feast continuing.

[Allan Nemer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Book. A bit speculative, especially compared to the first book and I am not sure I agree with a few of his conclusions but the author is more the expert than me. The idea going through my mind while reading this book is some of the similarities to the current situation in the United States. I'll leave it at that and not say any more. Definitely worth reading in any case

[Matthew Bargas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not one to write a full review, but after reading this book, it became increasingly obvious to me that the disaster at Adrianople was not the inevitable end of the Western Empire. The Romans had numerous opportunities to rectify the situation, but they were too busy fighting amongst themselves when they should have worked together to rid themselves of the barbaric threat.

[Geicodave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent overview of the Roman Empire in the fourth and early fifth centuries

The history of the Roman Empire in Late Antiquity is fascinating, complex, and confusing. There is much we simply don't know. This book is an excellent introduction to those new to the subject and a great refresher for those who already have some knowledge of it.

[Reid Champagne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cautionary tale?

Was it an internal breakdown in the economic, political and military institutions of the Roman Empire, or the pressures from invasions driven by the impact of climate change among the nomadic tribes of the Asian steppe? This book provides a concise narrative providing a compelling theory that it was all of the above. And can that help us better understand where we are today as a civilization fighting similar declines and pressures?

[Paul A · Rating 3 out of 5]

I quite like Holmes's writing style - I find it to be succinct and to the point, with a little bit of scene-setting that really helps the reader get into the moment that he is describing. His arguments are well thought out and well-explained.

[Sharon Zink · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty good book. I read it before going to sleep at night, and it did NOT put me to sleep. It is important information about the end of the western Roman Empire, and it is well researched and well written.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Holmes has written a fascinating history of the Fall of Rome. A very intriguing read and read it with much interest. I didn't agree with everything, but he did offer some interesting insights into why the Roman Empire finally fell. One of his most forceful arguments is that climate change was a contributing factor. Although I don’t always react well to that phrase, Holmes introduced some facts that I hadn’t ever remembered hearing. Because of severe famine different people groups moved to find food. The Huns were those who moved west and when they did they pushed the Goths further towards Rome; a domino effect.

As coincidence would have it, I happened to be reading the book of Daniel, from the Old Testament, at the same time. My view of history is a bit different than Holmes'. As I read Daniel, all the events that took place in the Roman Empire fit so perfectly with the prophecies in Daniel. Holmes repeatedly stated that Christianity did not bring the downfall of Rome of Western Rome. And I would agree. In fact, he says that the eastern part of the empire flourished because of Christianity.
But as I read the history it was clear to me that the empire fell because of its division, jealousy, cruelty and inept leadership.

One emperor who Holmes wrote in depth about was Julian the Apostate. I found this history absolutely absorbing.

Julian's desire was to bring back the golden days of Rome, to rebuild what the first emperors had started. Although some of those ideals were good, one of those rebirths involved paganism. Since paganism had fallen out of popularity, Julian planned to bring it back. Also, in his plans was to defeat Persia, not because they were doing anything threatening, but just because.

Julian started on his way to Persia by way of Antioch. In Antioch he wanted to celebrate a pagan holiday but couldn’t find a priest to begin the celebration. Christianity had taken such a hold that the pagan temples were deserted. Julian spent months in Antioch trying to change the apparent apathy towards the pagan religion, without success. After nine months he continued on to battle with Persia. What is telling is that this battle was not something that was provoked by Persia. In fact, the Persian king tried to offer peace, but Julian wouldn't hear of it. The battle was a disaster. Justinian was killed and left the empire in a quandary as there were no designated leaders, since the death was so unexpected. Not long after his death there was yet another battle, Adrianople. This battle was a catastrophic defeat for Rome. One which they never recovered from.

Holmes spent quite a lot of ink, wondering “What if, Justinian had succeeded in his plans to bring back the Rome of the past?” That may be interesting speculation to some, but it is unanswerable and quite useless. He says near the end of the book that one of the reasons Rome fell was because of luck, or rather bad luck. I can’t even think that can be considered a valid reason for any history book. He lists the series of bad luck. Julian’s death. Well, Julian rushed into battle without his breastplate on. Not a good move. The incompetence of Valens at Adrianople. Not luck at all. He refused to wait for reinforcements because of jealousy of the commander who lead that regiment. Then the Theodosian dynasty was plagued with civil war. All of these show that Rome really had what Daniel described as, “legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.” It had strength at times but the clay feet, the jealousy, infighting, power grabbing and pagan beliefs) could not withstand all that came upon them.

I found it interesting that as Rome neared its end, when the Gothic leader Alaric was at Rome’s doorstep, demanding gold and goods, the senators called on their gods to save them. Of course, no intervention came from their dead religion. Their time to rule came and was now over.

I enjoyed this book immensely. Holmes makes history interesting and fascinating. I just disagreed with a few of his conclusions but that doesn't take away from the enthralling tale Holmes told.

[Liviu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still interesting, the continuation of the story started in the Roman Revolution takes us from the end of Constantine the Great's reign to the sack of Rome by Alaric in 410 and makes a case that the sack represented the true fall of Rome rather than the usually accepted deposition of the last (boy) emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476 and also presents a few more ideas - a sort of luck evens out theory, as Rome's rise had an element of luck (eg Alexander died young before he could consolidate his empire and campaign in the West as he is presumed to have planned, the Greek successor states were in their decadent phase in the early 200's etc, Rome's fall had an element of bad luck (Julian, the one competent Emperor after Constantine, who mounts what will turn out to be the last major expedition of the Empire, dies young in a skirmish, the Huns are forced - most likely by extensive drought to migrate - so pushing the Germanic tribes into the Empire, Valens and his officials make disastrous decisions and the eastern roman army is destroyed at Adrianople, while Theodosius, his succesor starts enrolling German tribes rather than rebuilding it and then with their help destroys the Western army in civil wars etc)

Really looking forward to the promised next in the story that will continue the story until Justinian's time and his attempts at reconquering the West

[Rindis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Holmes' second book covers from the recovery of the Roman Empire from the Crisis of the Third Century to the sacking of Rome in 410.

