Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity) [Hardcover]

Michael Kulikowski (Author)

Book Description

Series: Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity | Publication Date: October 30, 2006

Late in August 410, Rome was starving, its residents were turning on one another, and, to make matters worse, the Gothic army camped at Rome's gates was restless. The Gothic commander was Alaric, a Roman general and barbarian chieftain. Leading an army that was short of food and potentially mutinous, sacking Rome was his only way forward. The old heart of Rome's empire fell to a conqueror's sword for the first time in eight hundred years. For three days, Alaric's Goths sacked the eternal city. In the words of a contemporary, the mother of the world had been murdered. Alaric's story is the culmination of a long historical journey by which the Goths came to be a part of the Roman world. Whether as friends or foes of the Roman empire, the Goths and their history are entwined with the larger history of Rome in the third and fourth centuries. Rome's Gothic Wars explains how the Goths came into existence on the margins of the Roman world, how different Gothic groups dealt with the enormous power of Rome just beyond their lands, and how, in two traumatic years, thousands of Goths entered the imperial provinces and destroyed the army that was sent to suppress them, leaving the emperor of the eternal city dead on the field of battle. Unlike other histories of the barbarians, Rome's Gothic Wars shows exactly how and why modern historians understand the Goths the way they do - and why our understanding is so controversial. Michael Kulikowski is associate professor of history at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville. A recipient of the Solmsen Fellowship at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, he is the author of Late Roman Spain and Its Cities, which was awarded an Honorable Mention in Classics and Archaeology from the Association of American University Presses. His scholarly articles have appeared in Early Medieval Europe, Britannia, Phoenix, and Byzantium, and he has appeared on the History Channel's Barbarians series.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From the Prologue:

Before the Gates of Rome

Late in august 410, a large troop of soldiers bore down on the city of Rome. At their head rode the general Alaric, in the full insignia of a magister militum. It was the highest command in the Roman army, won after years of politicking and military success. But Alaric was more than a Roman general. He was also a Gothic chieftain, some might have said a king. As far as contemporaries were concerned, the soldiers who followed him were Goths. Sometimes, to be sure, Alaric had put his followers at the service of the Roman emperor. When he did so, they became a unit in the Roman army. But their loyalty was to Alaric, not to the emperor or the empire, and everyone knew it. Alaric might be a Roman general, but no one ever mistook his followers for Roman soldiers. They were the Goths, and Alaric had led them against regular imperial armies more than once. In the early fifth century, the line between Roman regiment and barbarian horde was a fine one, and Alaric straddled it as best he could. But no one was quite taken in by appearances, and Alaric never succeeded in turning himself into the legitimate Roman commander he so desperately wanted to be.

Want more? Read the prologue in its entirety.

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Review

“Kulikowski offers a novel, exhilarating and convincing interpretation . . . straight to the heart of a major historical debate.”
John F. Drinkwater, author of Fifth-Century Gaul: A Crisis of Identity?

“...a lively and important new study . . . engaging and sophisticated narrative of events.”
Guy Halsall, author of Violence and Society in the Early Medieval West

“Intriguing, comprehensive, and up-to-date history... The reader gets a sense of who the Goths were and why they had such a tremendous effect on Rome, defeating the Roman emperor Valens in 378, the greatest military defeat in Roman imperial history, and plundering the city of Rome in 410. In the process Kulikowski de-mystifies the nationalist mythologies surrounding the Goths while telling a fascinating story.”
Paul Freedman, Department of History, Yale University

“An extraordinary window back into the life-and-death struggles of the late Roman Empire. Kulikowski brings an epic conflict, rich in character and detail, to life. A great book.”
Robert Gardner, Producer/Director Barbarians Three-time Emmy winner and Academy Award Nominee

"Rome's Gothic Wars is a breezy and animated, yet authoritative, look at this remarkable time in history and it's sure to be of interest to anybody with a taste for character-driven history. Kulikowski approaches his subject with both an admirable zeal and a level-headed coolness that makes this book both informative and fun."
Military History Online

"Kulikowski does an excellent job in putting together such a confused history into this brief but effective narrative."
Divi Filius, UNRV History - Roman Empire

"The book is easy to read, the narrative flows well and there are many subheadings within the chapters that keep the pace moving at an appropriate rate for an introductory text. In such a short space of 184 pages the author does an exceptional job of introducing the key debates of this complex and sometimes volatile topic, while still presenting a solid contemporary analysis of the most recent sources.
-BMCR

"Rome's Gothic Wars is likely to surprise even experienced students of the period with its fresh perspective."
The NYMAS Review

"A stimulating new interpretation of Gothic origins and of such storied figures as Alaric, the sacker of Rome, and Theodosius, the exiled Roman commander who revived Roman fortunes after Adrianople. Worthwhile, too, is the accompanying narrative that gives a crisp and readable account of events from the Gothic arrival in the empire to Alaric's sack of Rome...Germanic origins have long been concealed in forest mists, but Kulikowski's study of the Goths brings much to light and is not to be missed."
Lawrence A. Tritle, Loyola Marymount University, Military History

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 238 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (October 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521846331
• ISBN-13: 978-0521846332
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #309,720 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Deeds of the Goths", November 16, 2006

By 

Stephen Balbach (Ashton, MD United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity) (Hardcover)

This is a short book and easy to read but is packed with eye openers, it is valuable both for a hobbiest like myself and the professional. I recently read Peter Heather's "The Fall of the Roman Empire" (2005), as well as other survey accounts of the Goths including Gibbon and Bury (and of course the History Channel "Barbarians") - Kulikowski's writing style is great, it's difficult to tire of such an incredible story, everyone tells it a little differently adding new ideas and perspectives.

