The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by James W. Ermatinger is about the events leading up to the rise of Rome, the highest periods of the Roman Empire, and the events leading to the fall of Rome and its empire. Ermatinger wrote this book so readers and history buffs could know the best reasons, events, and a timeline of the fall of Rome. Every historian has his or her own thoughts and a made-up timeline of what happened in Rome. Ermatinger did all the events he knows of Rome before, during, and after the decline or fall.
Ermatinger gives us a timeline that starts from the 230s all the way until 526 after Rome was finally an almost forgotten city. Ermatinger also gives us the name of each ruler around these time periods such as Attila the Hun, Augustine, Constantine, Julian, Diocletian, the list goes on. The reader is also given a few photographs of certain Roman figures and a glossary at the end of the book. Each chapter gives us a small feel of Rome since it is not an encyclopedia or history textbook. Just a brief synopsis from here and there of Roman history, enough to have us understand what is going on. Culture, society, economics, religion, and enemies are main points of the chapters.
The last chapter is “Why and When Rome Fell”. Ermatinger gives the reader several key points as to why Rome fell and faults within the city that may have caused it to fall. It is not just one reason, but many reasons as to why this big city collapsed. The key points he brings up are quality and quantity of soldiers as along with geographical location, the West lacked political leaders, succession, new governing class against the old, society, Late Roman economics, and the last key point is fear of political leaders. All these points are key points and events Ermatinger gives to us with proof in his book, his own research with bibliographies, photographs, and knowledge of the events.
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James W. Ermatinger was born in 1959 and is still currently living! He attended San Diego State University for his masters and Indiana University for his doctorate in ancient history and antiquity. He is a professor at Southeast Missouri State University and has written another book, The Economic Reforms of Diocletian. Knowing this, Ermatinger is qualified to be applicable for this book and knowledgeable for the Roman Empire events.
Ermatinger’s thesis is what happened to Rome and why it declined. He gives many sources he used for his research for evidence, had another professor write a preface for him, and at the end of the book, he gives different historical documents from Rome as more evidence of the fall and decline of Rome and its empire. A Pro-Gothic view of the sack of Rome: “When they finally entered Rome, by Alaric’s express command they merely sacked it and did not set the city on fire, as wild peoples usually do, nor did they permit serious damage to be done to the holy places” (Ermatinger 144). This document was from The Origin and Deeds of the Goths translated by Charles C. Mierow. This is a source used by Ermatinger to prove his point of how Rome fell. The quote by Mierow explains that Rome’s forces were so weak that Jerome lead his army and was able to sack Rome without burning it to the ground or causing serious damage to the churches.
The date of which when Rome collapsed is still up for debate today. Ermatinger gives us the many dates that have been used before among other historians and professors compared to his own. “The year 284 has often been seen as the fall of the empire, with Diocletian’s accession” (Ermatinger 61). 284 is the earliest date of seeing the Roman Empire start to fall. Other dates include, 312 when Constantine defeated Maxentius and unified the West, 327 when Constantine died and his sons took his reign, 378 after the Battle of Adrianople, 410 when Rome got sacked by Jerome, 455 when Gaiseric plunders the city, or finally, the year Ermatinger believes, is 476 when Odoacer dismissing a young emperor since Rome did not need a new one. Ermatinger labels this as a “clear act” and after this time, Rome was already starting its decline, and this was “the final nail” (65).
The argument of the Roman Empire in 476 is convincing due to the facts given by Ermatinger and the evidence shown by other sources in this book found or given to James Ermatinger himself. There are many viewpoints and opposing sides of when Rome began to decline and fall from other historians. Although they do suggest decline, 476 seems like the logical date of the empire finally falling as the events after the year 476 are not pleasant or we do not hear much about Romans a few years after that.
The decline of Rome are given as the years before the decline in 476, especially during Constantine’s reign. Constantine had five major ways or undermining Rome and that was adopting dynastic rule, used Christianity as a political tool, harming the health of the citizens with new economic policies, creating a large moving army, and finally, moving the capital of from Rome to Byzantium (what we refer to now as Constantinople). Ermatinger’s evidence of decline before the fall in 476: “Here he abandoned the minting of an abundant silver coinage and large stable bronze coins, instead of reverting to the third-century policy of minting abundant smaller bronze coins which produced a series of inflationary decades during the 330s to 360s’ (Ermatinger 66).
This quote explains that one major reason Rome began to fall was due to Constantine changing how coins were being minted which also caused some trouble among members of Rome and brought down Rome economically. The different style of minting brought up inflation, then back down, then brought it up again until it finally collapsed.
The book is placed in chronological order right from the beginning as the readers gets a timeline of events and rulers before the chapters begin. The chapters are also written in chronological order as they came for the empire. Ermatinger, the author, does backtrack often as some leaders may have been born during one time but did not rule until later after another. It is easy to follow, though. If the reader sticks to the timeline, it will not be difficult to read or understand. Ermatinger also does not favor one side over the other. He is very mutual and on even ground. No one has the high ground in this book. He brings up points that may be valid for one historian, but not another simply due to beliefs. Ermatinger has his own beliefs but overall has facts to back up his claim and is simply fact-based information.
Readers who might find the books useful are history buffs, students taking a history class, or anyone that would like to know the facts of how and why Rome fell by a very well-written author who gives a good claim to his thesis statement for and about the book and backs it up with answers and sources of his own. We, the readers, will know the author is true to his word and his knowledge due to these facts and how Ermatinger backs up his claims. History buffs or historians may find this read very useful as it is written by a professor, has facts, and has evidence to back up the claims; students may find this book very useful as you could use the book for a book report or have your history book shortened up from this time period so you have less to read, but still have good claims, facts, and evidence to prove the claims; anyone else who would like to read a history book may find it useful due to the sources at the back of the book and the explanations of each topic. This book would be very useful for a research assignment as there is given facts with evidence, sources to back up any claims, opposing viewpoints from other professors or historians, and has provided research about this topic since Ermatinger is a history professor at a college university.
In conclusion, the book, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by James W. Ermatinger is a good read for any reader who may be interested as it has facts, sources, evidence to back up claims, opposing viewpoints, and words from other professors or historians. So how and why did the Roman Empire fall? The Roman Empire declined and eventually fell as a result of decentralization, pressure of worshipping different Gods, the debasement of coinage, detouring health, and moving the capital when the country was already big and populated.
