Fall of the Western Roman Empire 1

Fall of the Western Roman Empire

Animated map of the Roman Republic andEmpire between 510BCE and 530CE  Republic  Empire  Eastern/Byzantine

Empire  Western Empire

In 376 CE, large numbers of Goths crossed the Danube River. Theysought admission to the territory of the Roman Empire, a politicalinstitution which, despite having both new and longstanding systematicweaknesses, wielded effective power across the lands surrounding theMediterranean and beyond. The Empire had large numbers of trained,supplied, and disciplined soldiers, it had a comprehensive civiladministration based in thriving cities with effective control overpublic finances, and it maintained extreme differences of wealth andstatus including slavery on a large scale.[1] It had wide-ranging tradenetworks that allowed even modest households to use goods made byprofessionals a long way away.[2] Among its literate elite it hadideological legitimacy as the only worthwhile form of civilization anda unity based on comprehensive familiarity with Greek and Romanliterature and rhetoric. By 476 CE when Odoacer deposed the EmperorRomulus, the Western Roman Empire wielded negligible military,political, or financial power and had no effective control over the scattered Western domains that still describedthemselves as Roman. While its legitimacy lasted for centuries and its cultural influence remains today, the WesternEmpire never had the strength to rise again.

The events of the decline were the subject of debate at the time, often with a strongly religious flavor. Like theevents surrounding the fall of the Roman Republic, much of this period is unusually well-documented, though thereare very few figures which directly describe the strength of the economy, of the army, of the civil administration, orof the barbarians. Modern historians nevertheless debate the relative importance of these and other factors, inparticular, whether the state was significantly weaker by 376 than it had been in previous centuries, and why theWest collapsed while the East did not. The collapse, and the repeated attempts to reverse it, are major subjects of thehistoriography of the ancient world and they inform much modern discourse on state failure.[3][4]

Height of power, crises, and recoveryThe Western Roman Empire was at its greatest physical extent under Trajan (emperor 98–117), who ruled aprosperous state that stretched from Mesopotamia to the coasts of the Atlantic. Its financial system allowed it to raisesignificant taxes which, despite endemic corruption, supported a large regular army with logistics and training. Thecursus honorum, a standardized series of military and civil posts suitable for ambitious aristocratic men, ensured thatpowerful noblemen were familiar with military command. At a lower level within the army, connecting thearistocrats at the top with the private soldiers, a large number of centurions were well-rewarded, literate, andresponsible for training, discipline, administration, and leadership in battle.[5] City governments with their ownproperties and revenues functioned effectively at local level; membership of the city councils involved lucrativeopportunities for independent decision-making, and, despite its obligations, was regarded as a privilege. Under aseries of emperors who each adopted a mature and capable successor, civil wars were not required to regulate thesuccession. Requests could be submitted directly to the better emperors, and the answers had the force of law,putting the imperial power directly in touch with even humble subjects.[6] The mutual tolerance of pagans producednot only mutual indulgence, but even religious concord.[7] Religious strife was rare after the suppression of the BarKokhba revolt in 136 (after which the devastated Judaea ceased to be a major centre for Jewish unrest). Heavymortality from 165 in the Antonine Plague seriously impaired attempts to repel Germanic invaders, but the bordersof the Empire were generally held or at least speedily restored.[8]

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 2

Map of the Roman Empire in the early second century

The Empire suffered a serious crisis in thethird century, associated with the rise of theSassanid Empire which inflicted threecrushing defeats on Roman field armies andremained a potent threat for centuries.[9]

Other disasters included repeated civil wars,barbarian invasions, and more massmortality in the Plague of Cyprian. Dacia onthe north of the Danube was abandoned, aswere some other peripheral territories, andfor a short period the Empire was dividedinto a Gallic Empire in the West, aPalmyrene Empire in the East, and a centralRoman rump state. The Rhine/Danubefrontier also came under more effectivethreat from larger barbarian groupings,

which had developed better agriculture and larger populations.[10] The Empire survived the crisis of the thirdcentury, directing its economy successfully towards defence, but survival came at the price of a more centralized andbureaucratic state. Under Gallienus the senatorial aristocracy ceased to provide the senior military commanders, itstypical members being neither interested in military service nor good at command.[11] [12]

The divided Empire in 271 CE

The empire was reunited under Aurelian in 274 and reorganizedby Diocletian (from 284) and his successors with more emphasison the military. John the Lydian, over two centuries later, reportedthat Diocletian's army at one point totalled 389,704 men, plus45,562 in the fleets, and numbers may have increased later.[13]

With the limited communications of the time, both the Europeanand the Eastern frontiers needed the attention of their ownemperor. Diocletian tried to solve this problem by re-establishingan adoptive succession with a senior (Augustus) and junior(Caesar) emperor in each half of the Empire, but this system ofTetrarchy broke down within one generation; the hereditary principle was re-established with generally unfortunateresults, and civil war was thereafter the main method of establishing new imperial regimes. Although the Empire wasagain re-united by Constantine the Great, towards the end of the fourth century the need for division was no longerdisputed. From then on, the Empire existed in constant tension between the need for two emperors and their mutualmistrust.[9]

For another century the united Empire was powerful enough to launch attacks against its enemies in Germania andthe Sassanid Empire. Receptio of barbarians was widely practiced; potentially hostile groups were admitted to theEmpire, split up, and allotted lands, status, and duties within the imperial system. In this way many groups providedunfree workers (coloni) for Roman landowners, and recruits (laeti) for the Roman army. Sometimes their leadersbecame officers. Normally the process was carefully managed, with sufficient military force on hand to ensurecompliance, and cultural assimilation followed over the next generation or two. However, after the lower left bank ofthe Rhine was settled with Franks by Constantine, their settlements required a line of fortifications to keep them incheck. This indicates that Rome had lost almost all local control.[14]

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 3

Map of the Roman Empire under the Tetrarchy,showing the dioceses and the four Tetrarchs' zones of

responsibility

The legal fiction of the early Empire (in which the emperor wasbut the first among equals) was disposed of; the emperors,beginning with Aurelian, openly styled themselves as dominus etdeus, lord and god, titles appropriate for a slave towards hismaster.[15] An elaborate court ceremonial was developed, andobsequious flattery became the order of the day. Under Diocletian,the flow of direct requests to the emperor was rapidly reduced andsoon ceased altogether. No other form of direct access replacedthem, and the emperor received only information that was filteredthrough his courtiers.[16]

Official cruelty, supporting extortion and corruption, may alsohave become more commonplace.[14] While the scale, complexity,and violence of government were unmatched,[17] the emperors lostcontrol over their whole realm insofar as that control came increasingly to be wielded by anyone who paid for it.[18]