More than a survey, Kulikowski makes a bold (and convincing) case about the origins of the Goths and what motivated them (or not) to cross the Danube in 376. In addition we learn about the latest approach to barbarian ethnicity (called "ethnogenesis") which is applicable to all the ancient peoples and important to understand in the face of so much racist and nationalistic scholarship out there; an excellent historiography of Gothic studies which reveals some interesting connections to modern educational institutions; a general overview of the barbarians and the Roman Empire; a "Further Reading" where we get the authors recommendations on the best books available for specific topics; a list of key names with short descriptions (about 150 names).

This is the first in a series which is described in the opening matter: "This series is composed of introductory-level texts that provide an essential foundation for the study of important wars and conflicts of classical antiquity. Each volume provides a synopsis of the main events and key characters, the consequences of the conflict, and its reception over time. An important feature is the critical overview of the textual and archaeological sources for the conflict, which is designed to teach both historiography and the methods that historians use to reconstruct events of the past."

40 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, but Unconvincing, December 24, 2006

By 

R. Andrea "book buff" (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity) (Hardcover)

After acknowledging "the historian has a duty to make history intelligible" (p. xi), Professor Kulikowski proceeds to further obscure the already obscure subject of Romano-Gothic relations. Rather than "help those who are just beginning the advanced study of late antiquity," he abandons serious scholarship and builds a house of cards which admits little scrutiny.

Professor Kulikowski starts with the humble-sounding premise that "even the most basic facts are either unknown or else uncertain because of contradictory evidence" (p. 12), then proceeds to savage his our sources.

Even more startling is his thesis that "the Roman empire create[d] the Goths as we know them." (p. 13) Time and again throughout the first half of Wars, Kulikowski tells us "as we will see", then spends the second half saying "as we have seen" never having supported his intriguing thesis. In the end the reader is left with an assertion--a plausible scenario, but not the only plausible scenario.

The key chapter is "The Search for Gothic Origins" in which Kulikowski deconstructs ancient and modern theories that the Goths or their prehistoric antecedents came from the region of modern Scandinavia and/or Poland. Then he examines archeological evidence in the region from which the Goths first came to the attention of classical cultures. While he acknowledges that the Alans and Sarmatians lived as a horse culture on top of an agricultural substrata, he avows that the remains uncovered in the Sântana-de-Mureº/Èernjachov cultural zone support his assertion "that there was no Gothic history before the third century. The Goths are a product of the Roman frontier, just like the Franks and the Alamanni who appear at the same time." (p. 67)

In addition to needing a refresher in logic, the good professor should have sought grammar assistance from his school's English department. The text is replete with participles and passive constructions, which will not help those beginning students he proclaimed as his target audience. While Professor Kulikowski tends to cite (and analyze the reliability of) ancient sources, he rarely quotes those sources, leaving the reader to accept his analysis of what the source did nor did not report.

Maps in Wars are woefully inadequate, both in number and detail. Kulikowski's statement on page xii that the Department of History "produced [them] at short notice" implies that all the maps were an afterthought.

Make no mistake, Professor Kulikowski's theory is a provocative and insightful one. But the norm for historical writing these days is provocative new theories. Modern historians are not content to stand on the shoulders of their predecessors for a slightly better view. Modern historians feel compelled to tear down everything before them and start anew--even if it means they are writing fiction. Kulikowski explains his new theory well enough; he just never proves it.

Despite its shortfalls, Rome's Gothic Wars offers a good review of the current state of knowledge about Romano-Gothic relations between A. D. 376 and 410. Professor Kulikowski offers insights to Rome's degeneration from an externally invincible empire to a shadow of its former self--the "eternal city" sacked and independent barbarian kingdoms established within its borders.

Guardedly recommended.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a needed addition to the subject of the Goths and the Roman Empire, September 13, 2007

By 

Irene Hahn - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity) (Hardcover)

Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric (Key Conflicts of Classical Antiquity) by Michael Kulikowski is a needed addition to the subject of the Goths and the Roman Empire. It's a must-read for all interested in this era of history and hopefully encourages readers to further exploration.

The book may appear controversial to some: Aside from presenting the history of the Goths from the 3rd century CE to Alaric, the author looks at modern views on Gothic history, a touchy subject among modern scholars, who "support their own positions with an intensity that most people reserve for their favourite football team or rock band ... I am no exception." (He certainly isn't...)

That discussion revolves around the trustworthiness - or lack thereof - of the ancient writer Jordanes, whose Getica is the predominantly accepted source for the origin and migration of the Goths. The author lays out in great detail why he has concluded that Jordanes is not only unreliable but "deeply misleading." He states that the Getica underpins nearly every modern treatment of the Goths, consciously or not. He sees the narrative as so pervasive because the idea of northern Gothic roots has played an over-arching role in conceptualizing the northern European past.

The story of the Goths and Mr. Kulikowski's arguments are well laid out. The time period he discusses reaches from a brief chapter The Goths before Constantine (with a discourse on the "Scythians") to the sack of Rome by Alaric and its aftermath, in sequence titled The Roman Empire and and the Barbarian Society, Imperial Politics and the Rise of Gothic Power, Goths and Romans, The Battle of Adrianople, Theodosius and the Goths, Alaric and The Sack of Rome, and The Aftermath of Alaric.

The chapters are divided in sub-chapters with bolded titles which makes it easy to go back to individual sections. The book has two helpful glossaries, a Glossary of Ancient Sources and a Biographical Glossary, as well as a chapter "Further Readings," and there are four excellent maps.