Brennus – A Gaulish Chief who sacked Rome in 390 BC How did the Roman Empire survive the huge problems it faced during the crisis of the Third Century?  In my extended review of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire I have just reached the reign of Diocletian.  But before moving forward I’d

‘That’s how China could finally finish off America, give them aid!’ ‘They are pretty much doing that already’ Exchange between Niall Ferguson and Dambisa Moyo I don’t want to get into the habit of  doing this, but this is a book I haven’t actually read.  What I have done is listened to a podcast where

 The idea that climate change has played a role in the fall of the Roman Empire has a long history itself.  Gibbon mentions it as a possibility in Chapter 9 of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.  But I have looked in vain for actual information on  what exactly the climate was actually

Following the assassination of Probus, the Praetorian prefect Carus was on hand and was well placed to succeed.  He rapidly took over and he seemed to know what he was doing.  He was about 60 with two sons and with none of the liberal inclinations of Probus.  He did not trouble to get approval from

Probus was a career soldier who had risen through the ranks, so we are back to the pattern established by Claudius and Aurelian.  Both those emperors came originally from the province of Illyricum, just over the Adriatic from Italy.  Probus also came from the same region.  It may have been that there was an Illyricum

“The crime of one man, and the error of many, have deprived us of the late emperor Aurelian. May it please you, venerable lords and fathers to place him in the number of the gods, and to appoint a successor whom your judgment shall declare worthy of the Imperial purple! None of those whose guilt