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The fall of the Western Roman Empire and why the Roman military failed – Interview with Michael Kulikowski
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/2Uh27Fu
Interview Timeline
Michael Kulikowski is the author of Rome’s Gothic Wars, Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, and The Triumph of Empire. Michael has appeared on a number of shows and writes frequently for the Wall Street Journal and London Review of Books. He is the Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of History and Classics at Pennsylvania State University. We spoke about his book on the all of the Western Roman Empire and about the state of the Roman military during and after the fall. The Tragedy of Empire: From Constantine to the Destruction of Roman Italy (Belknap Press, 2019)
0:43 – Michael talks about how he got interested in Roman history.
1:40 – Michael talks about what the collapse of Rome meant.
3:23 – Michael talks about how people protected themselves after the fall.
4:32 – Michael goes into detail about Europe after the fall of Rome.
7:05 – Michael talks about what Roman soldiers did after the fall.
8:17 – Michael talks about the Eastern Roman Empire.
9:17 – Michael talks about how the Eastern Roman Empire maintained itself.
11:33 – Michael talks about the details of Tragedy of Empire.
13:39 – Michael talks about the army’s control of the Roman Emperor.
16:02 – Michael talks about the role of the Emperor.
17:27 – Michael talks about religion in Rome.
19:01 – Michael talks about Christianity and the Roman military and society.
20:51 – Michael talks about conversions to Christianity.
22:00 – Michael talks about why people joined the Roman military.
24:39 – Michael talks about regionalism among Romans.
26:07 – Michael talks about the complexity of the Roman military.
27:40 – Michael compares regular soldiers and officers.
28:42 – Michael talks about retirement allotments for soldiers.
29:21 – Michael talks about how Rome went from a well-run military machine into warlordism.
31:14 – Michael talks about the Gothic revolt.
34:48 – Michael talks about reforms in Rome.
36:25 – Michael talks about his research resources.
39:23 – Michael talks about medieval sources of Roman history.
42:08 – Michael talks about archaeological evidence.
42:37 – Michael talks about new discoveries.
44:24 – Michael talks about the Black Sea area and looting there.
46:04 – Michael talks about counterfeiting historical items.
46:43 – Michael talks about the importance of knowing the landscape a historian is writing about.
48:25 – Michael talks about wanting more information on where Slavs come from.
49:30 – Michael talks about the trauma of the collapse.
51:47 – Michael talks about how prevalent slavery was in the late Roman Empire.
54:08 – Michael’s work can be found on the London Review of Books and on amazon.
Links of interest
https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674660137
Contact Information
For more “Military History Inside Out” please follow me at www.warscholar.org, on Facebook at warscholar, on twitter at Warscholar, on youtube at warscholar1945 and on Instagram @crisalvarezswarscholar. Or subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Stitcher | Spotify Please see historyrabbithole.com for a list of my dozen or so blogs and podcasts. You’re sure to find something you like.
Guests: Michael Kulikowski
Host: Cris Alvarez
Tags: Books, audio interviews, author, academic, podcast, Belknap Press, Ancient history, Ancient war,
Check out this book here https://amzn.to/2Uh27Fu
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