Escape from Rome: The Failure of Empire and the Road to Prosperity (The Princeton Economic History of the Western World Book 115)

A major new history of the rise and success of the West which traces it back to the Fall of the Roman Empire and why that was a good thing and why nothing like it has ever returned. **The gripping story of how the end of the Roman Empire was the beginning of the modern world** The fall of the Roman Empire has long been considered one of the greatest disasters in history. But in this groundbreaking book, Walter Scheidel argues that Rome's dramatic collapse was actually the best thing that ever happened, clearing the path for Europe's economic rise and the creation of the modern age. Ranging across the entire premodern world, __Escape from Rome__ offers new answers to some of the biggest questions in history: Why did the Roman Empire appear? Why did nothing like it ever return to Europe? And, above all, why did Europeans come to dominate the world? In an absorbing narrative that begins with ancient Rome but stretches far beyond it, from Byzantium to China and from Genghis Khan to Napoleon, Scheidel shows how the demise of Rome and the enduring failure of empire-building on European soil ensured competitive fragmentation between and within states. This rich diversity encouraged political, economic, scientific, and technological breakthroughs that allowed Europe to surge ahead while other parts of the world lagged behind, burdened as they were by traditional empires and predatory regimes that lived by conquest. It wasn’t until Europe "escaped" from Rome that it launched an economic transformation that changed the continent and ultimately the world. What has the Roman Empire ever done for us? Fall and go away. "In this book, Walter Scheidel provides a unique take on the perennial debates about the rise of the west. His main argument is straightforward and provocative: the fact that nothing like the Roman Empire ever again emerged in Europe was a crucial precondition for modern economic growth, the Industrial Revolution and worldwide conquest much later on. Contra Ken Pomeranz's classic thesis about the "Great Divergence" of the 18th/19th centuries when northwestern Europe pulled away from China and the rest of world in terms of economic performance and overall power, Scheidel argues there was a much more significant "first great divergence" in late antiquity which set the stage. Scheidel argues that it wasn't until the West "escaped" from the dominance of the Roman empire did it flourish economically (unlike China, comparison which will be explored in this book, which despite transformations and setbacks remained a "universal empire" for much of it's 2,200 year history). Scheidel approaches this "first great divergence" via a new take on some central question concerning the life and fate of the Roman Empire: How did the Roman Empire come into existence - did its rise depend on unique conditions that were never repeated later on? Was its fall inevitable? Why was nothing like the Roman Empire ever rebuilt? And did this matter for (much) later developments? He concludes by arguing that the fall and lasting disappearance of the Roman Empire was an indispensable precondition for later European exceptionalism and therefore for the creation of the modern world we now live in. From this perspective, the absence of the Roman Empire had a much greater impact than its previous existence and its subsequent influence on European culture, which is of course well documented in many domains and often accorded great significance. Scheidel does concede that a monopolistic empire like Rome's which first created a degree of shared culture and institutions but subsequently went away for good was perhaps more favorable to later European development than a scenario in which no such empire had ever existed in the first place. But, in answer to the question, ""What have the Romans ever done for us?" Scheidel replies: "fall and go away.""-- Provided by publisher. Provided by publisher "In this book, Walter Scheidel provides a unique take on the perennial debates about the rise of the west. His main argument is straightforward and provocative: the fact that nothing like the Roman Empire ever again emerged in Europe was a crucial precondition for modern economic growth, the Industrial Revolution and worldwide conquest much later on. Contra Ken Pomeranz's classic thesis about the "Great Divergence" of the 18th/19th centuries when northwestern Europe pulled away from China and the rest of world in terms of economic performance and overall power, Scheidel argues there was a much more significant "first great divergence" in late antiquity which set the stage. Scheidel argues that it wasn't until the West "escaped" from the dominance of the Roman empire did it flourish economically (unlike China, comparison which will be explored in this book, which despite transformations and setbacks remained a "universal empire" for much of it's 2,200 year history). Scheidel approaches this "first great divergence" via a new take on some central question concerning the life and fate of the Roman Empire: How did the Roman Empire come into existence - did its rise depend on unique conditions that were never repeated later on? Was its fall inevitable? Why was nothing like the Roman Empire ever rebuilt? And did this matter for (much) later developments? He concludes by arguing that the fall and lasting disappearance of the Roman Empire was an indispensable precondition for later European exceptionalism and therefore for the creation of the modern world we now live in. From this perspective, the absence of the Roman Empire had a much greater impact than its previous existence and its subsequent influence on European culture, which is of course well documented in many domains and often accorded great significance. Scheidel does concede that a monopolistic empire like Rome's which first created a degree of shared culture and institutions but subsequently went away for good was perhaps more favorable to later European development than a scenario in which no such empire had ever existed in the first place. But, in answer to the question, ""What have the Romans ever done for us?" Scheidel replies: "fall and go away.""-- Site de l'éditeur