Analysis Of The Decay Of Ancient Civilization

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This assignment is both a comparison and an analysis of two essays; The Decay of Ancient Civilization written by Michael Rostovtzeff and Mohammed and Charlemagne by Henri Pirenne. The two essays offer varying perspectives on the fall of the Roman Empire and more specifically the transition between late antiquity to the beginning of the middle ages. The collapse of the Roman Empire is generally known to have concluded through one particular event; the sack of the great city of Rome. Although both essays give different accounts as the eventual collapse of the Roman Empire entails more than the “Barbaric” invasion as they further delve into from different perspectives. When further examining the Historiography and perception of the Authors we …show more content…

Rostovtzeff has a strong belief that the history of the past has a strong meaning and effect for the present. He believed that ancient civilizations portrayed similar characteristics to modern society and often argued that the systems of economy in the Antiquity shared comparable characteristics to the economic facets of the present. He had a strong interest in the ancient times as he had wrote his scholarly thesis on the Roman Empire and the end of Antiquity in accordance to the setting of pre-soviet Russia. Rostovtzeff lived in Russia during late 19th century and 20th century which had been corrupt and much like the ancient Roman empire was in the process of collapse itself. During this time there were multiple social conflicts within the oppressed lower class as well as the mass population. Here we see many exact relations between his life and the fall of the Roman Empire as in his life we also see the conflict between “the masses” and the elite upper class as he himself experienced the same social stratification as the Ancient Romans. In addition to this there were also many points in his life where even prior to WWI there were fears of Russian revolution. The corruption and chaos of these times must have had a significant influence on his writings as well as his interpretations towards the Roman Empire. His emphasis on the conflict of assimilation between social classes which he claims is the cause of decline is apparent in both his accounts on the end of antiquity but also during his present

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