Books that Matter: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

In Books That Matter: The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Professor Damrosch invites you on a riveting, 24-lecture examination of this great work from multiple perspectives; as a vast historical chronicle, as a compelling masterpiece of literature, as a sharp commentary on cultural mores, and as a cautionary tale to Enlightenment Europe. An engaging, chapter-by-chapter guide to the Decline and Fall, Professor Damrosch’s course helps you navigate the book’s themes, structure, philosophies, background, and lasting influence. Whether you’ve read the book before and are looking for new ways to think about it, or whether you’ve always wanted to read it but never knew where to start, Professor Damrosch’s lectures are a fascinating, rewarding, and authoritative guide to the enduring legacy of a once-mighty empire—and the great book that became its eulogy and epitaph.

All Lectures:
1. The Greatness of Gibbon's Decline and Fall
2. The Making of Gibbon the Historian
3. The Empire at Its Beginning
4. The Theory and Practice of History
5. The Golden Age of the Antonines
6. The Hidden Poison Begins to Work
7. Diocletian and the Triumph of Constantine
8. Enlightenment Skepticism
9. The Rise of Christianity
10. Constantine and Athanasius
11. Julian and the Return to Paganism
12. Barbarian Advances and Theodosius
13. East and West Divided
14. Huns and Vandals
15. Theodoric and Justinian
16. The Breakup of the Empire
17. The Byzantine Empire and Charlemagne
18. The Rise of Islam
19. The Byzantine Empire in the 10th Century
20. The Crusades
21. Genghis Khan and Tamerlane
22. The Fall of Constantinople
23. The End of Gibbon's Work
24. Decline and Fall in Modern Perspective