This book is a new, monumental account of one of the most important chapters in human history: the fall of the Roman Empire. 

The Fate of Rome is the first study to examine the destructive role played by climate change, infectious diseases, and pandemics in the collapse of the Roman state - a triumph of nature over human ambition. 

Kyle Harper takes readers from the height of Rome in the 2nd century AD, when the empire seemed invincible, to its decline and dissolution in the 7th century, analyzing critical turning points and unseen parameters that indelibly shaped this trajectory. Interweaving a grand historical narrative with the latest developments in climate science and the most recent discoveries in genetics, the author shows how the fate of Rome was determined not only by emperors, soldiers, and barbarians, but also by volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instabilities, and deadly microbes, viruses, and bacteria. The book, a penetrating reflection on humanity's deep relationship with the environment, vividly describes how one of the greatest civilizations in history confronted the cumulative violence of nature, enduring for centuries but ultimately succumbing. 

The example of Rome is a timely reminder that climate change and microbial evolution have shaped our world in unexpected and decisive ways.