The Fall of the Roman Empire

With his concise and scintillating pen, Max Gallo guides us, along with Galla Placidia, the last roman Empress and Attila the Hun, through the very last glory days of the empire that had dominated the world for centuries.

“In August 440, Galla Placidia, daughter, sister and mother of Roman emperors, was fearless. Surrounded by her personal guards, she ran along the paved road through Ravenna. Savages had been overwhelming the town for decades, in successive waves from out past the Rhine and the Danube. The Roman legions tried to contain them and push them back and had built a wall to protect Roman civilization.

But today, the Huns, headed up by the hot-headed Attila, posed more of a threat than ever to the immortal heart of the biggest empire in the world, from the English fog to the Rivers of Mesopotamia, from the Rhine to the Nile. Just shy of 50, Galla Placidia was not afraid to die. She was afraid the Western Roman Empire would die.”