191 The End of the Roman Empire: Civil Wars, the Imperial Monarchy, and the End of Antiquity Henning Börm From the Ocean, from Britain, Spain, Gaul, Italy, Greece, Thrace to Egypt and Africa and Upper Africa, the boundaries of the Romans and the statues of the emperors were seen until our own times. For all peoples submitted to them at God’s command. Now, however, we see the Roman Empire reduced and humbled. It was with these words that an unknown Greek author described the state of the world in the middle of the seventh century CE. Just a few years earlier, the Great Arab Conquests had begun, forcing the Romans to abandon control of Syria, Egypt, and North Africa, while the second Great Power of Late Antiquity, the Sasanian Monarchy, perished altogether. During the following decades, what was left of the Roman state was transformed into what is known today as the Byzantine Empire. 5 4 3 2 1 Nevertheless, when talking about the end of the Roman Empire, most people do not think of the seventh but of the fifth century, when imperial rule over most of Western Europe dissolved. To many, these events marked not only the end of the Western Roman Empire, but the end of an empire par excellence, since, at least according to a Eurocentric 1 Doctrina Iacobi nuper Baptizati (ed. Bonwetsch), 62.4–12. 2 Among the many accounts of early Arab expansion, Kennedy (2008) is, in my opinion, the best; In addition, Hoyland (2015) is worth reading, sometimes representing somewhat idiosyncratic positions. 3 Cf. Daryaee (2009); Wiesehöfer (2010); Bonner (2020). 4 Cf. Pourshariati (2008: 161–281). 5 Cf. Haldon (1997: 41–91). H. Börm (*) University of Rostock, Rostock, Germany # The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden GmbH, part of Springer Nature 2022 M. Gehler et al. (eds.), The End of Empires, Universal- und kulturhistorische Studien. Studies in Universal and Cultural History, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-36876-0_8