Meanwhile the richest senatorial families, immune from most taxation, engrossed more and more of the availablewealth and income,[19] while also becoming divorced from any tradition of military excellence.[20] Within the lateRoman military, many recruits and even officers were of barbarian origin, and there was increasing use ofpossibly-barbarian rituals such as elevating a claimant on shields.[21] This has been seen as a potential weakness;others disagree, seeing neither barbarian recruits nor new rituals as causing any problem with the effectiveness orloyalty of the army.[22]

313–376; the fragile state. Abuse of power, frontier warfare, rise ofChristianityIn 313 Constantine declared official toleration of Christianity, followed over the ensuing decades by establishment ofChristian orthodoxy and by official and private action against pagans and non-orthodox Christians. His successorsgenerally continued this process, and Christianity became the religion of any ambitious civil official. UnderConstantine the cities lost their revenue from local taxes, and under Constantius II (r. 337–361) their endowments ofproperty.[23] This worsened the existing difficulty in keeping the city councils up to strength, and the servicesprovided by the cities were scamped or abandoned.[23] Public building projects became fewer, more often repairsthan new construction, and now provided at state expense rather than by local grandees wishing to consolidatelong-term local influence.[24] A further financial abuse was Constantius's increased habit of granting to hisimmediate entourage the estates of persons condemned of treason and other capital charges; this reduced futurethough not immediate income, and those close to the emperor gained a strong incentive to stimulate his suspicion ofplots.[23]

Under Constantius, bandits came to dominate areas such as Isauria well within the empire.[25] The tribes of Germanyalso became more populous and more threatening.[10] In Gaul, which did not really recover from the invasions of thethird century, there was widespread insecurity and economic decline in the 300s,[10] perhaps worst in Armorica. By350, after decades of pirate attacks, virtually all villas in Armorica were deserted, and local use of money ceasedabout 360.[26] Repeated attempts to economize on military expenditure included billeting troops in cities, where theycould less easily be kept under military discipline and could more easily extort from civilians.[27] Except in the rarecase of a determined and incorruptible general, these troops proved ineffective in defense and dangerous tocivilians.[28] Frontier troops were often given land rather than pay; as they farmed for themselves, their direct costsdiminished, but so did their effectiveness and the stimulus to the local economy that their pay supplied.[29] However,except for the provinces along the lower Rhine, the agricultural economy was generally doing well.[30] The averagenutritional state of the population in North-Western Europe did not recover from its late second-century shock,though the Mediterranean regions did.[31]

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The numbers and effectiveness of the regular soldiers may have declined during the fourth century: payrolls wereinflated so that pay could be diverted and exemptions from duty sold, their opportunities for personal extortion weremultiplied by residence in cities, and their effectiveness was reduced by concentration on extortion instead ofdrill.[32] However, extortion, gross corruption, and occasional ineffectiveness[33] were not new to the Roman army;there is no consensus whether its effectiveness significantly declined before 376.[34] Ammianus Marcellinus, himselfa professional soldier, repeats longstanding observations about the superiority of contemporary Roman armies beingdue to training and discipline, not to physical size or strength.[35] Despite a possible decrease in its ability toassemble and supply large armies,[36] Rome maintained an aggressive and potent stance against perceived threatsalmost to the end of the fourth century.[37]

Solidus of Julianus, c. 361. Obverse: Julianus with the beard appropriate to aNeoplatonic philosopher. Inscription: FL(AVIVS) CL(AVDIVS) IVLIANVS

PP(=Pater Patriae, "father of the nation") AVG(=Augustus). Reverse: an armedRoman, military standard in one hand, a captive in the other. Inscription: VIRTVSEXERCITVS ROMANORVM, "the bravery/virtue of the Roman army"; the mint

mark is SIRM, Sirmium

Julianus (r. 360–363) launched a driveagainst official corruption which allowedthe tax demands in Gaul to be reduced toone-third of their previous amount, while allgovernment requirements were still met.[38]

He won victories against Germans who hadinvaded Gaul. All Christian sects wereofficially tolerated by Julianus, persecutionof heretics was forbidden, and non-Christianreligions were encouraged, some Christianseven being compelled to make restitution forpagan property stolen or destroyed.However, rather than bring all of Gaulfirmly under central control or reduce theoverall tax burden, he launched an

expensive campaign against the Persians,[23] which ended in defeat and his own death. Jovianus in his brief reign(363–364) had to concede northern Mesopotamia and Kurdistan, Roman since before the Peace of Nisibis in 299, topurchase safe passage home for himself and his main field army.[39]

The brothers Valens (r. 364–378) and Valentinian I (r. 364–375) energetically tackled the threats of barbarianattacks on all the Western frontiers[40] and tried to alleviate the burdens of taxation, which had risen continuouslyover the previous forty years; Valens in the East reduced the tax demand by half in his fourth year.[41]

Both were Christians and confiscated the temple lands that Julianus had restored, but were generally tolerant of otherbeliefs. Valentinian in the West refused to intervene in religious controversy; in the East, Valens had to deal withChristians who did not conform to his ideas of orthodoxy, and persecution formed part of his response.[42] The godshad protected Rome for centuries, but their role was transferred to the Christian god with surprising ease.[10] Thewealth of the church increased dramatically, immense resources both public and private being used for ecclesiasticalconstruction and support of the religious life.[43] Bishops in wealthy cities were thus able to offer vast patronage.Gibbon remarked that "the soldiers' pay was lavished on the useless multitudes of both sexes who could only pleadthe merits of abstinence and chastity", though there are no figures for the monks and nuns nor for their maintenancecosts. Pagan rituals and buildings had not been cheap either; the move to Christianity may not have had significanteffects on the public finances.[10] Some public disorder also followed competition for prestigious posts; PopeDamasus I was installed in 366 after an election whose casualties included a hundred and thirty-seven corpses in thebasilica of Sicininus.[44]

Valentinian died of an apoplexy while hectoring Germanic leaders; his sons Gratian (r. 375–383) and Valentinian II(r. 375–392) succeeded him in the West. Both were children. Gratian, "alien from the art of government both bytemperament and by training" removed the Altar of Victory from the Senate House, and he rejected the pagan title ofPontifex Maximus.[45]

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376–395; invasions, civil wars, and religious discord

AdrianopleIn 376 the East faced an enormous barbarian influx across the Danube, mostly Goths who were refugees from theHuns. They were exploited by corrupt officials rather than effectively resettled, and they took up arms, joined bymore Goths and by some Alans and Huns. Valens was in Asia with his main field army, preparing for an assault onthe Persians, and redirecting the army and its logistic support would have required time. Gratian's armies weredistracted by Germanic invasions across the Rhine. In 378 Valens attacked the invaders with the Eastern field army,perhaps some 20,000 men – possibly only 10% of the soldiers nominally available in the Danube provinces[46] – andin the Battle of Adrianople, 9 August 378, he lost much of that army and his own life. All of the Balkan provinceswere thus exposed to raiding, without effective response from the remaining garrisons who were "more easilyslaughtered than sheep".[46] Cities were able to hold their own walls against barbarians who had no siege equipment,and they generally remained intact although the countryside suffered.[47]

