What caused the fall of Rome? Since Gibbon’s day scholars have hotly debated the question and come up with answers ranging from blood poisoning to rampant immorality and excessive bureaucratization. In recent years, however, the most likely explanation has been neglected: was it not above all else a military collapse? Professor Ferrill believes it was, and sets out his case in this provocative book.
In the last decade of the fourth century AD one emperor - Theodosius - still ruled over an Empire larger than that of the great Augustus, and commanded a massive army of several hundred thousand men. Less than eighty years later, both Empire and army in the West had been wiped out. How did this happen? Barbarian invasions certainly played their part, but the fundamental cause, Professor Ferrill shows, lay within the Roman army itself. The huge mobile reserve created by Constantine (306-337) fatally weakened the frontier forces and emphasized cavalry at the expense of infantry. The introduction of barbarian allies to bolster the army reduced infantry morale and discipline still further. Yet in the crucial battles that the legions fought against Goths and Huns it was the clash of foot soldiers - not cavalry - that decided the Empire’s fate. The defeat of Roman infantry led ultimately to the defeat of Rome herself.
All the key personalities and events are vividly described, from Julian the Apostate and Alaric the Visigoth to the battle of Adrianople and the sack of Rome. With its rich complement of maps, photographs and battle plans, this is a gripping and fully up-to-date account of one of the most momentous epochs in human history.
With 48 illustrations, maps and battle plans.
Author(s): Arther Ferrill
Publisher: Thames and Hudson
Year: 1986
Language: English
Pages: 192
City: New York
Preface 7
1. The Decline and Fall of Rome 10
From Gibbon to Today 13
2. The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire 23
From Preclusive Security to Third-Century Collapse 25
From Chaos to a New Order 31
The Army of Diocletian 41
Constantine and his Sons 43
3. Crises on the Frontiers in the Fourth Century 51
Julian the Apostate in Persia 52
The Battle of Adrianople 56
The Effect of Defeat on the Roman Army 64
4. Theodosius the Great AD 378-395 68
The Reunification of the Empire 68
The Roman Army in AD 395 77
A Comparison of the Eastern and Western Armies 83
5. The Turning Point: AD 406-410 86
Stilicho and Alaric 90
The Vandals and the Rhine: the Fall of Stilicho 97
The Sack of Rome 102
6. The Grand Strategy of the Western Roman Empire in the Early Fifth Century 117
Constantius III and the Crisis in the West 117
The Settlement of Barbarian Nations 119
The Western Army after the Sack of Rome 126
7. Aëtius, the Vandals and the Huns 133
The Loss of Africa 135
The Army of the Huns 140
The Battle of Chalons and the Invasion of Italy 145
8. The Fall of Rome 152
The Roman Army after Chalons 152
The Sack of Rome by the Vandals 153
Ricimer and the Defence of Italy 155
The Loss of Gaul and Spain 158
Odovacer and the Overthrow of Romulus Augustulus 159
The Fall of Rome 161
Table of Emperors 170
Notes 172
Select Bibliography 182
Illustration Credits 187
Index 188
