Stilicho

Stilicho PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1848849109
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 420

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.

Aetius

Aetius PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1783461349
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 306

Book Description
“The history of Aetius’ life and his dealings with Attila . . . [and] of the (western) Roman Empire throughout the pivotal fifth century.” —Ancient Warfare Magazine In AD 453, Attila—with a huge force composed of Huns, allies, and vassals drawn from his already-vast empire—was rampaging westward across Gaul (essentially modern France), then still nominally part of the Western Roman Empire. Laying siege to Orleans, he was only a few days march from extending his empire from the Eurasian steppe to the Atlantic. He was brought to battle on the Catalaunian Plain and defeated by a coalition hastily assembled and led by Aetius. Who was this man that saved Western Europe from the Hunnic yoke? Aetius is one of the major figures in the history of the late Roman Empire and his actions helped maintain the integrity of the West in the declining years of the Empire. During the course of his life he was a hostage, first with Alaric and the Goths, and then with Rugila, king of the Huns. His stay with these two peoples helped to give him an unparalleled insight into the minds and military techniques of these “barbarians” which he was to use in later years to halt the depredations of the Huns. Ian Hughes assesses Aetius’ fascinating career and campaigns with the same accessible narrative and analysis he brought to bear on Belisarius and Stilicho. “A lively, often insightful account of the declining years of Roman power in the West which will be of interest to students of Roman history, the onset of the Dark ages and early Byzantine history.” —The New York Military Affairs Symposium

Alaric the Goth: An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome

Alaric the Goth: An Outsider's History of the Fall of Rome PDF Author: Douglas Boin
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 0393635708
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 272

Book Description
Denied citizenship by the Roman Empire, a soldier named Alaric changed history by unleashing a surprise attack on the capital city of an unjust empire. Stigmatized and relegated to the margins of Roman society, the Goths were violent “barbarians” who destroyed “civilization,” at least in the conventional story of Rome’s collapse. But a slight shift of perspective brings their history, and ours, shockingly alive. Alaric grew up near the river border that separated Gothic territory from Roman. He survived a border policy that separated migrant children from their parents, and he was denied benefits he likely expected from military service. Romans were deeply conflicted over who should enjoy the privileges of citizenship. They wanted to buttress their global power, but were insecure about Roman identity; they depended on foreign goods, but scoffed at and denied foreigners their own voices and humanity. In stark contrast to the rising bigotry, intolerance, and zealotry among Romans during Alaric’s lifetime, the Goths, as practicing Christians, valued religious pluralism and tolerance. The marginalized Goths, marked by history as frightening harbingers of destruction and of the Dark Ages, preserved virtues of the ancient world that we take for granted. The three nights of riots Alaric and the Goths brought to the capital struck fear into the hearts of the powerful, but the riots were not without cause. Combining vivid storytelling and historical analysis, Douglas Boin reveals the Goths’ complex and fascinating legacy in shaping our world.

Gaiseric

Gaiseric PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
ISBN: 1473890292
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Book Description
While Gaiseric has not become a household name like other 'barbarian' leaders such as Attila or Genghis Khan, his sack of Rome in AD455 has made his tribe, the Vandals, synonymous with mindless destruction. Gaiseric, however, was no moronic thug, proving himself a highly skilful political and military leader and was one of the dominant forces in Western Mediterranean region for almost half a century.The book starts with a concise history of the Vandals before Gaiseric's reign and analyses the tactics and weaponry with which they carved a path across the Western Roman Empire to Spain. It was in Spain that Gaiseric became their king and he that led the Vandals across the straits of Gibraltar to seize a new home in North Africa, depriving Rome of one of its most important remaining provinces and a key source of grain. Roman attempts at reconquest were defeated and the Balearic Islands, Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia were all added to Gaiseric's kingdom. His son, Huneric, was even betrothed to Eudoxia, daughter of the Emperor Valentinian III and it was her appeal for help after her father's murder that led Gaiseric to invade and sack Rome. He took Eudoxia and the other imperial ladies back to Africa with him, subsequently defeating further attempts by the Eastern Roman Empire to recapture the vital North African territory. Ian Hughes' analysis of the Gaiseric as king and general reveals him as the barbarian who did more than anyone else to bring down the Western Roman Empire, but also as a great leader in his own right and one of the most significant men of his age.

Belisarius

Belisarius PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Pen and Sword
ISBN: 1844689417
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 241

Book Description
A military history of the campaigns of Flavius Belisarius, the greatest general of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor Justinian. Back in the 6th century, Belisarius twice defeated the Persians and reconquered North Africa from the Vandals in a single year at the age of 29, before going on to regain Spain and Italy, including Rome (briefly), from the barbarians. This book discusses the evolution from classical Roman to Byzantine armies and systems of warfare, as well as those of their chief enemies: the Persians, Goths, and Vandals. Belisarius: The Last Roman General reassesses Belisarius’s generalship and compares him with the likes of Caesar, Alexander, and Hannibal. It is also illustrated with line drawings and battle plans as well as photographs.

Understanding Collapse

Understanding Collapse PDF Author: Guy D. Middleton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 110715149X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 463

Book Description
In this lively survey, Guy D. Middleton critically examines our ideas about collapse - how we explain it and how we have constructed potentially misleading myths around collapses - showing how and why collapse of societies was a much more complex phenomenon than is often admitted.

Soldiers and sailors

Soldiers and sailors PDF Author: Charles Francis Horne
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Biography
Languages : en
Pages : 578

Book Description
A collection of biographies by various authors.

Constantius III

Constantius III PDF Author: Ian Hughes
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military
ISBN: 1526700263
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 239

Book Description
The acclaimed historian “rescues from an undeserved obscurity one of Rome’s emperors . . . A simply fascinating and extraordinary historical study” (Midwest Book Review). Constantius is an important, but almost forgotten, figure. He came to the fore in or around 410 when he was appointed Magister Militum (Master of Troops) to Honorius, the young Emperor of the Western Roman Empire. His predecessor, Stilicho, had been murdered by his own troops and much of Gaul and Hispania had been overrun by barbarians or usurpers. One by one Constantius eliminated the usurpers and defeated or came to terms with the various invading groups. Most notoriously, he allowed the Visigoths to settle in Gaul in return for their help in defeating the Vandals and Alans who had seized parts of Hispania, a decision with far-reaching consequences. Constantius married Honorius’ sister and was eventually proclaimed his co-emperor. However, the Eastern Roman Emperor, Honorius’ nephew, refused to accept his appointment and Constantius was preparing a military expedition to enforce this recognition when he died suddenly, having been emperor for just seven months. Ian Hughes considers his career, assessing his actions in the context of the difficult situation he inherited.

Claudian the Poet

Claudian the Poet PDF Author: Clare Coombe
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1108564992
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 255

Book Description
This comprehensive reassessment of the carmina maiora of the fourth-century poet Claudian contributes to the growing trend to recognize that Late Antique poets should be approached as just that: poets. Its methodology is developed from that of Michael Roberts' seminal The Jeweled Style. It analyzes Claudian's poetics and use of story telling to argue that the creation of a story world in which Stilicho, his patron, becomes an epic hero, and the barbarians are giants threatening both the borders of Rome and the order of the very universe is designed to convince his audience of a world-view in which it is only the Roman general who stands between them and cosmic chaos. The book also argues that Claudian uses the same techniques to promote the message that Honorius, young hero though he may seem, is not yet fit to rule, and that Stilicho's rightful position remains as his regent.
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