The conquest of ruins : the Third Reich and the fall of Rome Introduction. Post Roman mimesis and the law of ruin After Carthage: the Roman empire its rubble and ruins Post Roman mimesis as conquest besetzung: Charles V at Tunis 1535 Post Roman mimesis in the modern age: Cooks second voyage to the South Pacific and the French conquest of Egypt and Algeria Barbarians becoming Romans: from Germanys anti Napoleonic barbarians to the ruin gazer scenarios of the conservative revolution With the end in mind: the Nazi empires post Roman mimesis and the ruined stage of Rome Theorizing empire with the end in sight: Carl Schmitt and Martin Heidegger Epilogue: Anselm Kiefers Zersetzungen disarticulations