There is no polity more storied in the west than the Roman Empire, but could its fall have really been caused by its choice of plumbing material?

Geneticists have shed new light on the effects of the Roman Empire on Southeast Europe. New DNA analysis has shown how the rise and fall of the empire influenced populations in the Balkans—a region of ...

The "Fall of Rome" usually refers to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century A.D. But historians don't agree about the exact date, nor about its causes. And some historians argue ...

The fall of the Western Roman Empire is a myth that oversimplifies history. Watch how the empire transitioned and survived, shaping Italy’s future for centuries.

Scientists have uncovered evidence that sheds light on a little-known ice age that may have contributed to the decline of the Roman Empire. "Unusual rocks," discovered in Iceland, are believed to have ...

This image shows the skull of the East African individual plus the oil lamp with the legionary eagle that he was buried with. Despite the Roman Empire’s extensive military and cultural influence on ...

A 13-year archeological excavation has shown that what was once believed a backwater town for the Roman Empire lasted far longer than originally believed. Interamna Lirenas was a thriving town well ...

A multidisciplinary study has reconstructed the genomic history of the Balkan Peninsula during the first millennium of the common era, a time and place of profound demographic, cultural and linguistic ...

Elon Musk’s latest post on X, formerly Twitter, has introduced a viral TikTok trend to a broader audience, prompting discussions among netizens about potential parallels to the decline and fall of the ...

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. The Roman Empire fell more than 1,500 years ago, but its grip on the popular imagination is still strong, as ...