Historiography of the fall of the Western Roman Empire: Difference between revisions

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'''Decline of the Roman Empire''' is a [[historiography|historical]] term of [[periodization]] which describes the collapse of the [[Western Roman Empire]]. The term was first used and coined by [[Edward Gibbon]] in the 18th century in his famous book ''[[The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]'', but he was not the first, and not the last, to speculate on why and when the Empire collapsed. It remains one of the greatest historical questions, and has a tradition rich in scholarly interest. In [[1984]], German Professor [[Alexander Demandt]] published a collection of 210 theories on why Rome fell.{{fn|1}}

The traditional date of the '''Fall of the Roman Empire''' is [[September 4]], [[476]] when [[Romulus Augustus]], the last [[Roman Emperors|Emperor]] of the Western Roman Empire was deposed. However, maymany historians question this date, and use other benchmarks to describe the "Fall". Why the Empire fell seems to be relevant to every new generation, and a seemingly endless supply of theories are discussed on why (or if at all) it happened.

==Mainstream theories==