Fall of Rome

Catalog description

This course focuses on the later imperial period of the Roman Empire, with special attention to the divide of the Roman Empire, the eventual collapse of the Western empire, and its impact on the Mediterranean world. Concentrated primarily on the period that Alois Riegl and Peter Brown first referred to as “late antiquity,” this course will interrogate the long-held narrative of a “decline and a fall” of Rome’s power, prestige, and authority, while highlighting how the memory and legacy of Rome have been deeply impactful within world history.