In AD 476, the last of Rome's emperors, known as "Augustulus," was
deposed by a barbarian general, the son of one of Attila the Hun's
henchmen. With the imperial vestments dispatched to Constantinople, the
curtain fell on the Roman empire in Western Europe, its territories
divided among successor kingdoms constructed around barbarian military
manpower. But, if the Roman Empire was dead, Romans across much of the
old empire still lived, holding on to their lands, their values, and
their institutions. The conquering barbarians, responding to Rome's
continuing psychological dominance and the practical value of many of
its institutions, were ready to reignite the imperial flame and enjoy
the benefits. As Peter Heather shows in dazzling biographical portraits,
each of the three greatest immediate contenders for imperial
power--Theoderic, Justinian, and Charlemagne--operated with a different
power base but was astonishingly successful in his own way. Though each
in turn managed to put back together enough of the old Roman West to
stake a plausible claim to the Western imperial title, none of their
empires long outlived their founders' deaths. Not until the reinvention
of the papacy in the 11th century would Europe's barbarians find the
means to establish a new kind of Roman Empire, one that has lasted 1,000
years.
A sequel to the bestselling Fall of the Roman Empire, The Restoration
of Rome offers a captivating narrative of the death of an era and the
birth of the Catholic Church.
The accompanying reference guide is included as a PDF on this disc.
