How Rome Fell: The Slow Collapse of the Roman Empire

Ask when the Roman Empire fell and you'll get three serious answers: 476, 1453, or never. This is how the most powerful state in the ancient world came apart, gradually and then suddenly. From the empire at its peak to the crisis of the third century, the split into East and West, the Huns and the Goths, the sacks of Rome, the last western emperor in 476, the eastern half that lasted until 1453, and the long argument among historians about what really killed it. CHAPTERS 0:00 Three dates for one fall 0:39 The view from the top 1:17 The Crisis of the Third Century 2:30 Splitting the empire 3:39 The Huns and the Goths 4:38 The sack of Rome 5:48 The last emperor of the West, 476 7:23 The East that lasted to 1453 8:26 The great argument 10:14 What killed the Western Empire 11:09 Gradually, then suddenly SOURCES • E. Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776–89) • B. Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization (OUP, 2005) • P. Brown, The World of Late Antiquity (1971) · K. Harper, The Fate of Rome (2017) • McConnell et al., “Lead pollution recorded in Greenland ice…”, PNAS (2018) • Jerome, Commentary on Ezekiel, Bk I pref. · Procopius, Wars III.2 · Marcellinus Comes • World History Encyclopedia: Crisis of the Third Century; Roman coinage debasement • Wikipedia: Adrianople; Sacks of Rome (410, 455); Romulus Augustulus; Fall of Constantinople Here by Degrees: how things got this way, one step at a time. New explainers every week. Subscribe so you don't miss the next one. #history #Rome #RomanEmpire