The Restoration of Rome

Barbarian Popes and Imperial Pretenders

De: Peter Heather

Narrado por: Allan Robertson

In AD 476, the last of Rome's emperors, known as "Augustulus", was deposed by a barbarian general, the son of one of Attila the Hun's henchmen. With the imperial vestments dispatched to Constantinople, the curtain fell on the Roman empire in Western Europe, its territories divided among successor kingdoms constructed around barbarian military manpower. But, if the Roman Empire was dead, Romans across much of the old empire still lived, holding on to their lands, their values, and their institutions. The conquering barbarians, responding to Rome's continuing psychological dominance and the practical value of many of its institutions, were ready to reignite the imperial flame and enjoy the benefits. As Peter Heather shows in dazzling biographical portraits, each of the three greatest immediate contenders for imperial power - Theoderic, Justinian, and Charlemagne - operated with a different power base but was astonishingly successful in his own way. Though each in turn managed to put back together enough of the old Roman West to stake a plausible claim to the Western imperial title, none of their empires long outlived their founders' deaths. Not until the reinvention of the papacy in the 11th century would Europe's barbarians find the means to establish a new kind of Roman Empire, one that has lasted 1,000 years.

A sequel to the best-selling Fall of the Roman Empire, The Restoration of Rome offers a captivating narrative of the death of an era and the birth of the Catholic Church.

Download the accompanying reference guide.©2013 Peter Heather (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Informative and provocative, but with some obvious agendas

Heather is an entertaining writer and uses some fun pop culture references (notably the Godfather) to spice up what is otherwise a remote and opaque period of history. He does have several axes to grind (as another reviewer put it), notably on the ethnic character of Europe’s barbarian groups (in other words, that they were cultural groups with blood ties, not just large war bands) and his belief that religion is merely a disguise for political ambition. The former position is unobjectionable (his critics have an obvious modern political agenda of the own: legitimizing the EU) but the latter comes across as bigoted, especially when he boasts that he know nothing about theology, which is inexcusable for anyone writing about popes and bishops. So, just take his tendency to view all theological conflicts as political conflicts with a huge grain of salt. By his own admission, if he was missing the religious angle, he wouldn’t know it.

Informative Yet Tedious

I’ve enjoyed Peter Heather’s work and have read his works on the Fall of Rome. The man clearly knows his history and his attention to detail is remarkable. So remarkable that he goes on tangents upon tangents and soon we’re descending into a vortex of knowledge so deep that you’re left spinning and sinking into a Peter Heather aderrol fueled abyss of information that will have you hypnotized and numb once you pull through.

One of the best history books on audible!

Any additional comments?

This is the third book released on audible on the fall of the Roman Empire and the subsequent period by historian Peter Heather and by far my favorite though I enjoyed his other works as well. This book focused on Theodoric, Justinian, Charlemagne, and the Papacy in their various attempts to reassert imperial authority in the west after 476. I thought his comparison of Charlemagne and other feudal monarchs to the Godfather was both apt and entertaining and his analysis of Justinian was critical but fair.

Written for the college freshman

The author, although clearly knowledgeable and has studied the sources from several angles, writes as if he is teaching a lecture hall of 250 freshman, and is trying his best to get good student "reviews" or "ratings" at the end of the semester. Annoying for an adult.

The narrator is very competent but i don't like him. Not everyone will have the same problem of course. I listened to one other book which he narrated, and it is the same. He is best described as SMARMY sounding. I'm sure that he wont irritate many people, especially those who themselves are smarmy. But i find him irritating to listen to...not droll, but........

This Is a Book about the Importance of Empire

Heather takes a look at the attempts by various leaders in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages to reestablish imperial power in the west. He examines the reigns of Theoderic, Justinian, Charlemagne and several of his heirs, and finally a series of popes whom he argues were the most successful at recreating the empire. It’s an interesting book which at the very least shows how important the concept of empire continued to be in the Middle Ages. For me, it was Heather’s account of the collapse of Charlemagne’s empire—rooted in Frankish customs that divided inheritance among all sons—that was most interesting. This is a long book, but worthwhile.