"How Rome Fell" By Adrian Goldsworthy

"How Rome Fell" is a book that takes a different approach as to why Rome fell. Most learned in history class that Rome, in the end, finally succumbed to the onslaught of the mighty barbarian invasions that took place over centuries. While this is partially true, Adrian Goldsworthy argues in his book that it was the internal pressures of constant civil war and mismanagement by emperors that continually had an eroding effect on the empire. Usurpation by generals, governors, or whoever had an army loyal to him, was a common occurrence.
Goldsworthy maintains throughout the book that the barbarian tribes were the least of Rome's worries. They were truly no match for Rome's armies. The first priority of every emperor was to retain his power and position against any usurper. This fact heavily influenced Imperial policy. Emperors were fearful to give too large an army to any one man for fear he would one day turn that army against him. Foreign enemies were always a second thought to this. Goldsworthy shows that the only force that ever came close to matching that of Rome's was Persia, and even they by a long shot. Of course there were raids by both the barbarians and Persians into Roman territory, but these never threatened the overthrow of the empire. The constant civil wars were a continual drain on Rome's manpower and resources. In the end, the continual effect of this made Rome weak and vulnerable to the tribes of barbarians living within and without their borders. The eastern empire would go on to last another millennium after the west collapsed, but it would be nothing compared to the united empire of ages past.
I found this book to be really interesting and at times hard to put down. It is packed with detailed information and covers six centuries of Roman history from Marcus Aurelius to Justinian. It was the first in-depth book on Rome that I have read and would highly recommend it to any ancient history lover or history buff in general.