Uploaded August 2022 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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In this inaugural episode of the Toldinstone Podcast, I talk with Professor Bryan Ward-Perkins (author of "The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization") about the archaeological evidence for the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, and discuss why the fall of Rome was so catastrophic.

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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:40 Potsherds and the Fall of Rome
6:27 Roman consumer goods
9:24 The Roman state and the Roman economy
11:51 Why the fall of Rome should encourage us
12:27 The scale of the Roman economy
15:15 Talking about cow femurs
17:10 Bricks and tiles
20:35 The transformation of late antique cities
26:14 Population collapse
27:31 The city of Rome in late antiquity
31:35 Thinking about churches
33:28 Early medieval Britain
34:40 The disappearance of coins and iron
37:59 Why was the fall of Rome so catastrophic?