Professor Kyle Harper

I think 476 is a handy date, it's a real enough moment And yet the real falls of the Roman Empire, I would date to the 3rd century crisis and then to the 6th century crisis.

I think 476 is a handy date, it's a real enough moment And yet the real falls of the Roman Empire, I would date to the 3rd century crisis and then to the 6th century crisis.

Yeah. I mean, I think the third century is a period of crisis and transformation. And what you get in the aftermath of that is something really structurally different. And this structurally different empire then lasts for a really long time. I mean, it in some ways is really as long lasting, if not even slightly longer than the time period between Augustus and Decius.

Yeah. I mean, I think the third century is a period of crisis and transformation. And what you get in the aftermath of that is something really structurally different. And this structurally different empire then lasts for a really long time. I mean, it in some ways is really as long lasting, if not even slightly longer than the time period between Augustus and Decius.

Yeah. I mean, I think the third century is a period of crisis and transformation. And what you get in the aftermath of that is something really structurally different. And this structurally different empire then lasts for a really long time. I mean, it in some ways is really as long lasting, if not even slightly longer than the time period between Augustus and Decius.

And so we need to think about it on its terms. It's clearly something that is structurally stable enough to prove really, really enduring. And so we have to ask why, you know, I think we shouldn't see that its sort of fate was sealed from the beginning. And we need to be able to imagine alternatives in which

And so we need to think about it on its terms. It's clearly something that is structurally stable enough to prove really, really enduring. And so we have to ask why, you know, I think we shouldn't see that its sort of fate was sealed from the beginning. And we need to be able to imagine alternatives in which

And so we need to think about it on its terms. It's clearly something that is structurally stable enough to prove really, really enduring. And so we have to ask why, you know, I think we shouldn't see that its sort of fate was sealed from the beginning. And we need to be able to imagine alternatives in which

If the Huns hadn't invaded, or if the Goths hadn't been such a formidable force, or if there hadn't been a devastating change in the climate and pandemic disease, history could have been very different. And the second Roman Empire lasts a very long time, but it could have even lasted longer than it did.

If the Huns hadn't invaded, or if the Goths hadn't been such a formidable force, or if there hadn't been a devastating change in the climate and pandemic disease, history could have been very different. And the second Roman Empire lasts a very long time, but it could have even lasted longer than it did.

If the Huns hadn't invaded, or if the Goths hadn't been such a formidable force, or if there hadn't been a devastating change in the climate and pandemic disease, history could have been very different. And the second Roman Empire lasts a very long time, but it could have even lasted longer than it did.

Well, I hope we do debate it for ages and it keeps historians employed. But the exciting thing to me is that we don't have to just debate it with the same evidence, with the same data sets, with the same texts. We can now... read Ammianus Marcellinus, but we can also look at what does tree rings in Central Asia or the Alps tell us about the world in which these people lived.

Well, I hope we do debate it for ages and it keeps historians employed. But the exciting thing to me is that we don't have to just debate it with the same evidence, with the same data sets, with the same texts. We can now... read Ammianus Marcellinus, but we can also look at what does tree rings in Central Asia or the Alps tell us about the world in which these people lived.

Well, I hope we do debate it for ages and it keeps historians employed. But the exciting thing to me is that we don't have to just debate it with the same evidence, with the same data sets, with the same texts. We can now... read Ammianus Marcellinus, but we can also look at what does tree rings in Central Asia or the Alps tell us about the world in which these people lived.

So we can keep debating it, but we should also try and get new clues to piece together the past.

So we can keep debating it, but we should also try and get new clues to piece together the past.

So we can keep debating it, but we should also try and get new clues to piece together the past.

The Fate of Rome, Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire. 2017, which is already a long time ago in this world, but it certainly touches on many of these themes.

The Fate of Rome, Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire. 2017, which is already a long time ago in this world, but it certainly touches on many of these themes.

The Fate of Rome, Climate, Disease, and the End of an Empire. 2017, which is already a long time ago in this world, but it certainly touches on many of these themes.