Kyle Harper's book The Fate of Rome marks the thunderous entry of Nature into the world of ancient history of the twenty-first century. This is not the first book devoted to questions of climate and diseases in the ancient world, but its publication nonetheless represents a turning point. From now on, whether they work on political, social, economic, or even religious history, ancient historians will no longer be able to ignore these factors in their own writings. That is not to say that all the theses of the book, especially its natural determinism, should be accepted uncritically.

中文翻译：

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罗马的命运

凯尔哈珀的书罗马的命运标志着大自然雷鸣般地进入了二十一世纪的古代历史世界。这不是第一本专门讨论古代世界气候和疾病问题的书，但它的出版却代表了一个转折点。从今以后，无论是政治史、社会史、经济史，甚至是宗教史，古代史家在自己的著作中都不能再忽视这些因素。这并不是说本书的所有论点，尤其是它的自然决定论，都应该不加批判地接受。