Customer Reviews

The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The story of the Gothic War and the famous Battle of Adrianople has often been re-constructed, for example by Gibbon (1776) and more recently by Peter Heather The Fall of the Roman Empire (2005) and Michael Kulikowski Rome's Gothic Wars (2006) - what makes this account special is not any new over-arching theory, but simply a well researched, reliable and very well told story - if writing history is a type of literature, this is literature at its best. Barbero has the ability to fire the imagination and make it all real - he can take a single sentence from Ammianus Marcellinus (the primary source for the events) and draw in other related material to fill in the details to make a book-length retelling where others have a chapter or two. As Steven Coats said, reviewing in the New York Times (April 29, 2007), this is an "elegant and pleasurable little account - what a joy it is to read about the ancient world in digestible portions." This is clearly a book for the general reader, but Barbero is a medieval scholar, it contains supporting footnotes (which are worthwhile) and references to further reading. I never tire of reading about this story, it brings together so many elements of the ancient and medieval worlds, it was one of the pivotal moments in world history and also one of the most dramatic.

With all the praise above and 5-stars, a couple things about what the book is not: 1) this is a short book, 147 pages of actual text, the rest is footnotes 2) it is not for specialists or experts - Barbero does not go into too much chronological or geographic detail - it is not a definitive scientific study 3) the question if Adrianople was the dividing line between the Ancient and Medieval world is thankfully relegated to the Preface and last two pages, a "hook" I suppose. The books real value is in the skillful narration of events, and understanding the process of the 'barbarization' of the Roman Empire.

Pity that most people have no interest in or knowledge of history. We are, after all, the products of history. But for most, history simply has little allure unless they can see it in the form of a pyramid or some Disneyfied exhibit.

But somewhere on the planet - no one knows for sure the exact location - a battle took place on August 9, 378 AD near Adrianople in present-day Turkey. According to author Alessandro Barbero, professor of medieval studies at the University of Piemonte Orientale in Vercelli, Italy, this was the battle that began the collapse of the Roman Empire.

This English translation is done by John Cullen and is noteworthy for the clarity of his work. If there were any clumsy expressions that didn't translate well from the Italian, Cullen has smoothed them over. The result shows Barbero to be a very competent writer.

This is not an academic history. It is, in fact, intended to be a popular history, designed to help the curious non-expert reader to gain understanding of how the world around him or her came to be. For truly few people have an idea of who the Goths were - and they are not be confused with the very confused teenagers who wear heavy makeup and black clothes and ring their necks with nail studded collars.

The simplicity of some aspects of life in the 4th Century are beautifully explained by Barbero: the tribes around you decided they wanted your land, your animals, your spouses and children, your few personal possessions or just wanted to kill you for fun. On they came, slaughtering everyone except those they took for slaves. The news traveled and the next victims tried to get out, in this case into the Eastern Roman Empire. At first the Eastern Emporer let them in - and then changed his mind.

That decision and the pressure of the Huns turned the Goths into marauding bands who quickly formed a temporary alliance to resist the over-confident Romans who came to teach them a lesson by force.

The Romans lost and the Roman world changed forever, beginning its final plunge into oblivion.

The story is more complex, of course, but Barbero recounts the meaningful points eloquently in this short (146 pages) book. He tells much of the Roman Empire at that time, earlier and later - and he tells the story remarkably well.

This is a wonderful introduction to the history of the later Roman Empire, a century or so prior to its final collapse. In an era where the United States is frequently compared (wildly inaccurately) to the Roman Empire and where the few who think of Rome at all envisage orgies and decadence leading to its collapse, this little book is a welcome breath of fresh air.

It not only makes an interesting read for anyone with the slightest interest in history, but an excellent gift to pass on to those who would benefit from knowing just a little about a history.

