Ramsay MacMullen, Dunham Professor of History and classics at Yale, here offers a new perspective on the decline and fall of Rome. He argues that a key factor in the empire's military and administrative failures was a steady loss of control over government, as its aims and focus were thwarted for private gain by officials and military men at all ranks. The fruit of a decade of research and analysis presented in an informal and lively style, this book offers the first survey of just what evidence exists for the'decline,' and provides a fascinating, fresh line of explanation for the empire's most obvious inadequacies in the face of its economic and military challenges. Copyright (C) Muze Inc. 2005. For personal use only. All rights reserved.