RELSTY 311L: The Fall of Rome

People have been trying to understand the fall of Rome since the fall of Rome. In 200 CE, the Roman Empire was the largest, most diverse, and most powerful state the Mediterranean world had ever seen. By 500, the Western half of the Empire had splintered into smaller kingdoms that would eventually become the basis for modern European states. What happened? This course will examine the political, military, environmental, and social changes of the Empire as it loses territory and transforms into the medieval world. But we will spend just as much time trying to understand what it was like for typical Romans to live through this period. We will study armies and taxes, but also the rise of Christianity, the prevalence of slavery, the shifting gender norms, and the stories that filled the imaginations of people throughout this time. We will discuss major ancient cities like Rome and Constantinople, but we'll also venture out to the edges of the Empire and beyond learning about the Goths, Celts, Sassanians, and more. In addition to learning about the transformation of the Roman Empire between 250 and 800, students will also practice thinking like historians; that is, we will think about possibilities and limitations of the wide range of sources that historians use to piece together what happened and why it matters. How do we know what we know about the past? And why should we care how history is written?