Epilogue

This epilogue addresses the weakening of the Roman state. In the third century CE, the Roman Empire began having trouble maintaining its geographical integrity, a problem that would grow noticeably worse thereafter. The split between an eastern and western half in 395 CE was the most dramatic manifestation of that decreasing ability. After the empire split in two, especially the west in the course of the fifth century saw the abandonment of peripheral areas, although signs of declining state power appeared in the east as well. However, as the western half eventually disintegrated, the eastern half recovered. In the sixth century, it managed to extend its rule over parts of the west, including the Italian heartland. But even with this westward expansion—and even allowing for healthy economic activity in some eastern regions—as a military and economic organization, the Roman Empire was nothing like the mighty state it once had been. The chapter then considers the effects of the empire's disintegration on human welfare.

Abandonment (legal) · Ancient history · Economic history · Empire · Geography · Nothing · Political science · Power (physics) · Roman Empire · State (computer science) · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Law · Philosophy