Fall of the Western Roman Empire collapse. Since 1776, when Edward Gibbon published the first volume of his "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", Decline and Fall has been the theme around which much of the history of the Roman Empire has been structured. "From the eighteenth century onward," historian Glen Bowersock wrote, "we have been obsessed with the fall: it has been valued as an archetype for every perceived decline, and, hence, as a symbol for our own fears." The Fall is not the only unifying concept for these events; the period described as Late Antiquity emphasizes the cultural continuities
The Fall of the American Empire (), Arcand announced in March that the film would be retitled "The Fall of the American Empire" to better reflect how the story developed. The new title was reminiscent of his 1986 "The Decline of the American Empire". Arcand said a theme would be how corruption can spread from the United States to Canada, which he said relies on "Pax Americana", a theme explored in "The Decline of the American Empire" and "The Barbarian Invasions" (2003). In his view, the U.S. had long been suffering and Quebec was affected. He analogized the current situation with the presidency of Donald Trump