Stilicho

Stilicho PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848849109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
A military history of the campaigns of Stilicho, the army general who became one of the most powerful men in the Western Roman Empire. Flavius Stilicho lived in one of the most turbulent periods in European history. The Western Empire was finally giving way under pressure from external threats, especially from Germanic tribes crossing the Rhine and Danube, as well as from seemingly ever-present internal revolts and rebellions. Ian Hughes explains how a Vandal (actually, Stilicho had a Vandal father and Roman mother) came to be given almost total control of the Western Empire and describes his attempts to save both the Western Empire and Rome itself from the attacks of Alaric the Goth and other barbarian invaders. Stilicho is one of the major figures in the history of the Late Roman Empire, and his actions following the death of the emperor Theodosius the Great in 395 may have helped to divide the Western and Eastern halves of the Roman Empire on a permanent basis. Yet he is also the individual who helped maintain the integrity of the West before the rebellion of Constantine III in Britain, and the crossing of the Rhine by a major force of Vandals, Sueves, and Alans—both in A.D. 406—set the scene for both his downfall and execution in 408, and the later disintegration of the West. Despite his role in this fascinating and crucial period of history, there is no other full-length biography of him in print.

Stilicho

Stilicho PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848849109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436

Get Book Here

Book Description
A military history of the campaigns of Stilicho, the army general who became one of the most powerful men in the Western Roman Empire. Flavius Stilicho lived in one of the most turbulent periods in European history. The Western Empire was finally giving way under pressure from external threats, especially from Germanic tribes crossing the Rhine and Danube, as well as from seemingly ever-present internal revolts and rebellions. Ian Hughes explains how a Vandal (actually, Stilicho had a Vandal father and Roman mother) came to be given almost total control of the Western Empire and describes his attempts to save both the Western Empire and Rome itself from the attacks of Alaric the Goth and other barbarian invaders. Stilicho is one of the major figures in the history of the Late Roman Empire, and his actions following the death of the emperor Theodosius the Great in 395 may have helped to divide the Western and Eastern halves of the Roman Empire on a permanent basis. Yet he is also the individual who helped maintain the integrity of the West before the rebellion of Constantine III in Britain, and the crossing of the Rhine by a major force of Vandals, Sueves, and Alans—both in A.D. 406—set the scene for both his downfall and execution in 408, and the later disintegration of the West. Despite his role in this fascinating and crucial period of history, there is no other full-length biography of him in print.

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians PDF Author: Peter Heather
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195159547
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 610

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Book Description
The death of the Roman Empire is one of the perennial mysteries of world history. Now, in this groundbreaking book, Peter Heather proposes a stunning new solution: Centuries of imperialism turned the neighbors Rome called barbarians into an enemy capable of dismantling an Empire that had dominated their lives for so long. A leading authority on the late Roman Empire and on the barbarians, Heather relates the extraordinary story of how Europe's barbarians, transformed by centuries of contact with Rome on every possible level, eventually pulled the empire apart. He shows first how the Huns overturned the existing strategic balance of power on Rome's European frontiers, to force the Goths and others to seek refuge inside the Empire. This prompted two generations of struggle, during which new barbarian coalitions, formed in response to Roman hostility, brought the Roman west to its knees. The Goths first destroyed a Roman army at the battle of Hadrianople in 378, and went on to sack Rome in 410. The Vandals spread devastation in Gaul and Spain, before conquering North Africa, the breadbasket of the Western Empire, in 439. We then meet Attila the Hun, whose reign of terror swept from Constantinople to Paris, but whose death in 453 ironically precipitated a final desperate phase of Roman collapse, culminating in the Vandals' defeat of the massive Byzantine Armada: the west's last chance for survival. Peter Heather convincingly argues that the Roman Empire was not on the brink of social or moral collapse. What brought it to an end were the barbarians.