Jerry

The Day of the Barbarians is a very readable history of the battle of Adrianople, where a Roman army was annihilated and the emperor Valens was killed. The Fourth century has not been one of my favorite periods of Roman history but Alessandro Barbero makes the period interesting indeed. He tells an interesting story of how the Goths became indispensable to the empire as soldiers, slaves and farmers and informs us that many of the Goths became Romanized and a good number became Christians. He makes a good case for seeing the century up to the battle as a time of relative prosperity and had the Romans treated the Goths and other barbarians better the fall of the western empire a century later might have been prevented...for a while.

Mr. Barbero tells the story in short, to-the-point chapters laying the groundwork describing who the Goths were, what their culture was like and how under Constantine and his successors they were well-treated. When the Goths fled from the advancing Huns, however, and sought help from the Romans they were welcomed across the Danube but badly treated but the profit-minded Romans leading to their revolt.

I found one factual error that I thought rather glaring. Mr. Barbero relates that Constantine I built the only stone bridge across the Danube leaving out any mention of the famous bridge built by the emperor Trajan, which had been destroyed by Aurelian when Dacia was abandoned. It was interesting to me that the author mentions Procopius, who was declared emperor in 366 in opposition to Valens, but does not describe him as a relative of Julian, just as related to the family of Constantine. One wonders if Mr. Barbero has no liking for Julian.

This is an excellent volume and will appeal to the specialist and general readers. The book does not have a very extensive bibliography and although the author discusses the writings of some ancient authors (particualrly Ammianus Marcellinus) he does not cite the text location except in the modest number of footnotes. There is a single map of the Roman empire at the front of the book; it would have been helpful to include additional maps, such as one devoted to Thrace so one could get a better itde of the loaction of places and disposition of the Goths and Romans.

I am not sure if the battle of Adrianople signals the beginning of the end but the battle and the aftermath, with the new emperor Theodosius, marks a turning point in the fortunes of the empire that was increasingly dominated by weak ineffective rulers.

Alessandro Barbero's short book on the campaign and battle of Andrianople which was fought in August of 378 proves to be somewhat interesting but often counterdictary. It is Barbero's assertion that the Roman Empire was doing just fine during this period but this battle which ended in crushing Roman defeat spelled the end of the empire, an end that came just one hundred years later although by 50 years later, the handwriting was on the wall already. Here's the problem, if the empire was doing so fine, why would just one major defeat spelled the end of an empire that stood for nearly thousand years? Obviously, the empire wasn't in very good shape to begin with or else this major defeat could have easily been shaken off by the Romans like many other "major defeats" they have suffered in the past. The author was just trying to sound different from the norm without the logic or the research to back up his words. It is clear that Barbero's effort to paint the Roman Empire as a fit as a fiddle status was to overhype the importance of Adrainople. But the simple fact remains, the Empire was in decline in 378 and Adrianople was one of the many nails that driven the Roman Empire into its grave.

Barbero's account also opened up an interesting modern contrast between the inability of the Roman Empire to control their borders and influxes of barbarian hordes into the civilized empire and the problem that our nation are having right now, even comparing how the Gothic people within the empire were working the menial jobs just like our illegals in present day. The revolt of the Goths within the Roman Empire that led to the campaign and battle of Adrianople could be a warning that United States may suffer in the future if I read the author's intent correctly.

The book coverage of battle of Adrianople proves to be pretty short and lacking insight. There isn't a single map of the battle or the campaign in this book. There is only one map, the map of the Roman Empire in 378. That is not very helpful. No photos, no illustrations, no insight into the differences between the Roman army of 378 and the imperial armies of the conquering Ceasars. This book appears to be more of a political commentary then military history.

But it is a highly readable book, written for the general masses and its very short in length so it won't be taxing for anyone. It will appeal to the newcomers to the subject matter but to veteran readers of the Roman history, this book rises doubts if not ire of those who read it.

