THE END OF ANTIQUITY

Rome’s fall and Islam’s dramatic rise take center stage in this final installment of author and podcaster Holmes’ multivolume history.

In the year 637, writes the author in the introduction, “the unthinkable happened” as Roman Jerusalem fell to Islamic conquerors. Indeed, while this volume marks the conclusion of Holmes’ five-book series on the Roman Empire, the rise of a multicontinental Islamic state—built on shocking victories over both the Roman and Sasanian Persian empires—drives much of its novel historiographic claims. Holmes covers the last year of Justinian’s reign in 565 through the Arab siege of Constantinople in 718, and offers a broad overview of major political and military events during this span. Although the history is well known, what stands out is the book’s astute analysis, which addresses central questions about Rome’s decline. While surveying Emperor Heraclius, for instance, the book suggests that although he may have been a skilled tactician in his war with Persia, by the time he turned his attention to Muslim warriors, he’d lost his physical and mental acumen for battle. Central to the book’s thesis is that early Arab military victories were largely due to fortuitous timing and Muhammad’s revolutionary political movement, which united most of the Arabian Peninsula. The rise of Islam coincided with a period when a prolonged war weakened both Rome and Persia; it also marked the onset of the Late Antique Little Ice Age. Overall, this volume makes a significant contribution to the discussion of the fall of Rome—a dominant topic on library shelves for more than a millennium. It does so by blending a traditional top-down history with an environmental survey based on contemporary scientific data. Particularly convincing is the book’s argument that the aforementioned Little Ice Age caused a demographic and economic collapse in Rome and Persia, but had little effect on Arabia, which was largely unaffected by the impact of climate change. Holmes complements his compelling storytelling and engaging thesis with ample maps and images.

A persuasively argued and accessibly written historical work.