Partial recovery in the BalkansGratian appointed a new Augustus, a proven general from Hispania called Theodosius. During the next four years, hepartially re-established the Roman position in the East.[48][49] These campaigns depended on effective imperialcoordination and mutual trust – between 379 and 380 Theodosius controlled not only the Eastern empire, but also,by agreement, the diocese of Illyricum.[50] Theodosius was unable to recruit enough Roman troops, relying onbarbarian warbands without Roman military discipline or loyalty. By contrast, in the Cimbrian War the RomanRepublic, controlling a smaller area than the western Empire, had reconstituted very large regular armies of citizensafter much greater defeats than Adrianople, and it ended that war with the near-extermination of barbariansupergroups, each recorded as having more than 100,000 warriors.[51] Theodosius's partial failure[52][53] may havestimulated Vegetius to offer advice on re-forming an effective army (the advice may date from the 390s[54] or fromthe 430s[55]):

From the foundation of the city till the reign of the Emperor Gratian, the foot wore cuirasses andhelmets. But negligence and sloth having by degrees introduced a total relaxation of discipline, thesoldiers began to think their armor too heavy, as they seldom put it on. They first requested leave fromthe Emperor to lay aside the cuirass and afterwards the helmet. In consequence of this, our troops intheir engagements with the Goths were often overwhelmed with their showers of arrows. Nor was thenecessity of obliging the infantry to resume their cuirasses and helmets discovered, notwithstandingsuch repeated defeats, which brought on the destruction of so many great cities. Troops, defenseless andexposed to all the weapons of the enemy, are more disposed to fly than fight. What can be expectedfrom a foot-archer without cuirass or helmet, who cannot hold at once his bow and shield; or from theensigns whose bodies are naked, and who cannot at the same time carry a shield and the colors? Thefoot soldier finds the weight of a cuirass and even of a helmet intolerable. This is because he is soseldom exercised and rarely puts them on.[56]

The final Gothic settlement was acclaimed with relief,[49] even the official panegyrist admitting that these Gothscould not be expelled or exterminated, nor reduced to unfree status.[57] Instead they were either recruited into theimperial forces, or settled in the devastated provinces along the south bank of the Danube, where the regulargarrisons were never fully re-established.[58] In some later accounts, and widely in recent work, this is regarded as atreaty settlement, the first time that barbarians were given a home within the Empire in which they retained theirpolitical and military cohesion.[59] No formal treaty is recorded, nor details of whatever agreement was actuallymade, and when "the Goths" re-emerge in our records they have different leaders and are soldiers of a sort.[60] In 391Alaric, a Gothic leader, rebelled against Roman control. Goths attacked the emperor himself, but within a year Alaricwas accepted as a leader of Theodosius's Gothic troops and this rebellion was over.[61]

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Theodosius's financial position must have been difficult, since he had to pay for expensive campaigning from areduced tax base. The business of subduing barbarian warbands also demanded substantial gifts of precious metal.[62]

Nevertheless he is represented as financially lavish, though personally frugal when on campaign.[63] At least oneextra levy provoked desperation and rioting in which the emperor's statues were destroyed.[64] He was pious, aNicene Christian heavily influenced by Ambrose, and implacable against heretics. In 392 he forbade even privatehonor to the gods, and pagan rituals such as the Olympic Games. He either ordered or connived at the widespreaddestruction of sacred buildings.[65]

Civil warsTheodosius had to face a powerful usurper in the West; Magnus Maximus declared himself Emperor in 383, strippedtroops from the outlying regions of Britannia (probably replacing some with federate chieftains and their warbands)and invaded Gaul. His troops killed Gratian and he was accepted as Augustus in the Gallic provinces, where he wasresponsible for the first official executions of Christian heretics.[66] To compensate the Western court for the loss ofGaul, Hispania, and Britannia, Theodosius ceded the diocese of Dacia and the diocese of Macedonia to their control.In 387 Maximus invaded Italy, forcing Valentinian II to flee to the East, where he accepted Nicene Christianity.Maximus boasted to Ambrose of the numbers of barbarians in his forces, and hordes of Goths, Huns, and Alansfollowed Theodosius.[67] Maximus negotiated with Theodosius for acceptance as Augustus of the West, butTheodosius refused, gathered his armies, and counterattacked, winning the civil war in 388. There were heavy trooplosses on both sides of the conflict. Later Welsh legend has Maximus's defeated troops resettled in Armorica, insteadof returning to Britannia, and by 400 Armorica was controlled by Bagaudae rather than by imperial authority.[68]

Theodosius restored Valentinian II, still a very young man, as Augustus in the West. He also appointed Arbogast, apagan general of barbarian origin, as Valentinian's commander-in-chief and guardian. Valentinian quarreled in publicwith Arbogast, failed to assert any authority, and died, either by suicide or by murder, at the age of 21. Arbogast andTheodosius failed to come to terms and Arbogast nominated an imperial official, Eugenius (r. 392–394), as emperorin the West. Eugenius made some modest attempts to win pagan support,[64] and with Arbogast led a large army tofight another destructive civil war. They were defeated and killed at the Battle of the Frigidus, which was attendedby further heavy losses especially among the Gothic federates of Theodosius. The north-eastern approaches to Italywere never effectively garrisoned again.[69]

The Eastern and Western Roman Empire at the death ofTheodosius I in 395

Theodosius died a few months later in early 395, leavinghis young sons Honorius (r. 395–423) and Arcadius (r.395–408) as emperors. In the immediate aftermath ofTheodosius's death, the magister militum Stilicho,married to Theodosius's niece, asserted himself in theWest as the guardian of Honorius and commander of theremains of the defeated Western army. He also claimedcontrol over Arcadius in Constantinople, but Rufinus,magister officiorum on the spot, had already establishedhis own power there. Henceforward the Empire was notunder the control of one man, until much of the West hadbeen permanently lost.[53]

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395–406; Stilicho and the process of failure

The emperor Honorius, a contemporary depictionon a consular diptych issued by Anicius Petronius

Probus to celebrate Probus's consulship in 406,now in the Aosta museum

Maintaining power; short and long term requirements

Neither Honorius nor Arcadius ever displayed any ability either asrulers or as generals, and both lived as the puppets of their courts.[70]

