F. W. Walbank (1909–2008)

Walbank offers the interesting idea, that the Romans didn't fall because of general or specific decadence, but because the Villa-based economy had become so self-sufficient that there was no need for the local movers and shakers to engage with a centralizing government, so they let it lapse until it was too late to put it back together. This is a simplification, but still a strand to be dealt with in further writing on the topic. Kind of an elephant in the room, in "Fall of Rome" show more discussions. He originally advanced this theory in 1947. show less

Originally published in 1939, but a standard reference until the 1990's, this volume in the series wears well. However, it is eighty two years old by now, and reference to more recent work is obviously warranted for professional and educational reading. That said, there is much remaining to gleaned from this book, and it does point the reader to an informed opinion of later efforts in this field.

Another volume read in an ambitious plan to read the Cambridge Ancient History as a whole. Excellent background resource, if someone wants to delve in depth in a particular topic from this era - this would be a starting point, a map to start exploring.

Written in the 1940s and asks the question "Was ancient Rome a fascist state?"