Why read The Fate of Rome?

Book cover of The Fate of Rome: Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire

Book description

How devastating viruses, pandemics, and other natural catastrophes swept through the far-flung Roman Empire and helped to bring down one of the mightiest civilizations of the ancient world

Here is the monumental retelling of one of the most consequential chapters of human history: the fall of the Roman Empire. The…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Fate of Rome as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Jordan Neben

Author

The Fate of Rome is a fascinating, but also unnerving reminder that so much has changed, and at the same time so little. It was a stark reminder to me and every other reader of the book that civilization is a fragile construct, and that it only takes a few systemic shocks to transform or destroy it.

In a nutshell, The Fate of Rome makes the case that the Roman Empire was unalterably transformed by a shifting climate and several pandemic disease outbreaks. Sounds exactly like the kind of book someone would write post-COVID outbreak, but amazingly Harper actually wrote…

From Jordan's 3 favorite reads in 2023.