Throughout their reigns, individual generals and court officials stroveto establish their own personal power, based on control of one of theemperors, and on control of such troops as they could find. Anysupreme minister had to keep himself attended by a loyal army whilealso maintaining a firm grip on the continual murderous intrigues atcourt. To fail in either of those requirements was to invite immediatedeath; more distant barbarian threats might be given insufficientattention, and the administrative processes needed to maintain the flowof taxes to trained and disciplined armed forces might be neglectedwith disastrous long-term consequences. To retain imperial control inthe long term, the provincial aristocracy, minor gentry, officials, andpeasantry, and the barbarians who lived close to the frontier, allneeded a judicious mixture of leadership, patronage, and armed might.The super-rich senatorial aristocrats in Rome itself had their owninterests and attitudes which assumed, rather than supported, the mightof the Empire.[71] In addition, Stilicho tried for the rest of his life toreunite the Eastern and Western courts under his personal control, butin doing so achieved only the continued hostility of all of Arcadius'ssuccessive supreme ministers. The results included a complicatedseries of conspiracies, betrayals, murders, and rebellions, interspersedwith barbarian invasions.[72][73][74]

The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius, by John William Waterhouse, 1883

Without an authoritative ruler, the Balkanprovinces fell rapidly into disorder. Alaricwas disappointed in his hopes for promotionto magister militum after the battle of theFrigidus. He again led Gothic tribesmen inarms and established himself as anindependent power, burning the countrysideas far as the walls of Constantinople.[75]

Alaric's ambitions for long-term Romanoffice were never quite acceptable to theRoman imperial courts, and his men couldnever settle long enough to farm in any onearea. They showed no inclination to leave

the Empire and face the Huns from whom they had fled in 376; indeed the Huns were still stirring up furthermigrations which often ended by attacking Rome in turn. In the event, Alaric's group was never destroyed norexpelled from the Empire.[76]

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Stilicho's attempts to unify the Empire, revolts, and invasions

An ivory diptych, thought to depict Stilicho (right)with his wife Serena and son Eucherius, ca. 395

(Monza Cathedral)

Stilicho moved with his remaining mobile forces into Greece, a clearthreat to Rufinus's control of the Eastern empire. Rufinus, lackingadequate forces, enlisted Alaric and his men, and sent them toThessaly to stave off Stilicho's threat, which they did.[69] No battletook place. Stilicho was forced to send some of his Eastern forceshome.[77] They went to Constantinople under the command of oneGainas, a Goth with a large Gothic following. On arrival, Gainasmurdered Rufinus, and was appointed magister militum for Thrace byEutropius, the new supreme minister and the only eunuch consul ofRome, who controlled Arcadius "as if he were a sheep".[78] Stilichoobtained a few more troops from the German frontier and continuedto campaign ineffectively against the Eastern empire; again he wassuccessfully opposed by Alaric and his men. Next year, 397,Eutropius personally led his troops to victory over some Huns whowere marauding in Asia Minor. With his position thus strengthened

he declared Stilicho a public enemy, and he established Alaric as magister militum per Illyricum. A poem bySynesius advises the emperor to display manliness and remove a "skin-clad savage" (probably Alaric) from thecouncils of power and his barbarians from the Roman army. We do not know if Arcadius ever became aware of theexistence of this advice, but it had no recorded effect.[79] Synesius, from a province suffering the widespread ravagesof a few poor but greedy barbarians, also complained of "the peacetime war, one almost worse than the barbarianwar and arising from military indiscipline and the officer's greed."[80]

The magister militum in the Diocese of Africa declared for the East and stopped the supply of grain to Rome.[69]

Italy had not fed itself for centuries and could not do so now. In 398 Stilicho sent his last reserves, a few thousandmen, to re-take the Diocese of Africa, and he strengthened his position further when he married his daughter Mariato Honorius. Throughout this period Stilicho, and all other generals, were desperately short of recruits and suppliesfor them.[81] In 400 Stilicho was charged to press into service any "laetus, Alamannus, Sarmatian, vagrant, son of aveteran" or any other person liable to serve.[82] He had reached the bottom of his recruitment pool.[83] Thoughpersonally not corrupt, he was very active in confiscating assets; the financial and administrative machine was notproducing enough support for the army.In 399 Tribigild's rebellion in Asia Minor allowed Gainas to accumulate a significant army (mostly Goths), becomesupreme in the Eastern court, and execute Eutropius.[84] He now felt that he could dispense with Alaric's services andhe nominally transferred Alaric's province to the West. This administrative change removed Alaric's Roman rank andhis entitlement to legal provisioning for his men, leaving his army – the only significant force in the ravagedBalkans – as a problem for Stilicho.[85] In 400 the citizens of Constantinople revolted against Gainas and massacredas many of his people, soldiers and their families, as they could catch. Some Goths at least built rafts and tried tocross the strip of sea that separates Asia from Europe; the Roman navy slaughtered them.[86] By the beginning of 401Gainas's head rode a pike through Constantinople while another Gothic general became consul.[87] Meanwhile,groups of Huns started a series of attacks across the Danube, and the Isaurians marauded far and wide in Anatolia.[88]

In 401 Stilicho travelled over the Alps to Raetia, to scrape up further troops.[89] He left the Rhine defended only by the "dread" of Roman retaliation, rather than by adequate forces able to take the field.[89] Early in spring, Alaric, probably desperate,[90] invaded Italia, and he drove Honorius westward from Mediolanum, besieging him in Hasta Pompeia in Liguria. Stilicho returned as soon as the passes had cleared, meeting Alaric in two battles (near Pollentia and Verona) without decisive results. The Goths, weakened, were allowed to retreat back to Illyricum where the Western court again gave Alaric office, though only as comes and only over Dalmatia and Pannonia Secunda rather than the whole of Illyricum.[91] Stilicho probably supposed that this pact would allow him to put Italian government

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 9

into order and recruit fresh troops.[81] He may also have planned with Alaric's help to relaunch his attempts to gaincontrol over the Eastern court.[92]

Christian pendant of Empress Maria, daughter ofStilicho, and wife of Honorius. Musée du Louvre.

The pendant reads, around a central cross(clockwise):

HONORIMARIASERINAVIVATIS

STELICHO.The letters form a Christogram

However, in 405, Stilicho was distracted by a fresh invasion ofNorthern Italy. Another group of Goths fleeing the Huns, led by oneRadagaisus, devastated the north of Italy for six months before Stilichocould muster enough forces to take the field against them. Stilichorecalled troops from Britannia and the depth of the crisis was shownwhen he urged all Roman soldiers to allow their personal slaves tofight beside them.[92] His forces, including Hun and Alan auxiliaries,may in the end have totalled rather less than 15,000 men.[93]

Radagaisus was defeated and executed and 12,000 of the prisonerswere drafted into Stilicho's service.[93] Stilicho continued negotiationswith Alaric; Flavius Aetius, son of one of Stilicho's major supporters,was sent as a hostage to Alaric in 405. In 406 Stilicho, hearing of newinvaders and rebels who had appeared in the northern provinces,insisted on making peace with Alaric, probably on the basis that Alaricwould prepare to move either against the Eastern court or against therebels in Gaul. The Senate deeply resented peace with Alaric; in 407,when Alaric marched into Noricum and demanded a large payment forhis expensive efforts in Stilicho's interests, the senate, "inspired by thecourage, rather than the wisdom, of their predecessors,"[94] preferredwar. One senator famously declaimed Non est ista pax, sed pactioservitutis ("This is not peace, but a pact of servitude").[95] Stilicho paidAlaric four thousand pounds of gold nevertheless.[96] Stilicho sentSarus, a Gothic general, over the Alps to face the usurper ConstantineIII, but he lost and barely escaped, having to leave his baggage to thebandits who now infested the Alpine passes.[96]

