The West of the Roman Empire experienced a chain of dramatic events and development from 396 AD onwards. The last Western emperor was deposed in 476 AD and Justinian abolished the Western Roman court in 554 AD. These events, which mark the transition from antiquity to the Middle Ages in Europe, are often explained by a 'civic migration'. However, this book, by contrast, highlights internal Roman conflicts: Western Rome was not conquered. Its successive empires only superseded the authority of the imperial government, when endless civil wars had led to the collapse of Roman rule. A systematic overview of Empire, administration, army, economy and religion completes the presentation.
Dr. Henning Börm is Privatdozent for Ancient History at the University of Konstanz.
