Abstract Kyle Harper's The Fate of Rome, written for a popular audience, uses the
environment to explain the decline and fall of the Roman Empire. The book asserts that …

Patterns of state formation have crucial implications for comparative economic development.
Diamond (1997) famously argued that “fractured land” was responsible for China's tendency …

This paper outlines a new framework for the historical study of Rome and Italy during the
middle republican period. We argue that traditional approaches centred upon social …

Abstract The Syrian oasis city Tadmor, better known as Palmyra, has received by far the
most attention within scholarship on the Roman Near East over recent decades. New …

What impact did the Roman Climate Optimum (RCO) and the Late Antique Little Ice Age
(LALIA) have on the rise and fall of the Roman Empire? Our article presents an agent-based …

This interdisciplinary study addresses issues of urban-riverine hinterland relationships in
semi-arid environments over millennia at Gerasa/Jerash in Jordan, presenting research that …

Palmyra, the UNESCO world heritage site that tragically made headlines following ISIS's
destruction of several of its key monuments in 2015, was once a thriving city in the heart of …

Food security in ancient urban centers is often discussed but rarely formally modelled.
Despite its location in an inhospitable desert where food production is a constant challenge …

The Byzantine cathedral of Hagia Sophia has been a source of wonder and fascination
since its sixthcentury construction. It was the premier monument of the Byzantine capital …

The study of collapse in archaeology and history has continued to grow and develop in the
last decade and is a respectable target of investigation in and beyond these fields …