The Long Defeat: The Fall of the Roman Empire
by Clifford Ando
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Clifford Ando, David B. and Clara E. Stern Professor; Professor of Classics, University of Chicago speaks at the third lecture in our four-part series: Why Did Civilizations Collapse: Internal Decay or External Forces? The Long Defeat: The Fall of the Roman Empire in East and West.
The Roman Empire remains one of the world's longest lived polities. Its collapse has therefore endured as a great historical puzzle. Was it barbarians or internal decay? Or was Christianity to blame? The lecture will explore a range of theories and consider in detail why the two famous theories, those of St. Augustine and Edward Gibbon, have found so little favor.
This audio recording was originally presented as an illustrated lecture. The video of this lecture is available on the OI YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/2vSGPHByAZc
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