sonic
-
Posts
498 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
33
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Static Pages
News
Blogs
Gallery
Events
Downloads
Posts posted by sonic
-
-
I think the challenges and pressures on the Empire in the third century were as great as (if not greater than) those on the Empire in the early fifth century. The major difference, of course, was the skill and success of the leadership to meet those challenges.
I agree that 5th century leaders such as Honorius were disgraceful, but there were also competent leaders such as Constantius and Majorian who tried to restore order, but ultimately failed.
Note the hedge in my statement: "early fifth century."When Theodosius dies (AD 395), I feel that the Western Empire still had a great potential for lasting success and stability.
If Rome had a Stilicho (died 408) as emperor, instead of the worthless Honorius....
By the time of Aetius (died 454), however, Rome may have already been in a terminal death spiral and nothing could have saved her.
I will defer to Ian on this, however.
guy also known as gaius
Gee thanks Guy: no pressure then!
I think there may be some major differences between the periods under discussion.
As has been pointed out, in the third century a series of competent emperors - however short lived - managed to slowly piece the Empire back together again, both physically and mentally. After the 'Third Century Crisis' the majority of the Empire was happy enough - or scared of the emperor enough! - to continue to be 'productive citizens', paying taxes, supplying recruits for the army, and refraining from rebellion in any of its forms - although usurpations and cicil war did continue, especially during the 'reign' of Constantine and his sons. In addition, the barbarian invasions of the third century, although devastating, did not fundamentally damage the Empire's social and economic base as no permanent settlements were made, except on the Empire's terms. Furthermore, although the Empire had been riven by civil wars, the majority of the casualties were to be found in the army, which was often led in person by the emperor to face both internal and external enemies. Despite the constant usurpations, the Empire remained essentially united, with many of the differences between East and West being ignored. At the end of the century there was a feeling of renewal and confidence in the empire.
The fifth century is almost completely different. After the division of the empire between Valentinian and Valens the separation between East and West became an ever-growing division. This was not helped by the accession of two incompetent but relatively long-lived minors in 395 (Arcadius died in 408, Honorius in 423) and the succession of Theodosius II, who was not much of an improvement, in the East (408-450). The empire was not ruled 'jointly': instead, the two rival political courts generally dealt with each other in a hostile fashion - especially during the leadership of Stilicho in the West. Moreover, after Theodosius I's campaigns against the West, in effect the West was left to sort out its own problems without help from the East, again thanks largely to the policies of Stilicho in the West and his opponents in the East. Contrast this with events after the Battle of Adrianople in 378.
In addition, the barbarian 'invasions' of the West - especially the Goths in 401, and the Vandals, Alans and Sueves in 406 - resulted in large territories being lost for the purposes of taxation and army recruitment. When combined with the elite's withdrawal from military and political responsibility - especially in the paying of taxes and the supplying of recruits - the net result was the loss of the Western army and the growth of the 'Barbarian Kingdoms'. It is difficult to defeat an enemy in the long term when you are unwilling to take casualties in defeating him, relying instead on blockade and siege. Because they did not suffer from devastating casualties in war, the barbarian kingdoms were usually willing to re-open conflicts after only a short period of rest and renewal.
The growth of the barbarian kingdoms was helped by the desire of large segments of the population in Britain, Gaul and Spain to secede from a Roman rule which appeared to demand much in taxes but offered little in the way of protection from barbarian intruders, whether from outside or inside the Empire. Aetius was to spend a large part of his campaigning career putting down never-ending Bacaudic rebellions, a problem that was not on the same scale in the third century.
I hope this answers some of the questions!
Right, back to work - what was Valens doing in 370 .... ?
-
Sonic, in theory it is on sale at either Amazon or another thingie on line.. but.........
It's available for pre-order at several outlets. However, despite the fact that some may be advertising it as for sale instantly, this is a bit difficult as it is only last Friday that I sent in the corrections that needed to be made to the cover! If they are unhappy at telling the truth, I would expect the sellers to make some excuse to cover the 'delay' in sending the book out, such as it being 'out of stock', or 'delayed due to delivery problems'.
-
Ian,
When your book comes out, I'd like to read it. My novel climaxes at Catalaunum. Although Attila and Aetius are not lead characters in my story, they do play a part (Aetius more than Attila). I'm in a final revision, but it might have been nice to have used your work as another resource. Cinzia
Well, it's only another 3-4 weeks at the most. Maybe time to 'delay' the final revision??
So what exactly is the novel about?
-
The third century of the Roman Empire is the least documented, most poorly understood, and the most confusing period of the Roman Empire. It includes my favourite period of Roman history to study: from AD 235 (the death of Severus Alexander) to AD 284 (the ascension of Diocletian).
