Fatum

Fatum is the first book to systematically examine and describe the catastrophic role that climate change and pandemics played in the collapse of the Roman Empire. Drawing on the latest scientific insights from the fields of climate science and genetics, Kyle Harper tells the story of an inferno in which we recognize frighteningly familiar traits of our own world, as if seen in a distant mirror. The fate of the Imperium Romanum was not determined solely by emperors, legionnaires, and barbarians. Equally significant were volcanic eruptions, solar cycles, climate instability, and deadly viruses and bacteria. Kyle Harper guides his readers from the height of the 2nd century AD, when the Roman Empire seemed an almost insurmountable power, to the depths of the 7th century, when the empire was emaciated, politically fragmented, and materially exhausted. He describes how the Romans bravely tried to hold on as environmental changes weighed down the entire empire—until ultimately the consequences of the Little Ice Age and the repeated outbreaks of plague had eroded the resilience of the once-great power. Fatum offers an intellectually sharp analysis as well as a deeply human portrayal of the relationships between humanity and the environment. It is the story of one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever seen, during its most severe challenge. Ultimately, it must capitulate to the crushing force of natural powers in the form of climate change and pandemics. The example of Rome serves as a warning from a great temporal distance that climate change and the evolution of pathogens have shaped the world we live in. Those who can read the writing on the wall know that what is described here in profound and surprising ways can happen again.