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I'd recommend Gibbon, "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire".

• ch4s3 5y ago
  I’ve skimmed some of it. I was under the impression that Gibbon’s decline narrative isn’t very well regarded among scholars today, but I don’t know enough to make any judgment there.
  • Ericson2314 5y ago
    Per part 1: > While I am going at points to gesture to Gibbon’s thinking, we’re not going to debate him; he is the ‘old man’ of our title. Gibbon himself largely exists only in historiographical footnotes and intellectual histories; he is not at this point seriously defended nor seriously attacked but discussed as the venerable, but now out of date, origin point for all of this bickering. Holding it in ill-regard would be punching down. It's an 18th work! If it were at all up to date, that would indicate serious stagnation in the academy. Of course, there has been a great amassing of new evidence since then, especially non-textual.
    • Ericson2314 5y ago
      If you want more intellectual history, I recommend "The Social and Economic History of the Roman Empire" by https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Rostovtzeff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Rostovtzeff https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominate == USSR, basically. It's too editorialized to stand as a modern historical text, but it's great fun to read nonetheless!
    • aestetix 5y ago
      I'm starting book 3 right now. Due to being written over 200 years ago his work might be out of date, but is there anything he got wrong? I could see scholars having issues with some of his opinions, but as far as I am aware, his factual history stands.