In his latest book,
“The Ruin of the Roman Empire: A New History” (Ecco; September 2008),
James J. O’Donnell writes about the saga of ancient Rome, demonstrating how a historically informed discussion of its borders and peoples can change the way we presently consider matters of warfare and national identity.
The Roman Empire has been studied and written about exhaustively. “And yet, history never stays the same,” says O’Donnell, provost and professor of classics at Georgetown University. “New research and new evidence lead to startling new conclusions.”
In addition to exploring the relevance of ancient Rome, O’Donnell examines why Rome’s desire to preserve itself proved to be self-defeating and how that influences today’s nations’ tendencies to operate under self-preservation at all costs.
The classical scholar encourages reconsideration of the “barbarians” and their accepted role in Rome’s decline. Long seen as villains represented by swooping, invasion-charting arrows on schoolhouse maps, they have traditionally been depicted as unfeeling brutes who overthrew civilization with no concept of what they destroyed. Yet, O’Donnell offers fresh insights about who they really were and what they stood for and believed in. He asks that if the “barbarians” were villains, why were their kingdoms so often peaceful, prosperous and progressive.
“Of the northern people who came to the Mediterranean, whether we call them Vandals, Visgoths, Ostrogoths, Franks, Lombards or eventually Slavs, all had more in common with one another and with the Romans than traditional narratives ever suggest,” writes O’Donnell. “If there were any primeval forest dwellers in those communities, they were the ones their smarter, more acquisitive and more ambitious cousins left behind…by the time people like Theoderic’s followers find themselves in Italy, they were there not as barbarians but as Roman soldiers, bearers of the distinctive frontier culture of the north, to be sure, with styles of dress, religion, and speech that differentiated them from the settled southerners, but that made them nonetheless part of the same imperial community. They had their own officers, their own bureaucrats, and their own jargon.”
Drawing parallels between the present and the past that enrich the understanding of today’s volatile age while also illuminating decisive moments in Roman history, “The Ruin of the Roman Empire” reveals just how relevant ancient Rome still is, pointing out that modern day problems including territorial disputes, religious wars, refugee crises, diplomatic failures and insurgent uprising are in fact legacies bequeathed to us centuries ago.
“Old errors are easy to re-enact -- as fading empires, bereft of self-awareness, struggle again to use their old power to preserve themselves, and in so doing risk weakening beyond repair; as religious communities mistake their faith for destiny and find pretexts for behavior that goes beyond even the unconscionable and the imaginable,” writes O’Donnell. “Today as in the sixth century, a calm sense for the long view, the broad view, and a pragmatic preference for the better rather than the best can have a hard time overcoming the noisy anxiety of those who would transform -- that is, ruin -- what they do not understand.”
In his book O’Donnell refers to civilization as a thing of calm, patience, pragmatism and wisdom. “We are not assured that it will triumph,” he writes.
The classicist’s recent exploration into ancient Rome has been deemed engaging by leading members of the diplomatic world.
“‘The Ruin of the Roman Empire’ is an exotic and instructive tale, told, with life, learning, and just the right measure of laughter on every page,” says Madeleine Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State. “O’Donnell combines a historian’s mastery of substance with a born storyteller’s sense of style to create a magnificent work of art. Perfect for history lovers and admirers of great writing alike.”
James O’Donnell, provost of Georgetown University and a leading classical scholar and Latinist, has published extensively on the history and culture of late antiquity. He is an expert on the life and works of St. Augustine of Hippo, on media and information transmission through the ages, and on ancient Rome. He incorporates information technology into his research, using the distant past and the immediate, technological present to illuminate one another. His earlier research has focused on the meaning of the five million words surviving from St. Augustine, and also on the history of writing and media from ancient Greek times to the present. He is the author of the best-selling “Augustine: A New Biography” (Ecco; 2005).
