At the Gates of Rome: The Fall of the Eternal City, ad 410, by Don Hollway, Osprey Publishing/Bloomsbury Publishing, Oxford, U.K., and New York, 2022, $30
Enemy at the Gates
In many ways the history of Rome is the story of “barbarians”—those beyond the imperial frontier who looked on Rome with longing, either to conquer and pillage or join and gain protection. Barbarians were lurking at the fringes when Rome clawed its way to power, and they were in on its last gasping breaths in the West. Imperial conflict with barbarians persisted for more than 800 years and shaped Rome in profound ways.
As Plutarch noted, the key to Rome’s success was the assimilation of those whom it conquered. This Romanizing, voluntary or not, of people absorbed within imperial boundaries paid dividends to Romans and barbarians alike. When the Goths, driven by the Huns, pushed on the boundaries of the empire in the fourth century, Rome struck a deal. In exchange for refuge, the Goths would serve Rome. But the relationship soon soured, and in 378 Eastern examines those tumultuous times.