Roman Britain and the English Settlements

Roman Britain and the English Settlements PDF Author: Robin George Collingwood
Publisher: Biblo & Tannen Publishers
ISBN: 9780819611604
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 562

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Book Description
A history of English history from the Roman to Anglo Saxon period.

A Dictionary of the Roman Empire

A Dictionary of the Roman Empire PDF Author: Matthew Bunson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 9780195102338
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 522

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Book Description
The extraordinarily rich cultural legacy of the Roman world has had a profound affect world civilization. Roman achievements in architecture, law, politics, literature, war, and philosophy serve as the foundation of modern Western society. Now, for the first time in an A-Z format, A Dictionary of the Roman Empire assembles the people, places, events, and ideas of this remarkable period in one easy-to-use source. With over 1,900 entries covering more than five hundred years of Roman history, from Julius Caesar and the Gallic Wars (59-51 B.C.) to the fall of Romulus Augustus, the last Roman emperor (476 A.D.), this accessible guide provides quick reference to one of the most studied periods of all antiquity. Every aspect of Roman life is included. Here are profiles of the great emperors, such as Marcus Aurelius, one of the most profoundly intellectual monarchs in western civilization, and the aberrant Gaius Caligula, who, after draining the Roman treasury with his eccentric behavior, made it a capital crime for citizens not to bequeath him their estates. Informative entries describe the complex workings of Roman government, such as census taking, the creation of civil service, coinage, and the venerable institution of the Senate, and offer insight into the various trends and cultural tastes that developed throughout Roman history. For example, a discussion on baths, the most common type of building in the Roman Empire, demonstrates the unique intermingling of luxury, community, recreation, and, in the provinces, an association with Rome, that served as the focus of any city aspiring to greatness. Other entries describe the practice of paganism, marriage and divorce, ludi (public games held to entertain the Roman populace), festivals of the Roman year, and gluttony (epitomized by famous gourmands such as the emperor Vitellius, who according to the historian Suetonius, lived for food, banqueting three or four times a day, routinely vomiting up his meal and starting over). Also featured are longer essays on such topics as art and architecture, gods and goddesses, and the military, as well as a chronology, a short glossary of Roman terms, and appendices listing the emperors of the Empire and diagram the often intertwined family trees of ruling dynasties. Comprehensive, authoritative, and illustrated with over sixty illustrations and maps, A Dictionary of the Roman Empire provides easy access to the remarkable civilization upon which Western society was built.

Generalissimos of the Western Roman Empire

Generalissimos of the Western Roman Empire PDF Author: John M. O'Flynn
Publisher: University of Alberta
ISBN: 9780888640314
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
John Micheal O'Flynn traces the development of the position of the generalissimo, or emperor's commander of the military forces, in the western part of the Roman Empire during the first century AD. From the arrogant barbarian Arbogast, who treated the youthful emperor Valentinian as his puppet, to Odovacar, who dismissed the last western emperor and was pronounced king of Italy in 476, the generalissimos' seizure of power led to dissolution and chaos from which would emerge the political patterns of medieval and modern Europe.

Defending Rome: The Masters of the Soldiers

Defending Rome: The Masters of the Soldiers PDF Author: Julian Reynolds
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 147716460X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

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Book Description
For its last eighty years, the Western Roman Empire was ruled by emperors who were unable to provide the leadership demanded by the crisis the Empire faced throughout this period. Power was exercised instead by the commanders of the Western armies, the magisteri militum or Masters of the Soldiers, four of whom stood out – Stilicho, Constantius, Aetius and Ricimer. Challenged by barbarian invasions, constantly diminishing resources, and indifference and sometimes hostility from the imperial court, the Senate and the Roman people, these men prolonged the existence of the Empire in the West beyond what would otherwise have been its natural span. This book tells the story of the collapse of the Western Empire, as seen through the lives of these individuals, a collapse that ended more than political and military structures, that encompassed the end of an ancient pagan culture and the inception of the age of Christianity.

