The Fall of the Roman Empire?

by M-Z-M1

Hey guys, I am a huge fan of history and the classical world in particular. I have a read a huge amount about the fall of the Roman Republic but I am trying to get into the Late Roman Period. I am learning more about and I find the stories of people like Flavius Aetius, Attila the Hun, Zenobia and Diocletian immensely fascinating. I genuinely do not know a lot about the period. So I have a couple questions:

  1. What caused the fall of the Western Roman Empire? I know this is big question but I would to get at least a historical overview as I moving to learn more about the period.
  2. Any good books, documentaries or movies on this period? I have checked out the History of Rome Podcast and am listening to the Fall of Rome Podcast currently.
  3. Could the Fall of the West been avoided and why is the Eastern Empire (which survived till 1453 not talked about as much)
scarlet_sage

You might find some of the discussions in the FAQ interesting for some of your questions. One got filed in the Roman Empire section . Despite the title, it's an overview of what happened in late antiquity and modern historians' interpretations: 'How accurate is the popular view that "uncontrolled immigration led to the fall of the Roman Empire"?' by /u/Iguana_on_a_stick .

The bigger section is at 'Late Antiquity/Early Medieval/"Dark Ages"'. Please note the first title: "Why does the concept of the end of the Roman Empire in 476 CE persist?" (replies mostly by /u/bitparity ). An even more telling discussion title from elsewhere: "Did Rome Actually Fall?" . There /u/yodatsracist provided a lot of pointers to previous discussions along those lines.

As for books, AskHistorians has a book list at https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/wiki/books . The section that looks appropriate for you is under Europe / Ancient Rome.

This is not to discourage discussion. Further questions, data, and debate are welcome.