The Fall of Rome

The Fall of Rome begins with the fourth-century frontier system and the arrival of Gothic refugees inside the empire, treating the Roman defeat at Adrianople in 378 as a major warning rather than an isolated disaster. Holmes connects Hunnic pressure and environmental change on the Eurasian steppe with migration, Roman–Persian rivalry, civil war and the political difficulty of settling armed peoples within imperial territory.

The narrative follows Valens, Theodosius I, Stilicho, Honorius and Alaric through divided courts, military rivalries and repeated failures of negotiation. It culminates in the Visigothic sack of Rome in 410, showing how tactical errors and unstable leadership compounded deeper structural strain. The collapse is presented as a contingent process shaped by decisions as well as long-term pressure, not as an inevitable decline.