Well, mostly. While the second book in a series, it is meant to be a stand-alone read as well. This means there's some lead-in summary introduction. This is generally fine, but a lot of it is copy-and-pasted from book one, which makes it rough going if you read one directly after another. I can't blame him, but some sort of guidepost to where that stops would have been good in my case.

But the main action is tracing the events that brought Alaric to Rome, three times, and led him to sack it.

Along the way, we see various people come and go, decisions made, and the slow crumbling away of authority in the western Empire, until the government is in northern Italy (Ravenna), and unable/unwilling to do anything for Rome when Alaric threatens it.

Holmes also sees this as the 'true' end of the Western Empire, rather than the later ending of central authority there. He's not alone in that assessment, and you could make a very good argument (he doesn't, really) that it is the end of the west's reputation, and that the next fifty years were government without respect. Personally, I go with the "official" end of government, but that is entirely a personal preference.

So, this is the tale of the years leading up to the fall of the Western Roman Empire, well-told at a high level, with attention paid to more modern works, especially dealing with climate change. I think he missed another opportunity here. He does reference Peter Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire, but I think Holmes would have been better served to pay attention to his Empires and Barbarians, which looks at the Germanic migrations through the lens of modern migration studies.

So, another readable, informative book. If you have an interest in the later Roman Empire, but are not already well-read on it, this is a great place to start. But... maybe don't read this right after the first book.

[A M Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. holmes tells the story of the Roman empire from the death of Constantine to the sack of Rome in 410. it's a great survey of the period and has razor sharp pen portraits of the leading characters.

this is wedded to a good structural analysis of the problems facing the Roman Empire - especially how climate change ( a huge decades long drought) forced the Huns westward which upset Germanic Europe with devastating consequences for Rome.

Holmes makes a good job of explaining what the challenges were and why the Roman response was inadequate - the multi pronged problems supported a division of the empire but that led to civil war. so add in a few defeats to barbarians and some huge civil wars and the Roman army by 400 is a shadow of its former self.

[Joe · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the second in a series of books by Holmes about the fall of the Roman Empire. The first, entitled, The Roman Revolution, focuses on the rise of Christianity (a book I reviewed in November 2023). In this book, Holmes purports to cover the critical period from the time of Constantine the Great to the sack of Rome by Alaric and the Goths in 410 AD. In my opinion, he has bitten off more than he can chew in a small volume. The result is a rather superficial and cursory history that deserves a lot more critical attention. Instead, this book reads like a survey course that you might come across in high school.

[John E. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Science and History Combined

Nick Holmes’ discusses the fall of the Roman Empire and possible causes. His study discusses government policies, foreign invasions as well as climate change in explaining the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West. His books are well written, richly researched and are short enough to read in a couple of weeks. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in the late Roman period.

[Michael McCluskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great review of the period

Modern scholarship informed examination of the last days of the original, albeit Western capital and provinces of the empire. Rome fell, the Roman empire persisted much longer.

[Anna Rimmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fall of Rome

This is an excellent book, easy to read, good ideas and arguments out forward in a clear concise manner.One of the best books about the fall of Rome.I highly recommend it

[Mike Briley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sufficiently details to be fascinating, sufficiently concise not to be boring. Explanations are given freely so that no prior knowledge of the subject is needed.
An intriguing story well supported by maps end tables.

[Jane Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rome in a new light

While much has been written about the Roman Empire, certainly much more can still be written. This topic is deep’ wide, intense and profound. Are there lessons for us? Most certainly, and the sooner we learn them the better.

[A G Bettesworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read.

Very informative about a period I was woefully ignorant of. It reads like a novel and I found it quite a page turner. He draws interesting conclusions that I found difficult to disagree with. I look forward to the next title in the series.

[Dan Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

Holmes brings to life the players and the times without sacrificing historical accuracy.

A very readable (I couldn't put it down) and enlightening review of the couple centuries leading to the sack of Rome. I highly recommend that you start with Book 1.

[Ian Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have liked this book more if the author didn’t repeat himself so often. Some chapters later in the book start out retelling the same story that was told in previous chapters. If you take out all the repeated information this book would be a lot shorter.

[Sko Buffs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the book. Goes through the Roman emperors and how incompetence and infighting, along with immigration that did not assimilate led to the fall of Rome. Hmmmm, haven't heard of that before, right?

[Janetta Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thoughtful view encompassing many aspects

Learned so much about the complexity of the Roman story. Another example of how poor leadership and greed leads to failure.

[George Kazakos · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written and easy to follow. Quite interesting.

[LemontreeLime · Rating 4 out of 5]

my impression is this part of history is bewilderingly difficult to discuss because .. well, just read a book like this and it'll explain.

[Marisa Pavlov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read to learn about Rome politics and advancement that influenced so many other cultures.

[Lyon Van · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible non-fiction series about the Roman Republic and Empire. Simon Baker presents history in a way that is both highly accessible and deeply informative. The narrative brings the politics, culture, and military campaigns of Rome vividly to life, while still being grounded in solid research. It’s a perfect introduction for anyone interested in Roman history, but it also offers plenty of depth for readers who already know the basics. I strongly recommend reading the entire series from start to finish — it gives you a clear sense of how Rome rose, flourished, and eventually declined.