Download or read book Generalissimos of the Western Roman Empire written by John M. O'Flynn and published by University of Alberta. This book was released on 1983 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: John Micheal O'Flynn traces the development of the position of the generalissimo, or emperor's commander of the military forces, in the western part of the Roman Empire during the first century AD. From the arrogant barbarian Arbogast, who treated the youthful emperor Valentinian as his puppet, to Odovacar, who dismissed the last western emperor and was pronounced king of Italy in 476, the generalissimos' seizure of power led to dissolution and chaos from which would emerge the political patterns of medieval and modern Europe.

Download or read book Aetius written by Ian Hughes and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2012-07-19 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “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

Download or read book Late Roman Warlords written by Penny MacGeorge and published by OUP Oxford. This book was released on 2002-12-05 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Late Roman Warlords reconstructs the careers of some of the men who shaped (and were shaped by) the last quarter century of the Western Empire. There is a need for a new investigation of these warlords based on primary sources and including recent historical debates and theories. The difficult sources for this period have been analysed (and translated as necessary) to produce a chronological account, and relevant archaeological and numismatic evidence has been utilised. An overview of earlier warlords, including Aetius, is followed by three studies of individual warlords and the regions they dominated. The first covers Dalmatia and Marcellinus, its ruler during the 450s and 460s. A major theme is the question of Marcellinus' western or eastern affiliations: using an often-ignored Greek source, Penny MacGeorge suggests a new interpretation. The second part is concerned with the Gallic general Aegidius and his son Syagrius, who ruled in northern Gaul, probably from Soissons. This extends to AD 486 (well after the fall of the Western Empire). The problem of the existence or non-existence of a 'kingdom of Soissons' is discussed, introducing evidence from the Merovingian period, and a solution put forward. This section also looks at how the political situation in northern Gaul might throw light on contemporary post-Roman Britain. The third study is of the barbarian patrician Ricimer, defender of Italy, and his successors (the Burgundian prince Gundobad and Orestes, a former employee of Attila) down to the coup of 476 by which Odovacer became the first barbarian king of Italy. This includes discussion of the character and motivation of Ricimer, particularly in relation to the emperors he promoted and destroyed, and of how historians' assessments of him have changed over time.

Download or read book Stilicho written by Ian Hughes and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2010-06-19 with total page 420 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 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.

Download or read book Darkness Descends A D 350 to 565 the Fall of the Western Roman Empire written by Ted Byfield and published by CHRISTIAN HISTORY PROJECT. This book was released on 2003 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Christians is the history of Christianity, told chronologically, epoch by epoch, century by century, beginning at Pentecost and concluding with Christians as we find ourselves in the twenty-first century. It will consist of approximately twelve volumes, produced over a 10-year period at the beginning of the third Christian millennium. It is written and edited by Christians for Christians of all denominations. Its purpose is to tell the story of the Christian family, so that we may be knowledgeable of our origins, may well know and wisely profit from the experiences of our past both good and bad, and may find strength and inspiration to face the challenges of our era from the magnificent examples set for us by those who went before. - Back cover.

Download or read book War Warlords and Interstate Relations in the Ancient Mediterranean written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2017-12-05 with total page 518 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the final four centuries BC, many political and stateless entities of the Mediterranean headed towards anarchy and militarism, while stronger powers -Carthage, the Hellenistic kingdoms and Republican Rome- expanded towards State formation, forceful military structures and empire building. Edited by T. Ñaco del Hoyo and F. López Sánchez, this volume presents the proceedings from an ICREA Conference held in Barcelona (2013), addressing the connection between war, warlords and interstate relations from classical studies and social sciences perspectives. Some twenty scholars from European, Japanese and North American Universities consider the scope of ‘multipolarity’ and the usefulness of ‘warlord’, a modern category, in order to feature some ancient military and political leaderships.

Download or read book Child Emperor Rule in the Late Roman West AD 367 455 written by Meaghan McEvoy and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2013-05-02 with total page 380 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: McEvoy addresses the phenomenon of the Roman child-emperor during the late fourth century. Tracing the course of their reigns, the book looks at the sophistication of the Roman system of government which made their accessions possible, and the adaptation of existing imperial ideology to portray boys as young as six as viable rulers.

Download or read book Patricians and Emperors written by Ian Hughes and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2015-09-30 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This engaging historical narrative of the fall of the Western Roman Empire focuses on the individuals in power during its final forty years. The fall of the Western Roman Empire was a chaotic but crucial period of European history. To bring order to our understanding of this time, Patricians and Emperors offers a concise chronology with comparative biographies of the individuals who wielded significant power. It covers the period between the assassination of Aetius in 454 and the death of Odovacer during the Ostrogoth invasion of 493. The book is divided into four parts. The first establishes context for the period, including brief profiles of generals Stilicho (395–408) and Aetius (425–454), and explains the nature of the empire at the time of its initial decline. The second details the lives of general Ricimer (455–472) and his great rival, Marcellinus (455–468), by focusing on the stories of the numerous emperors that Ricimer raised and deposed. The third deals with the Patricians Gundobad (472–3) and Orestes (475–6), and also explains how the barbarian general Odovacer came to power in 476. The final part outlines and analyses the Fall of the West and the rise of barbarian kingdoms in France, Spain, and Italy.

