Dr. David Gwynn

I mean, the last time Rome was sacked before AD 410 was by the Gauls 800 years previously. David, with hindsight, do you think Rome's fall and decline was unavoidable? Emphatically, no. Gibbon famously said that the fall of the Roman Empire was inevitable and the reason is simple and obvious. We should just be surprised it survived so long.

I mean, the last time Rome was sacked before AD 410 was by the Gauls 800 years previously. David, with hindsight, do you think Rome's fall and decline was unavoidable? Emphatically, no. Gibbon famously said that the fall of the Roman Empire was inevitable and the reason is simple and obvious. We should just be surprised it survived so long.

I mean, the last time Rome was sacked before AD 410 was by the Gauls 800 years previously. David, with hindsight, do you think Rome's fall and decline was unavoidable? Emphatically, no. Gibbon famously said that the fall of the Roman Empire was inevitable and the reason is simple and obvious. We should just be surprised it survived so long.

It was the inevitable consequence of immoderate greatness. Gibbon's so good at using language. Basically, an empire that big will eventually collapse. I don't agree with Gibbon. The problem is the Romans have recovered from so many shocks before. It's what makes this series of shocks unique.

It was the inevitable consequence of immoderate greatness. Gibbon's so good at using language. Basically, an empire that big will eventually collapse. I don't agree with Gibbon. The problem is the Romans have recovered from so many shocks before. It's what makes this series of shocks unique.

It was the inevitable consequence of immoderate greatness. Gibbon's so good at using language. Basically, an empire that big will eventually collapse. I don't agree with Gibbon. The problem is the Romans have recovered from so many shocks before. It's what makes this series of shocks unique.

It's why whenever you're trying to understand the fall of the West, you've got to think about the survival of the East. Because the fact that an Eastern half of the empire with the same core structures of government organization, and if anything, more Christians and more Christian infighting, managed to survive That means it can't simply be an internal explanation for the collapse of the West.

It's why whenever you're trying to understand the fall of the West, you've got to think about the survival of the East. Because the fact that an Eastern half of the empire with the same core structures of government organization, and if anything, more Christians and more Christian infighting, managed to survive That means it can't simply be an internal explanation for the collapse of the West.

It's why whenever you're trying to understand the fall of the West, you've got to think about the survival of the East. Because the fact that an Eastern half of the empire with the same core structures of government organization, and if anything, more Christians and more Christian infighting, managed to survive That means it can't simply be an internal explanation for the collapse of the West.

Could it have been averted? Yes. There are several moments where the Romans, if they just handled it better, there hadn't been so many stupid civil wars. If they'd actually negotiated rather than trying to fight with people like Alaric, it could have turned out very differently indeed. So I do not regard it as an inevitable story.

Could it have been averted? Yes. There are several moments where the Romans, if they just handled it better, there hadn't been so many stupid civil wars. If they'd actually negotiated rather than trying to fight with people like Alaric, it could have turned out very differently indeed. So I do not regard it as an inevitable story.

Could it have been averted? Yes. There are several moments where the Romans, if they just handled it better, there hadn't been so many stupid civil wars. If they'd actually negotiated rather than trying to fight with people like Alaric, it could have turned out very differently indeed. So I do not regard it as an inevitable story.

But Brian Ward Perkins in Oxford wrote a very good book called The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. And as Brian said, the Romans of the late 4th century were certain that their world wouldn't significantly change. They were wrong. We might want to remember that as well.

But Brian Ward Perkins in Oxford wrote a very good book called The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. And as Brian said, the Romans of the late 4th century were certain that their world wouldn't significantly change. They were wrong. We might want to remember that as well.

But Brian Ward Perkins in Oxford wrote a very good book called The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. And as Brian said, the Romans of the late 4th century were certain that their world wouldn't significantly change. They were wrong. We might want to remember that as well.

It is brutally difficult because even as late as 468, they're still fighting. For me, it's not actually the division of the empire in 395. It's the civil wars of the very early 390s. Because those civil wars firstly badly weakened the Western Roman army in particular, which made them particularly vulnerable.

It is brutally difficult because even as late as 468, they're still fighting. For me, it's not actually the division of the empire in 395. It's the civil wars of the very early 390s. Because those civil wars firstly badly weakened the Western Roman army in particular, which made them particularly vulnerable.

It is brutally difficult because even as late as 468, they're still fighting. For me, it's not actually the division of the empire in 395. It's the civil wars of the very early 390s. Because those civil wars firstly badly weakened the Western Roman army in particular, which made them particularly vulnerable.

It's the first time a major civil war is fought when there is an independent Germanic people already inside the frontier, the Goths. And crucially, it was the massacre of the Goths at that battle that helps trigger Alaric's entire attitude that the Goths must break free of Roman control. That concentrated period, which is also, of course, the period where the anti-pagan laws get passed.

It's the first time a major civil war is fought when there is an independent Germanic people already inside the frontier, the Goths. And crucially, it was the massacre of the Goths at that battle that helps trigger Alaric's entire attitude that the Goths must break free of Roman control. That concentrated period, which is also, of course, the period where the anti-pagan laws get passed.