The empress Maria, daughter of Stilicho, died in 407 or early 408 andher sister Aemilia Materna Thermantia married Honorius. In the East,Arcadius died on 1 May 408 and was replaced by his son TheodosiusII; Stilicho seems to have planned to march to Constantinople, and toinstall there a regime loyal to himself.[97] He may also have intendedto give Alaric a senior official position and send him against the rebels

in Gaul. Before he could do so, while he was away at Ticinum at the head of a small detachment, a bloody coupagainst his supporters took place at Honorius's court. It was led by Stilicho's own creature, one Olympius.[98]

408–410; the end of an effective regular field army, starvation in Italia, sack ofRome

Stilicho's fall and Alaric's reaction

Stilicho had news of the coup at Bononia (where he was probably waiting for Alaric).[99] His small escort ofbarbarians was led by Sarus, who rebelled. His Gothic troops massacred the Hunnic contingent in their sleep, andthen withdrew towards the cities in which their families were billeted. Stilicho ordered that these troops should notbe admitted, but, now without an army, he was forced to flee for sanctuary, promised his life, and killed.[100]

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Alaric was again declared an enemy of the Emperor. The conspiracy then massacred the families of the federatetroops (as presumed supporters of Stilicho, although they had probably rebelled against him), and the troops defecteden masse to Alaric.[101] The conspirators seem to have let their main army disintegrate,[102] and had no policy excepthunting down supporters of Stilicho.[103] Italia was left without effective defence forces. Heraclianus, aco-conspirator of Olympius, became governor of the Diocese of Africa, where he controlled the source of most ofItalia's grain, and used that power in the interests of Honorius.[104]

As a declared 'enemy of the Emperor', Alaric was denied the legitimacy that he needed to collect taxes and holdcities without large garrisons, which he could not afford to detach. He again offered to move his men, this time toPannonia, in exchange for a modest sum of money and the modest title of Comes, but he was refused as a supporterof Stilicho.[105] He moved into Italy, probably using the route and supplies arranged for him by Stilicho,[99]

bypassing the imperial court in Ravenna which was protected by widespread marshland and had a port, and hemenaced the city of Rome itself. In 407 AD, there was no equivalent of the determined response to the catastrophicBattle of Cannae in 216 BCE, when the entire Roman population, even slaves, had been mobilized to resist theenemy.[106]

Alaric's military operations centred on the port of Rome, through which Rome's grain supply had to pass. Alaric'sfirst siege of Rome in 408 caused dreadful famine within the walls. It was ended by a payment which though largewas less than one of the richest senators could have produced.[107] The super-rich aristocrats made little contribution;pagan temples were stripped of ornaments to make up the total. With promises of freedom or full citizenship, Alaricalso recruited many of the slaves in Rome.[108]

Alaric withdrew to Tuscany and recruited more slaves.[108] Ataulf a Goth nominally in Roman service andbrother-in-law to Alaric, marched through Italia to join Alaric despite taking casualties from a small force of Hunnicmercenaries led by Olympius. Sarus was an enemy of Ataulf, and on Ataulf's arrival went back into imperialservice.[109]

Alaric besieges RomeIn 409 Olympius fell to further intrigue, having his ears cut off before he was beaten to death. Alaric tried again tonegotiate with Honorius, but his demands (now even more moderate, only frontier land and food[110]) were inflatedby the messenger and Honorius responded with insults, which were reported verbatim to Alaric.[111] He broke offnegotiations and the standoff continued. Honorius's court made overtures to the usurper Constantine III in Gaul andarranged to bring Hunnic forces into Italia, Alaric ravaged Italia outside the fortified cities (which he could notgarrison), and the Romans refused open battle (for which they had inadequate forces).[112] Late in the year Alaricsent bishops to express his readiness to leave Italia if Honorius would only grant his people a supply of grain.Honorius, sensing weakness, flatly refused.[113]

Alaric moved to Rome and captured Galla Placidia, sister of Honorius. The Senate in Rome, despite its loathing forAlaric, was now desperate enough to give him almost anything he wanted. They had no food to offer, but they triedto give him imperial legitimacy; with the Senate's acquiescence, he elevated Priscus Attalus as his puppet emperor,and he marched on Ravenna. Honorius was planning to flee to Constantinople when a reinforcing army of 4,000soldiers from the East disembarked in Ravenna.[114] These garrisoned the walls and Honorius held on. He hadConstantine's principal court supporter executed and Constantine abandoned plans to march to Honorius'sdefence.[115] Attalus failed to establish his control over the Diocese of Africa, and no grain arrived in Rome wherethe famine became even more frightful.[116] Jerome reports cannibalism within the walls.[117] Attalus brought Alaricno real advantage, failing also to come to any useful agreement with Honorius (who was offered mutilation,humiliation, and exile). Indeed Attalus's claim was a marker of threat to Honorius, and Alaric dethroned him after afew months.[118]

In 410 Alaric took Rome by starvation, sacked it for three days (there was relatively little destruction, and in some Christian holy places Alaric's men even refrained from wanton wrecking and rape), and invited its remaining

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 11

barbarian slaves to join him, which many did. The city of Rome was the seat of the richest senatorial noble familiesand the centre of their cultural patronage; to pagans it was the sacred origin of the empire, and to Christians the seatof the heir of Saint Peter, Pope Innocent I, the most authoritative bishop of the West. Rome had not fallen to anenemy since the Battle of the Allia over eight centuries before. Refugees spread the news and their stories throughoutthe Empire, and the meaning of the fall was debated with religious fervour. Both Christians and pagans wroteembittered tracts, blaming paganism or Christianity respectively for the loss of Rome's supernatural protection, andblaming Stilicho's earthly failures in either case.[119] Some Christian responses anticipated the imminence ofJudgement Day. Augustine in his book "City of God" ultimately rejected the pagan and Christian idea that religionshould have worldly benefits; he developed the doctrine that the City of God in heaven, undamaged by mundanedisasters, was the true objective of Christians.[120] More practically, Honorius was briefly persuaded to set aside thelaws forbidding pagans to be military officers, so that one Generidus could re-establish Roman control in Dalmatia.Generidus did this with unusual effectiveness; his techniques were remarkable for this period, in that they includedtraining his troops, disciplining them, and giving them appropriate supplies even if he had to use his own money.[121]

The penal laws were reinstated no later than 25 August 410 and the overall trend of repression of paganismcontinued.[122]

Inscription honouring Honorius, as florentissimoinvictissimoque, the most excellent and invincible,

