What does the Late Roman Empire Tell us about the Historical Decline of Great Powers?

October 28, 2023
A panel discussion with our speakers
Historians often argue that all empires go through cycles of expansion, stagnation, and decline, but how do these cycles evolve in specific times and places? This is the broad question that we’ll examine in this dialogue seminar with two UNC experts who have carefully studied the historical transformations of the later Roman Empire. We’ll compare how Rome’s social, political, and cultural institutions gradually lost influence in the western and eastern cities of the ancient Mediterranean world. More generally, we’ll discuss this complex story of a changing imperial system to gain new perspectives on the recurring patterns of “great power decline” and the imaginative ways in which people adapt to social or political transitions.
TOPICS & SPEAKERS
The Material Fall of the Roman West, 300-600 CE
Henry Gruber, Assistant Professor of History
Continuity and Change in the Eastern Roman Empire during Late Antiquity
Jennifer Gates-Foster, Associate Professor of Classics and Archeology
What does the Late Roman Empire Tell us about the Historical Decline of Great Powers?
A panel discussion with our speakers
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