Review of First Chapter of How the Irish Saved Civilization, by Thomas Cahill

This is a book I've been afraid of since 1995, when I first tried to read it. Any book that begins by quoting Aristophiclesamayaphus in Latin first, then English for us dummies; any book that names dozens of rivers, valleys, cities and people of history, who are all dead, renamed, forgotten or built on by people who don't care, have never heard of, or just haven't studied that far into it; any book that takes two to three readings of each paragraph before you can swallow that the author is just trying to say that the Irish are forgotten, neglected, picked on, and underappreciated; any book that uses words like pussillanimity; I avoid.

But, years later, I have had a few history classes, read a bit, and know that Charlamagne was a tall guy, and the Roman Empire fell, slowly, for many different reasons. I'm a little more prepared, but still lost, and the paragraphs still look like Chinese the first and second readings through. However, on the third and fourth readings, there are some powerful revelations from Cahill. He says, quoting Edward Gibbon, that the decline of the Roman Empire was the natural and inevitable effect of immoderate greatness. They were so great, they stopped being great. Poets and artists grew in fame as their writing declined to bland, predictability. The government was top-heavy and existed for self-preservation. The old ideals of what it meant to be Roman were no longer clear, and fewer outsiders wanted to be Roman. The military no longer attracted high nobility, but anyone willing to live the hard life for a pittance. Rich landowners ruled politicians and the poor. And, because of all this, the Barbari, the barbarians, and their bands of raiders, stood at the gates.

Sound like a country we know?

Can't wait to swim through chapter 2, even though it feels like drying concrete.