LATE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE GOTHIC INCURSIONS Thi

This research paper examines the relations between the late Roman Empire and the Gothic tribes which pressed upon Rome's frontiers in the southeast Balkans in the late 4th century A.D. The focal point is the period covered by Ammianus Marcellinus in his The Late Roman Empire (A.D. 354-378) which culminated in a devastating defeat by the Goths of the Romans outside Adrianople in Thrace in 378. The vulnerability of the empire to barbarian pressures in this area was revealed by the Gothic wars of the mid-3rd century. Despite the efforts of its reforming Illyrian emperors of the late 3rd and early 4th centuries, which temporarily restored an uneasy peace on its Balkan frontiers, Rome found itself militarily overextended and internally weakened by a series of developments which rendered it incapable of withstanding a new surge of Gothic peoples across the Danube in the 370s which was in turn prompted by powerful demographic pressures from the east.

Due to its superiority in organization, governance and military prowess, Rome had extended its sway by the time of Caesar Antonius Pius (139-161 A.D.) over all the lands bordering on the Mediterranean Sea and most of Western Europe. Its principal frontiers extended along three great rivers, the Rhine and the Danube in Europe, and the Euphrates in the Near East. Under the rule of Augustus (27 B.C.-14 A.D.) peace and prosperity had been established over th

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ian to Nicomedia (Izmit) in Asia Minor which Constantine formalized by erecting his capital at Constantinople. The latter move was dictated largely by economics. Starr said by the 4th century, although two-thirds of the army was tied down in the west, more than 65 percent of imperial revenues were derived from the east (165). Moreover, the revival of the Persian threat and the ever present barbarian threat in the Balkans on the doorstep of the populous and wealthy eastern cities required closer attention to those fronts. The new system of command worked fairly well so long as Diocletian's forceful personality held it together, but after he abdicated, Williams said "six pretenders were soon fighting in its ruins" (243). Constantine acquired dominion over his rivals by 324 but, after his death in 337, another bloody battle for succession erupted among his three sons. After two of them, Constantine II and Constans, were killed in 340 and 350, respectively, Constantius, who had been in charge in the East, ruled supreme but had to put down a revolt in the West led by a general Magnentius (350-355). Diocletian's and Constantine's reinforced armies performed well against the Persians in the East and the Alamanni in the West. With hi
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Marcus Aurelius, Julian's Reforms, Reinhold Constantine, Minor Constantine, East West, Goths Goths, Ammianus Constantius, Adrianople Thrace, Adrianople Ammianus, Lupicinus Maximus, roman empire, black sea, illyrian emperors, lower danube, asia minor, 4th century, late roman empire, barbarian tribes, roman army, gothic tribes, marcus aurelius, napthali reinhold constantine, 2d ed 1970, winston 2d ed, rinehart winston 2d,
Approximate Word count = 3724
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page)