Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair: the fall of Rome in collapse theory.

Abstract

Several recent works have attempted to deal with the collapse of all past state societies, including the Western Roman Empire, as specific instances of a universal systemic phenomenon. These works all subscribe to a common list of characteristics of collapse, emphasizing poverty and discontinuity. This article examines the historical genesis of the concept of the fall of the Roman Empire, and modern scholarship on the Late Antique·Early Medieval transition. The 'trait list' of collapse is shown not to apply to the 'fall' of Rome.