In today’s History newsletter: The 180-year quest to return the basilica that inspired Notre Dame to its former glory, who really invented television, and inside the ancient origins of the Chinese zodiac and its evolution. 

But first: Is this the real reason the Roman Empire collapsed? 

Throughout antiquity, kingdoms and nations rose and fell but Rome stood strong—until its steep decline. The fall of this ancient superpower is so complex that historians are still debating it today, but a theory about the empire’s decline has emerged.

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter, edited and curated by Sidney Madden and produced by Alisher Egamov. Sign up here to get our future adventures in your inbox.  

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