ANCH1102 - The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire?

The Roman Empire, teetering under the weight of its bureaucracy, oppressed by the demands of its soldiers, weakened by wave after wave of barbarian invasions, and, with the rise of Christianity, confronted by its own immorality, finally fell when the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus, was sent into exile in 476 CE. That, at least, is one version of the story. In truth, there are many stories that can be told of the period between the apogee of the Roman empire in the 2nd c. AD and the rise of Christianity and Islam and origins of the so-called Barbarian Kingdoms in the 7th and 8th centuries AD. This course will explore this period of 600 years, using methodologies from history, archaeology, social science and the sciences to understand the complex problem of empire and its evolutions. No previous knowledge of ancient or medieval history required.