Theodosius II

Theodosius II PDF Author: Christopher Kelly
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110727690X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 341

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Book Description
Theodosius II (AD 408–450) was the longest reigning Roman emperor. Ever since Edward Gibbon, he has been dismissed as mediocre and ineffectual. Yet Theodosius ruled an empire which retained its integrity while the West was broken up by barbarian invasions. This book explores Theodosius' challenges and successes. Ten essays by leading scholars of late antiquity provide important new insights into the court at Constantinople, the literary and cultural vitality of the reign, and the presentation of imperial piety and power. Much attention has been directed towards the changes promoted by Constantine at the beginning of the fourth century; much less to their crystallisation under Theodosius II. This volume explores the working out of new conceptions of the Roman Empire - its history, its rulers and its God. A substantial introduction offers a new framework for thinking afresh about the long transition from the classical world to Byzantium.

Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome

Barbarians Within the Gates of Rome PDF Author: Thomas S. Burns
Publisher: Indiana University Press
ISBN: 9780253312884
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 444

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Book Description
Barbarians serving in the Roman army, like all other Roman soldiers, faced difficult choices as political events buffeted their leaders and threatened their livelihoods. Honorius, Stilicho, Alaric, Galla Placidia, Constantius III and usurpers like Constantine III and Attalus left their imprints upon these years - coloring the fabric of political and spiritual life as much as they affected military affairs.

Empress Galla Placidia and the Fall of the Roman Empire

Empress Galla Placidia and the Fall of the Roman Empire PDF Author: Kenneth Atkinson
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476682356
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 223

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Book Description
Despite her status as one of history's most important women, the story of Galla Placidia's life has been largely forgotten. Though the Roman empress witnessed the decline and fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century and lived a life of almost constant suffering, her actions helped postpone the fall of Rome and had massive, widespread impact on the empire that can still be felt today. She watched the barbarian king Alaric and his horde of Visigoth warriors sack Rome, slaughter many of the city's inhabitants, and take her hostage. Surviving captivity, Galla Placidia became the queen of the barbarians who had imprisoned her. Eventually, she became the only woman to rule the Roman empire alone. Soldiers obeyed her commands while Popes and Christian saints alike sought her advice. Despite all obstacles and likely suffering from what we now know as PTSD, she lived to an old age by the standards of the time. This book uses the letters and writings of Galla Placidia's contemporaries to reconstruct, in more depth and detail than has previously been attempted, the remarkable story of her life and the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.

Military History of Late Rome, 395–425

Military History of Late Rome, 395–425 PDF Author: Ilkka Syvänne
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1473872146
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 654

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Book Description
A detailed overview of the tumultuous events of this pivotal period, in which a divided Rome was plagued by assassination, civil wars, and invading hordes. This ambitious series offers a comprehensive narrative of late Roman military history from 284–641. Each volume gives a detailed account of the changes in organization, equipment, strategy, and tactics among both the Roman forces and their enemies in the relevant period, while also giving a detailed but accessible account of the campaigns and battles. This third volume analyzes in great detail the pivotal years of 395–425. It was then that the mighty Roman Empire faced the Great Migrations while being wracked by civil wars. In 395 the task of defending the Roman Empire fell on the great generalissimo Stilicho. He faced a series of hostile bureaucrats, emperors, usurpers, and foreign foes until he was killed in a conspiracy in 409. His death led to an event that shook up the Empire to its very core. The city of Rome fell to the Visigoths of Alaric in 410. The book shows why this happened and how and why the Germanic tribes were able to settle inside the borders of the Empire. This, however, is not the entire picture. In contrast to the West Romans, the East Romans survived the civil wars and faced the Germans, Huns, and Persia successfully. Why it was so and why were the East Romans able to take control also of West Rome in 425? The information in this book will give history buffs much to consider and debate. Praise for Military History of Late Rome 425–457 “An outstanding work . . . [the series] gives us a very good picture of the long process that has come to be known as the ‘Fall of Rome.’ This is an invaluable read for anyone with an interest in Late Antiquity.” —The NYMAS Review