"It is a seductive thesis, told with brio and all the guarantees of scholarship."--The Economist

Prominent historian Ramsay MacMullen here offers a new perspective on the decline and fall of Rome. MacMullen argues that a key factor in Rome's fall was the steady loss of focus and control over government as its aims were thwarted for private gain by high-ranking bureaucrats and military leaders. Written in an informal and lively style, his book--the culmination of years of research and thoughtful analysis--provides a fascinating, fresh line of investigation and shows convincingly that the decline of Rome was a gradual, insidious process rather than a climactic event.