417–418, Forum Romanum

Procopius mentions a story in which Honorius, on hearing thenews that Rome had "perished", was shocked, thinking the newswas in reference to his favorite chicken he had named "Roma". Onhearing that Rome itself had fallen he breathed a sigh of relief:

At that time they say that the Emperor Honorius in Ravennareceived the message from one of the eunuchs, evidently akeeper of the poultry, that Roma had perished. And he criedout and said, "And yet it has just eaten from my hands!" Forhe had a very large cockerel, Roma by name; and theeunuch comprehending his words said that it was the city ofRoma which had perished at the hands of Alaric, and theemperor with a sigh of relief answered quickly: "But Ithought that my fowl Roma had perished." So great, theysay, was the folly with which this emperor was possessed.—Procopius, The Vandalic War (De Bellis III.2.25–26)

The Goths move out of Italy

Alaric then moved south, intending to take ship to Africa, but hisships were wrecked in a storm and he shortly died of fever. His

successor Ataulf, still regarded as an usurper and given only occasional and short-term grants of supplies, movednorth into the turmoil of Gaul, where there was some prospect of food. His supergroup of barbarians are called theVisigoths in modern works: they may now have been developing their own sense of identity.[123]

405–418 in the Gallic provinces; barbarians and usurpers, loss of Britannia,partial loss of Hispania and GaulThe Crossing of the Rhine in 405/6 brought unmanageable numbers of German and Alan barbarians (perhaps some30,000 warriors, 100,000 people[124]) into Gaul. They may have been trying to get away from the Huns, who aboutthis time advanced to occupy the Great Hungarian Plain.[125] For the next few years the barbarian tribes who hadcrossed the Rhine wandered in search of food and employment, while Roman forces fought each other in the nameof Honorius and a number of competing claimants to the imperial throne.[126]

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 12

The remaining troops in Britannia elevated a succession of imperial usurpers. The last, Constantine III, raised anarmy from the remaining troops in Britannia, invaded Gaul and defeated forces loyal to Honorius led by Sarus.Constantine's power reached its peak in 409 when he controlled Gaul and beyond, he was joint consul withHonorius[127] and his magister militum Gerontius defeated the last Roman force to try to hold the borders ofHispania. It was led by relatives of Honorius; Constantine executed them. Gerontius went to Hispania where he mayhave settled the Sueves and the Asding Vandals. Gerontius then fell out with his master and elevated one Maximusas his own puppet emperor. He defeated Constantine and was besieging him in Arelate when Constantius III arrivedfrom Italy with an army (possibly, mainly of Hun mercenaries) loyal to Honorius.[128] Gerontius's troops left himand he committed suicide. Constantius continued the siege, defeating a relieving army. Constantine surrendered in411 with a promise that his life would be spared, and was executed.[129]

In 410, the Roman civitates of Britannia rebelled against Constantine and evicted his officials. They asked for helpfrom Honorius, who replied that they should look to their own defence. While the British may have regardedthemselves as Roman for several generations, and British armies may at times have fought in Gaul, no centralRoman government is known to have appointed officials in Britannia thereafter.[130]

In 411, Jovinus rebelled and took over Constantine's remaining troops on the Rhine. He relied on the support ofBurgundians and Alans to whom he offered supplies and land. In 413 Jovinus also recruited Sarus; Ataulf destroyedtheir regime in the name of Honorius and both Jovinus and Sarus were executed. The Burgundians were settled onthe left bank of the Rhine. Ataulf then operated in the south of Gaul, sometimes with short-term supplies from theRomans.[131] All usurpers had been defeated, but large barbarian groups remained un-subdued in both Gaul andHispania.[130]

Heraclianus was still in command in the diocese of Africa, the last of the clique that overthrew Stilicho to retainpower. In 413 he led an invasion of Italia, lost to a subordinate of Constantius, and fled back to Africa where he wasmurdered by Constantius's agents.[131]

In January 414 Roman naval forces blockaded Ataulf in Narbo, where he married Galla Placidia. The choir at thewedding included Attalus, a puppet emperor without revenues or soldiers.[132] Ataulf famously declared that he hadabandoned his intention to set up a Gothic empire because of the irredeemable barbarity of his followers, and insteadhe sought to restore the Roman Empire.[133][118] He handed Attalus over to the Romans for mutilation, humiliation,and exile, and abandoned Attalus's supporters.[134] (One of them, Paulinus Pellaeus, recorded that the Gothsconsidered themselves merciful for allowing him and his household to leave destitute, but alive, without beingraped.) Ataulf moved out of Gaul, to Barcelona. There his infant son by Galla Placidia was buried, and there Ataulfwas assassinated by one of his household retainers, possibly a former follower of Sarus.[135][136] His ultimatesuccessor Wallia had no agreement with the Romans; his people had to plunder in Hispania for food.[137]

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 13

Settlement of 418; barbarian peoples within the empire

Areas allotted to or claimed by barbarian groups in 416–418

In 416 Wallia reached agreement with Constantius; hesent Galla Placidia back to Honorius and receivedprovisions, six hundred thousand modii of wheat.[138]

From 416 to 418, Wallia's Goths campaigned inHispania on Constantius's behalf, exterminating theSiling Vandals in Baetica and reducing the Alans to thepoint where the survivors sought the protection of theking of the Asding Vandals. (After retrenchment theyformed another barbarian supergroup, but for themoment they were reduced in numbers and effectivelycowed.) In 418, by agreement with Constantius,Wallia's Goths accepted land to farm in Aquitania.[139]

Constantius also reinstituted an annual council of thesouthern Gallic provinces, to meet at Arelate. AlthoughConstantius rebuilt the western field army to someextent – the Notitia Dignitatum gives a list of the unitsof the western field army at this time—he did so onlyby replacing half of its units (vanished in the wars since395) by re-graded barbarians, and by garrison troops removed from the frontier.[140]

Constantius had married the princess Galla Placidia (despite her protests) in 417. The couple soon had two children,Honoria and Valentinian III, and Constantius was elevated to the position of Augustus in 420. This earned him thehostility of the Eastern court, which had not agreed to his elevation.[141] Nevertheless Constantius had achieved anunassailable position at the Western court, in the imperial family, and as the able commander-in-chief of a partiallyrestored army.[142][143]

This settlement represented a real success for the Empire—a poem by Rutilius Namatianus celebrates his voyageback to Gaul in 417 and his confidence in a restoration of prosperity. But it marked huge losses of territory and ofrevenue; Rutilius travelled by ship past the ruined bridges and countryside of Tuscany, and the River Loire hadbecome the effective northern boundary of Roman Gaul.[144] The effective line of Roman control until 455 ran fromnorth of Cologne, lost to the Riparian Franks in 459, to Boulogne. The Italian areas which had been compelled tosupport the Goths had most of their taxes remitted for several years.[145] Even in southern Gaul and Hispania largebarbarian groups remained, with thousands of warriors, in their own non-Roman military and social systems. Someoccasionally acknowledged a degree of Roman political control, but without the local application of Romanleadership and military power they and their individual subgroups pursued their own interests.[146]

