Collapse and Recovery of the Roman Empire (Routledge Key Guides)
Grant's great gift has been to make the basic trends of classical civilization accessible to general readers while maintaining first-rate standards of scholarship. In this compact volume, Grant examines the causes for the near disintegration of the empire in the mid-third century A.D., including the problems of imperial succession, Germanic encroachments on the frontiers, and chronic conflicts with the Persians in the East. He then convincingly asserts that the empire possessed hidden strengths that allowed for a vigorous recovery from these dangers and survival for another two centuries in the West (and another millennium in the East). Despite the relative brevity of his survey, Grant probes with great insight various critical aspects of third-century Roman civilization, including religious life, the reconstitution of the army, and economic stability. This work is a worthy and necessary addition to both academic and public library collections on classical history.Jay Freeman