Edward J. Watts, "The Eternal Decline and Fall of Rome: The History of a Dangerous Idea" (Oxford UP, 2021)

In Conversation: An OUP Podcast · Dec 25, 2023 · 1h 2m

As this book intriguingly explores, for those who would make Rome great again and their victims, ideas of Roman decline and renewal have had a long and violent history. The decline of Rome has been a constant source of discussion for more than 2200 years. Everyone from American journalists in the twenty-first century AD to Roman politicians at the turn of the third century BC have used it as a tool to illustrate the negative consequences of changes in their world. Because Roman history is so long, it provides a buffet of ready-made stories of decline that can help develop the context around…