Download or read book From Rome to Byzantium AD 363 to 565 written by A. D. Lee and published by Edinburgh University Press. This book was released on 2013-01-15 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Between the deaths of the Emperors Julian (363) and Justinian (565), the Roman Empire underwent momentous changes. Most obviously, control of the west was lost to barbarian groups during the fifth century, and although parts were recovered by Justinian, the empire's centre of gravity shifted irrevocably to the east, with its focal point now the city of Constantinople. Equally important was the increasing dominance of Christianity not only in religious life, but also in politics, society and culture. Doug Lee charts these and other significant developments which contributed to the transformation of ancient Rome and its empire into Byzantium and the early medieval west. By emphasising the resilience of the east during late antiquity and the continuing vitality of urban life and the economy, this volume offers an alternative perspective to the traditional paradigm of decline and fall.

Download or read book Conflict in Ancient Greece and Rome 3 volumes written by Sara Elise Phang and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2016-06-27 with total page 2571 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The complex role warfare played in ancient Greek and Roman civilizations is examined through coverage of key wars and battles; important leaders, armies, organizations, and weapons; and other noteworthy aspects of conflict. Conflict in Ancient Greece and Rome: The Definitive Political, Social, and Military Encyclopedia is an outstandingly comprehensive reference work on its subject. Covering wars, battles, places, individuals, and themes, this thoroughly cross-referenced three-volume set provides essential support to any student or general reader investigating ancient Greek history and conflicts as well as the social and political institutions of the Roman Republic and Empire. The set covers ancient Greek history from archaic times to the Roman conquest and ancient Roman history from early Rome to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. It features a general foreword, prefaces to both sections on Greek history and Roman history, and maps and chronologies of events that precede each entry section. Each section contains alphabetically ordered articles—including ones addressing topics not traditionally considered part of military history, such as "noncombatants" and "war and gender"—followed by cross-references to related articles and suggested further reading. Also included are glossaries of Greek and Latin terms, topically organized bibliographies, and selected primary documents in translation.

Download or read book The Inheritance of Rome written by Chris Wickham and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2009-01-29 with total page 527 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The idea that with the decline of the Roman Empire Europe entered into some immense ‘dark age’ has long been viewed as inadequate by many historians. How could a world still so profoundly shaped by Rome and which encompassed such remarkable societies as the Byzantine, Carolingian and Ottonian empires, be anything other than central to the development of European history? How could a world of so many peoples, whether expanding, moving or stable, of Goths, Franks, Vandals, Byzantines, Arabs, Anglo-Saxons, Vikings, whose genetic and linguistic inheritors we all are, not lie at the heart of how we understand ourselves? The Inheritance of Rome is a work of remarkable scope and ambition. Drawing on a wealth of new material, it is a book which will transform its many readers’ ideas about the crucible in which Europe would in the end be created. From the collapse of the Roman imperial system to the establishment of the new European dynastic states, perhaps this book’s most striking achievement is to make sense of an immensely long period of time, experienced by many generations of Europeans, and which, while it certainly included catastrophic invasions and turbulence, also contained long periods of continuity and achievement. From Ireland to Constantinople, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, this is a genuinely Europe-wide history of a new kind, with something surprising or arresting on every page.

Download or read book The Last Roman written by Adrian Murdoch and published by The History Press. This book was released on 2006-12-15 with total page 209 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Last Roman is the only biography about Romulus Augustulus. It focuses on the personalities behind this powerful story and reveals the world into which Romulus was born - an empire that was about to die. Author Adrian Murdoch explores how Romulus's father Orestes, secretary to Attila the Hun, rose through the ranks to become kingmaker; how all was lost to another usurper in an Italy wracked with civil war; and how Romulus found peace at last, founding a monastery. This dramatic and poignant story of politics, decline and loss has inspired. Drawing on extensive new archaeological and historical research and using numerous contemporary sources, many translated for the first time since the nineteenth century, The Last Roman is the vivid story of an empire breathing its last.

Download or read book Defending Rome The Masters of the Soldiers written by Julian Reynolds and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2011-06-25 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: For its last eighty years, the Western Roman Empire was ruled by emperors who were unable to provide the leadership demanded by the crisis the Empire faced throughout this period. Power was exercised instead by the commanders of the Western armies, the magisteri militum or Masters of the Soldiers, four of whom stood out – Stilicho, Constantius, Aetius and Ricimer. Challenged by barbarian invasions, constantly diminishing resources, and indifference and sometimes hostility from the imperial court, the Senate and the Roman people, these men prolonged the existence of the Empire in the West beyond what would otherwise have been its natural span. This book tells the story of the collapse of the Western Empire, as seen through the lives of these individuals, a collapse that ended more than political and military structures, that encompassed the end of an ancient pagan culture and the inception of the age of Christianity.