421–433; renewed dissension after the death of Constantius, partial loss of theDiocese of AfricaConstantius died in 421, after only seven months as Augustus. He had been careful to make sure that there was no successor in waiting, and his own children were far too young to take his place.[142] Honorius was unable to control his own court and the death of Constantius initiated more than ten years of instability. Initially Galla Placidia sought Honorius's favour in the hope that her son might ultimately inherit. Other court interests managed to defeat her, and she fled with her children to the Eastern court in 422. Honorius himself died, shortly before his thirty-ninth birthday, in 423. After some months of intrigue, the patrician Castinus installed Joannes as Western Emperor, but the Eastern Roman government proclaimed the child Valentinian III instead, his mother Galla Placidia acting as regent during his minority. Joannes had few troops of his own. He sent Aetius to raise help from the Huns. An Eastern army landed

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 14

in Italy, captured Joannes, cut his hand off, abused him in public, and killed him with most of his senior officials.Aetius returned, three days after Joannes' death, at the head of a substantial Hunnic army which made him the mostpowerful general in Italia. After some fighting, Placidia and Aetius came to an agreement; the Huns were paid offand sent home, while Aetius received the position of magister militum.[147]

Galla Placidia, as Augusta, mother of the Emperor, and regent until 437, could maintain a dominant position in court,but women in Ancient Rome did not exercise military power and she could not herself become a general. She triedfor some years to avoid reliance on a single dominant military figure, maintaining a balance of power between hervarious senior officers, Aetius (magister militum in Gaul), Count Boniface governor in the Diocese of Africa, andFelix magister militum praesentalis in Italia.[148] Meanwhile, the Empire deteriorated seriously. Apart from thelosses in the Diocese of Africa, Hispania was slipping out of central control and into the hands of local rulers andSuevic bandits. In Gaul the Rhine frontier had collapsed, the Visigoths in Aquitaine may have launched furtherattacks on Narbo and Arelate, and the Franks, increasingly powerful although disunited, were the major power in thenorth-east. Aremorica was controlled by Bagaudae, local leaders not under the authority of the Empire.[149] Aetius atleast campaigned vigorously and mostly victoriously, defeating aggressive Visigoths, Franks, fresh Germanicinvaders, Bagaudae in Aremorica, and a rebellion in Noricum.[150] Not for the first time in Rome's history, atriumvirate of mutually distrustful rulers proved unstable. In 427 Felix tried to recall Boniface, who refused, andovercame Felix's invading force. Boniface probably recruited some Vandal troops among others.[151]

In 428 the Vandals and Alans were united under the able, ferocious, and long-lived king Genseric; he moved hisentire people to Tarifa near Gibraltar, divided them into 80 groups nominally of 1,000 people, (perhaps 20,000warriors in total),[124] and crossed from Hispania to Mauretania without opposition. (The Straits of Gibraltar werenot an important thoroughfare at the time, and there were no significant fortifications nor military presence at thisend of the Mediterranean.) They spent a year moving slowly to Numidia, defeating Boniface. He returned to Italiawhere Aetius had recently had Felix executed. Boniface was promoted to magister militum and earned the enmity ofAetius, who may have been absent in Gaul at the time. In 432 the two met at the Battle of Ravenna which leftAetius's forces defeated and Boniface mortally wounded. Aetius temporarily retired to his estates, but after anattempt to murder him he raised another Hunnic army (probably by conceding parts of Pannonia to them) and in 433he returned to Italia, overcoming all rivals. He never threatened to become an Augustus himself and thus maintainedthe support of the Eastern court, where Valentinian's cousin Theodosius II reigned until 450.[152]

433–454; ascendancy of Aetius, loss of CarthageAetius campaigned vigorously, somewhat stabilizing the situation in Gaul and in Hispania. He relied heavily on hisHunnic forces. With a ferocity celebrated centuries later in the Nibelungenlied, the Huns slaughtered manyBurgundians on the middle Rhine, re-establishing the survivors as Roman allies, the first Kingdom of Burgundy.This may have returned some sort of Roman authority to Trier.[153] Eastern troops reinforced Carthage, temporarilyhalting the Vandals, who in 435 agreed to limit themselves to Numidia and leave the most prosperous parts of NorthAfrica in peace. Aetius concentrated his limited military resources to defeat the Visigoths again, and his diplomacyrestored a degree of order to Hispania.[154] However, his general Litorius was badly defeated by the Visigoths atToulouse, and a new Suevic king, Rechiar, began vigorous assaults on what remained of Roman Hispania. At onepoint Rechiar even allied with Bagaudae. These were Romans not under imperial control; some of their reasons forrebellion may be indicated by the remarks of a Roman captive under Attila who was happy in his lot, giving a livelyaccount of

the vices of a declining empire, of which he had so long been the victim; the cruel absurdity of the Roman princes, unable to protect their subjects against the public enemy, unwilling to trust them with arms for their own defence; the intolerable weight of taxes, rendered still more oppressive by the intricate or arbitrary modes of collection; the obscurity of numerous and contradictory laws; the tedious and expensive forms of judicial proceedings; the partial administration of justice; and the universal

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 15

corruption, which increased the influence of the rich, and aggravated the misfortunes of the poor.[155]

A religious polemic of about this time complains bitterly of the oppression and extortion[70] suffered by all but therichest Romans, many of whom wished to flee to the Bagaudae or even to foul-smelling barbarians.

Although these men differ in customs and language from those with whom they have taken refuge, andare unaccustomed too, if I may say so, to the nauseous odor of the bodies and clothing of the barbarians,yet they prefer the strange life they find there to the injustice rife among the Romans. So you find menpassing over everywhere, now to the Goths, now to the Bagaudae, or whatever other barbarians haveestablished their power anywhere ... We call those men rebels and utterly abandoned, whom weourselves have forced into crime. For by what other causes were they made Bagaudae save by our unjustacts, the wicked decisions of the magistrates, the proscription and extortion of those who have turned thepublic exactions to the increase of their private fortunes and made the tax indictions their opportunity forplunder?[156]

From Britannia comes an indication of the prosperity which freedom from taxes could bring.No sooner were the ravages of the enemy checked, than the island was deluged with a mostextraordinary plenty of all things, greater than was before known, and with it grew up every kind ofluxury and licentiousness.[157]

Nevertheless effective imperial protection from barbarian ravages was eagerly sought. About this time authorities inBritannia asked Aetius for help:

"To Aetius, now consul for the third time: the groans of the Britons." And again a little further, thus: –"The barbarians drive us to the sea; the sea throws us back on the barbarians: thus two modes of deathawait us, we are either slain or drowned." The Romans, however, could not assist them ...