The third century was a period of instability. It can be characterized by a near fatal array of diverse and destructive pressures. These included a devastating plague, numerous barbarian invasions, a lethal and aggressive Sassanian Empire, multiple rebellious and rogue generals, several civil wars, economic disruptions, the persecution of the Jesus movement, and a seemingly endless and confusing succession of emperors and usurpers who almost always died violently.
Despite the century
-
They've used superglue and are waiting for the solvent from ebay!!
This sort of excuse just doesn't wash with us Kindle users!
Maybe the superglue has stuck their fingers where they can't reach the keys to load the book on to Kindle?
Hah nice come back!!
What do you say to that then Ghost???
-
Is your book fiction?
Cinzia
Hi Cinzia
No, it's not fiction. It's a biography of Aetius, following on from my books on Belisarius and Stilicho. It's an attempt to outline the events of his life, including his wars with the Goths, the loss of Africa to the Vandals, and the epic conflict at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains with Attila the Hun.
Obviously, given the poor quality of the sources, there are quite a few gaps, but I have found a few pieces of information when writing and researching the book that surprised me!
For more information, have a look at my website.
Ian
-
They've used superglue and are waiting for the solvent from ebay!!
This sort of excuse just doesn't wash with us Kindle users!
Maybe the superglue has stuck their fingers where they can't reach the keys to load the book on to Kindle?
-
That's just not good enough Sonic!!
Tell them to get their fingers out!
They've used superglue and are waiting for the solvent from ebay!!
-
Hi all.
Just to let anybody with an interest in
-
Happy Christmas from Yorkshire.
-
I'm open for reviewing it
So am I!
-
I want the Roma Victrix Beaker @UNRV http://bit.ly/romavictrix
-
If you can spare 30k you can get now hold of the original first edition from 1776 of Gibbons History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire...
hows that for a christmas present... ;-)
Where's my wallet ....
-
Well, that's another four or five books on my wishlist! Now where's that lottery ticket: you know, the winning one ...
-
This is fantastic news, Ghost! I shall be ordering my DVDs without delay! I have seen several reviews which didn't really rate this series, but even if I wasn't interested in Roman history, I would still find it funny.
'You are, with respect, Grasientus, an ugly bastard'
Great!
Just received it and watched the first two episodes. Still funny after all these years - especially the first episode, which has a large amount in Latin!
-
. . . and if you're buying it from Amazon, don't forget to use the UNRV link. Which hopefully someone feeling more motivated than me may provide on this thread.
I don't know how to do it either!
-
Just to let everybody who may be interested know, 'Aetius: Attila's Nemesis' is now available for pre-order at many good book shops, and some rubbish ones. For example, here. Unfortunately, it's due out in February so will not be available as a Christmas present.
I was late announcing the arrival of 'Stilicho', so I thought that this time I would be early and so not get shouted at!
-
Below are the newest releases for August...
Chronicles, Consuls, and Coins: Historiography and History in the Later Roman Empire
Galla Placidia: The Last Roman Empress
I would definitely be interested in these two books - for obvious reasons! Anybody else who's interested, I'll fight you for them!!
-
That's the first time I've cried laughing in ages!
-
what does off-licences mean?
btw.here some info about the town on wikipedia
An off-licence is a shop licensed to sell intoxicating beers and spirits etc. They tend to sell nothing else except for a few chocolates and sweets, in case parents take their kids into the shop when buying alcohol. Unlike supermarkets and general off-licences, who sell only big-name brands plus a few minor labels, specialist off-licences import lesser-known beers from the continent.
-
What for? I mean, Wetherspoons aren't going to sell any. As soon as you order it you'll be frog-marched off the premises.
I meant in specialist off-licences. German and Austrian beer is superb.
-
Best. Post. Ever.
Oh, please, please let them export it to England!
-
I saw this on the local news this morning (I live in Yorkshire) and at the end the newsreader said 'Wearing armour tires you? Who'd have guessed that?', which sums up my opinion. The chances of wearing armour all day affecting battles is probably minimal. Do you think that the 'researchers' took into account that the armour wearers in the Middle Ages began to wear such armour at the age of about 10, and so would have developed the muscles necessary to wear heavy armour for long periods?
-
Diocletian.
There's not enough stuff on the third century.
I agree. I've already spoken to my editor and he knows of my desire to cover the 3rd century at some point. All I've got to do is complete the books I've already signed for, plus the ones we have a 'verbal' agreement on, plus ...
I wonder if I could clone myself?
Or maybe just learn to type faster ...?
Domitianus II : Little Known Romano-Gallic Usurper
in Numismatica
Posted
Thanks for the comment: it's much appreciated!