Download or read book 500 Great Military Leaders 2 volumes written by Spencer C. Tucker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2014-12-16 with total page 933 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This insightful encyclopedia examines the most influential commanders who have shaped military history and the course of world events from ancient times to the present. From Alexander the Great and Attila the Hun to Ho Chi Minh and Colin Powell, 500 Great Military Leaders provides readers with insight into the most innovative and prominent individuals who have led armies to victory on battlefields all over the world. The broad coverage ranges from military leaders from the ancient world to the present day, including political figures who directed war efforts and those who were responsible for major technological improvements. This encyclopedia goes beyond providing factual information about each individual's life to delve into the greater historical context and impact on their contemporaries as well as on future military history. The presentation of information is designed to enable readers to both observe the gradual evolution of warfare over time and clearly perceive the differences in tactics used by generals with varying military resources at their disposal. The entries include not only information on the individual's life and work but a summary statement that assesses successes and failures across each leader's career and summarizes the overall impact. Each entry also provides several references for further reading about that individual. The accessible writing style of this resource and in-depth information and analyses make it appropriate for high school and undergraduate-level students as well as scholars of military history and individuals who simply enjoy reading about military history.

Download or read book Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire written by Adrastos Omissi and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2018 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the great maxims of history is that it is written by the victors, and nowhere does this find greater support than in the later Roman Empire. Between 284 and 395 AD, no fewer than 37 men claimed imperial power, though today we recognize barely half of these men as 'legitimate' rulers and more than two thirds died at their subjects' hands. Once established in power, a new ruler needed to publicly legitimate himself and to discredit his predecessor: overt criticism of the new regime became high treason, with historians supressing their accounts for fear of reprisals and the very names of defeated emperors chiselled from public inscriptions and deleted from official records. In a period of such chaos, how can we ever hope to record in any fair or objective way the history of the Roman state? Emperors and Usurpers in the Later Roman Empire is the first history of civil war in the later Roman Empire to be written in English and aims to address this question by focusing on the various ways in which successive imperial dynasties attempted to legitimate themselves and to counter the threat of almost perpetual internal challenge to their rule. Panegyric in particular emerges as a crucial tool for understanding the rapidly changing political world of the third and fourth centuries, providing direct evidence of how, in the wake of civil wars, emperors attempted to publish their legitimacy and to delegitimize their enemies. The ceremony and oratory surrounding imperial courts too was of great significance: used aggressively to dramatize and constantly recall the events of recent civil wars, the narratives produced by the court in this context also went on to have enormous influence on the messages and narratives found within contemporary historical texts. In its exploration of the ways in which successive imperial courts sought to communicate with their subjects, this volume offers a thoroughly original reworking of late Roman domestic politics, and demonstrates not only how history could be erased, rewritten, and repurposed, but also how civil war, and indeed usurpation, became endemic to the later Empire.

Download or read book A Global Chronology of Conflict 6 volumes written by Spencer C. Tucker and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2009-12-23 with total page 3127 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This monumental six-volume resource offers engaging entries of major diplomatic, military, and political events driving world conflicts from ancient times to the present. Now from ABC-CLIO, long regarded as a premier publisher of military history, comes a monumental resource that encapsulates the entire scope of conflict among human societies. Spanning nearly five millennia, from the earliest documented fighting to the present, A Global Chronology of Conflict: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East, provides a comprehensive survey of major military events. With coverage that reaches beyond the battles, this work examines the political and diplomatic forces driving world conflicts, revolutions, forced changes of governments, international treaties, and acts of aggression and terrorism. Written by acclaimed military historian Spencer C. Tucker, these six chronologically organized volumes offer an accessible, richly detailed timeline of military conflict across human history. The concise entries cover all important events on the battlefield and in the corridors of power, with special features highlighting hundreds of key leaders and weapon systems. From specific data on casualties to coverage of evolving weapons technology to insightful analyses of the social impact of war, A Global Chronology of Conflict is an essential resource for students, researchers, history buffs, and general readers alike.

Download or read book Imagining Emperors in the Later Roman Empire written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2018-07-10 with total page 365 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Imagining Emperors in the Later Roman Empire offers new analysis of the textual depictions of a series of emperors in the fourth century within overlapping historical, religious, and literary contexts. Drawing on the recent Representational Turn in the study of imperial power, these essays examine how literary authors working in various genres, both Latin and Greek, and of differing religious affiliations construct and manipulate the depiction of a series of emperors from the late third to the late fourth centuries CE. In a move away from traditional source criticism, this volume opens up new methodological approaches to chart intellectual and literary history during a critical century for the ancient Mediterranean world.