The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History - James J. O’Donnell Audiobook

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• 
  Columbia21
  April 28th, 2023
  

  Isn’t unbelievable how some people are just that zoned in and obviously intelligent that they seem to find this new way of seeing the world on every facet and on every topic imaginal.
  It is great that we now have a new revisionist account of the fall of Rome.
  Its just fantastic that we can now, not only turn the barbarians into the good guys and heroes but we can denigrate, not the elites who sold out their own nation; destroying the currency, values, laws and eventually the lives and standing of the Roman people for personal gain, no its the few people who wanted to preserve and conserve the republic who apparently are now responsible for the its destruction.
  It is not just us the members of the History Audiobook who benefit but the people at large who can now have such an essential new understanding of things through books like this.
  It’s almost as if we have our own benefactors here at the History Audiobook who take it upon themselves to find these treasures and share them with us on a now daily basis.
  I speak for all of us here when I say thank you for being so benevolent and wise in helping give us a new world view.

  The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History - James J. O'Donnell
• 
  jsalazar41464
  April 29th, 2023
  

  Thank you.

  The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History - James J. O'Donnell
• 
  apnea
  April 30th, 2023
  

  

  Columbia21, this book was published 15 years ago in 2008. Since then there have been other works like the comprehensive “The Fate of Rome Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire” (2017) by Kyle Harper which has loads of serious scientific data which most historians can’t manage like Harper can. I pretty much read or listen to every serious effort I come across, but there are other forces in this world that humans are at the mercy of & the Romans knew this as well as anyone (Poor Pliny the Elder). Forces that are more powerful than all emperors combined.

  Anyone interested:
  .
  *”The Fate of Rome Climate, Disease, and the End of an 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 listeners 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, 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.”

  https://audiobookbay.li/audio-books/the-fate-of-rome-climate-disease-and-the-end-of-an-empire-kyle-harper/
  ~
  Harper’s latest book {2021}

  *Plagues upon the Earth: Disease and the Course of Human History*
  .
  “A sweeping germ’s-eye view of history from human origins to global pandemics Plagues upon the Earth is a monumental history of humans and their germs.”
  .
  “Weaving together a grand narrative of global history with insights from cutting-edge genetics, Kyle Harper explains why humanity’s uniquely dangerous disease pool is rooted deep in our evolutionary past, and why its growth is accelerated by technological progress.

  He shows that the story of disease is entangled with the history of slavery, colonialism, and capitalism, and reveals the enduring effects of historical plagues in patterns of wealth, health, power, and inequality. He also tells the story of humanity’s escape from infectious disease—a triumph that makes life, as we know it possible, yet destabilizes the environment and fosters new diseases. Panoramic in scope, Plagues upon the Earth traces the role of disease in the transition to farming, the spread of cities, the advance of transportation, and the stupendous increase in human population.”

  It is also being shared here. It has even more science than the last one. It was like Sapolsky’s ‘Behave’ in that I needed multiple readings.

  Time to dive into this newest (new to me) fall of Rome book.

  Thank you Mr pride.

  The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History - James J. O'Donnell
• 
  iconoclasthero
  March 25th, 2026
  

  The blame, as Gibbons put it, is squarely on the gods damned christians.

  (@apnea: there’s a book called Dirt … Civilization … something or other. Doesn’t solely focus on Rome, but it does discuss it from a climate/soil exhaustion perspective.)

  The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History - James J. O'Donnell

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