Put simply this books only problem is that it's too short. It deals with the battle of Adrianople, the immediate aftermath, and then it ends. It's smaller than a paperback novel. When I first saw it I was skeptical that anything so small could be of any use. Actually, I thought I'd been ripped off. But it does such a good job of explaining what happened, why it happened, and what made it such an important battle that I grew to like it. And it's cheap so you have no excuse for not buying it. I mean it. Like right now.

For those of you with money who want a book that covers more than just the battle I'd recommend Failure of Empire: Valens and the Roman State in the Fourth Century A.D. It goes into more detail and covers all of Valens life before that.

This book is an exceptional achievement. As previous reviewers have noted, this is probably due to the skill of both the author and the translator from the original Italian.

The author, with an uncanny brevity and precision, recreates the Roman world at the time of the battle; the Romans' attitudes towards barbarians; the state of the barbarian, particularly Gothic, tribes; the political forces and pressures at work within the Empire; the military condition of both Roman and barbarian forces; and a chronology of the events leading up to the battle, and the course of the battle itself.

This book falls into the rare condition of being of probable interest to both novice and specialist. If one only owns one book on Adrianople, this should be it; if one has a shelf of books on the subject, this one should be included as well.

By the way, "for Dummies" is not meant to be disparaging to the book or those who would enjoy it; I simply wanted to indicate that it should be a great introduction for someone who knows nothing about the topics the book covers. It's just an example of my sometimes questionable wit.

An excellent true narrative on the history of the Goths and the Eastern Roman Empire.The climax of the book revolves around the battle of Adrianople where the "Roman" army was soundly defeated, about 100 miles from Constantinople.By this time the Goths were so deeply established in both the "Roman" army and the opposing army that it truly was a Gothic day.Gothic mercenaries,"early arrivals" to the Roman Empire fighting,"johnny come lately" Goths fresh across the Danube with their wagons,ironically ferried across by a Roman Gothic Army.It seems the Romans couldn't resist the temptation for some new potential conscripts and slaves.To show their "grattitude" for helping them cross, the Fresh Off the boat Goths later destroy the Roman army.It's just great,there's no "good guy or bad guy",just lots of Goths with a mixture of Huns,Alans,etc.squabbling over the remains of the Roman Empire.A complete Gothic feast from real Goths,not stringy, long hair dyed black, rock stars.

For such a little book of less than 200 pages, it is a nice surprise that you can get more than you expect, not only a battle but how the battle insert in the wider issue of the entire relation between the empire and those fastidious barbarians that, as it is clear from the book, were not so much so in those times after many years interacting with the more civilized part. If you are a newcomer to this field you will be very satisfied of all the information and views you will get, but even if you have some experience and has read many books about later Roman empire, this one, very well written and entertaining as all the as yet few written by Alessandro Barbero, gives a good chunk of fun and add some extra reasoning to the increasing mass of specialized bibliography that does not see anymore the relation between barbarians and Rome as used to be decades ago, not to mention centuries ago. very good reading and waiting for more by Alessandro

The first thing I found out reading this book was the ease of reading it. Either the author has a great gift of writing and organizing the material or the translator did a fantastic job, but I ended up reading this book in two sittings. What I love the most in the historical books is when the author does not attempt to flow over hundreds of pages just for the hell of having written a thick book. This book stays to the subject, presents the facts and wraps chapters up with a short conclusion. After I read this book from the library, I had to buy it and have it. Being so nicely structured, it makes it easy for me to get back any time I need some info for an easy find. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this area of history.

The first thing I found out reading this book was the easy of reading it. Either the author has a great gift or writing and organizing the material or the translator did a fantastic job, but I ended up reading this book in two sittings. What I love the most in the historical books is when the author does not attempt to flow over hundreds of pages just for the hell of having written a thick book. This book stays to the subject, presents the facts and wraps chapters up with a short conclusion. After I read this book from the library, I had to buy it and have it. Being so nicely structured, it makes it easy for me to get back any time I need some info for an easy find. I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in this area of history.