The Visigoths passed another waymark on their journey to full independence; they made their own foreign policy,sending princesses to make (rather unsuccessful) marriage alliances with Rechiar of the Sueves and with Huneric,son of the Vandal king Genseric.[158]

In 439 the Vandals moved eastward (temporarily abandoning Numidia) and captured Carthage, where theyestablished an independent state with a powerful navy. This brought immediate financial crisis to the WesternEmpire; the diocese of Africa was prosperous, normally required few troops to keep it secure, contributed large taxrevenues, and exported wheat to feed Rome and many other areas.[159] Roman troops assembled in Sicily, but theplanned counter-attack never happened. Huns attacked the Eastern empire,[160] and

the troops, which had been sent against Genseric, were hastily recalled from Sicily; the garrisons, on theside of Persia, were exhausted; and a military force was collected in Europe, formidable by their armsand numbers, if the generals had understood the science of command, and the soldiers the duty ofobedience. The armies of the Eastern empire were vanquished in three successive engagements ... Fromthe Hellespont to Thermopylae, and the suburbs of Constantinople, [Attila] ravaged, without resistance,and without mercy, the provinces of Thrace and Macedonia.[161]

Attila's invasions of the East were stopped by the walls of Constantinople, and at this heavily fortified Eastern end ofthe Mediterranean there were no significant barbarian invasions across the sea into the rich southerly areas ofAnatolia, the Levant, and Egypt.[162] Despite internal and external threats, and more religious discord than the West,these provinces remained prosperous contributors to tax revenue; despite the ravages of Attila's armies and theextortions of his peace treaties, tax revenue generally continued to be adequate for the essential state functions of theEastern empire.[163]

Genseric settled the Vandals as landowners[164] and in 442 was able to negotiate very favourable peace terms. He kept his latest gains and his eldest son Huneric was honoured by betrothal to Princess Eudocia, who carried the legitimacy of the Theodosian dynasty. Genseric suspected that Huneric's Gothic wife had tried to poison her father-in-law; he sent her home without her nose or ears, and his Gothic alliance came to an early end.[165] The

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 16

Romans regained Numidia, and Rome again received a grain supply from Africa.The losses of income from the Diocese of Africa were equivalent to the costs of nearly 40,000 infantry or over20,000 cavalry.[166] The imperial regime had to increase taxes. Despite admitting that the peasantry could pay nomore, and that a sufficient army could not be raised, the imperial regime protected the interests of landownersdisplaced from Africa.[167] In the Late Empire the short-term interests of the rich landowning class wereparamount.[168] By contrast, a bankrupt Republican Roman regime in 43 BCE had mended its finances byproscribing its rich enemies and confiscating their assets.

444–453; attacks by the empire of Attila the HunIn 444, the Huns were united under Attila. His subjects included Huns, outnumbered several times over by othergroups, predominantly Germanic.[169] His power rested partly on his continued ability to reward his favouredfollowers with precious metals,[170] and he continued to attack the Eastern Empire until 450, by when he hadextracted vast sums of money and many other concessions.[171]

He may not have needed any excuse to turn West, but he received one in the form of a plea for help from Honoria,the Emperor's sister, who was being forced into a marriage which she resented. Attila claimed Honoria as his wifeand half of the Western Empire's territory as his dowry. Faced with refusal, he invaded Gaul in 451 with a hugearmy. In the bloody battle of the Catalaunian Plains the invasion was stopped by the combined forces of thebarbarians within the Western empire, coordinated by Aetius and supported by what troops he could muster. Thenext year, Attila invaded Italy and proceeded to march upon Rome, but an outbreak of disease in his army, lack ofsupplies, reports that the Eastern empire was attacking his noncombatant population in Pannonia, and, possibly, PopeLeo's plea for peace induced him to halt this campaign. Attila unexpectedly died a year later (453) and his empirecrumbled as his followers fought for power. The life of Severinus of Noricum gives glimpses of the insecurity andultimate retreat of the Romans on the Upper Danube in the aftermath of Attila's death. The Romans were withoutadequate forces; the barbarians inflicted haphazard extortion, murder, kidnap, and plunder on the Romans and oneach other.

So long as the Roman dominion lasted, soldiers were maintained in many towns at the public expense toguard the boundary wall. When this custom ceased, the squadrons of soldiers and the boundary wallwere blotted out together. The troop at Batavis, however, held out. Some soldiers of this troop had goneto Italy to fetch the final pay to their comrades, and no one knew that the barbarians had slain them onthe way.[172]

In 454 Aetius was personally stabbed to death by Valentinian, who was himself murdered by the dead general'ssupporters a year later.[173]

He thought he had slain his master; he found that he had slain his protector: and he fell a helpless victimto the first conspiracy which was hatched against his throne.[174]

A rich senatorial aristocrat, Petronius Maximus, who had encouraged both murders, then seized the throne. He brokethe engagement between Huneric, prince of the Vandals, and Princess Eudocia, and had time to send Avitus to askfor the help of the Visigoths in Gaul[175] before the Vandals sailed to Italy. Petronius was unable to muster anyeffective response and was killed by a mob as he tried to flee the city. The Vandals entered Rome, and plundered itfor two weeks. Despite the shortage of money for the defence of the state, considerable private wealth hadaccumulated since the previous sack in 410. The Vandals sailed away with large amounts of treasure and also withthe Princess Eudocia, who became the wife of one Vandal king and the mother of another.[176]

The Vandals conquered Sicily, and their fleet became a constant danger to Roman sea trade and to the coasts andislands of the western Mediterranean.[177]

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 17

455–456; failure of Avitus, further losses in Gaul, rise of RicimerAvitus, at the Visigothic court in Burdigala, declared himself Emperor. He moved on Rome with Visigothic supportwhich gained his acceptance by Majorian and Ricimer, commanders of the remaining army of Italia. This was thefirst time that a barbarian kingdom had played a key role in the imperial succession.[178] Avitus's son-in-lawSidonius wrote propaganda to present the Visigothic king Theoderic II as a reasonable man with whom a Romanregime could do business.[179] Theoderic's payoff included precious metal from stripping the remaining publicornaments of Italia,[180] and an unsupervised campaign in Hispania. There he not only defeated the Sueves,executing his brother-in-law Rechiar, but he also plundered Roman cities.[179] The Burgundians expanded theirkingdom in the Rhone valley and the Vandals took the remains of the Diocese of Africa.[181] In 456 the Visigothicarmy was too heavily engaged in Hispania to be an effective threat to Italia, and Ricimer had just destroyed a piratefleet of sixty Vandal ships; Majorian and Ricimer marched against Avitus and defeated him near Placentia. He wasforced to become Bishop of Placentia, and died (possibly murdered) a few weeks later.[182]

457–467; resurgence under Majorian, attempt to recover Africa, control byRicimer

During his four-year reign Majorian reconquered most of Hispania and southernGaul, meanwhile reducing the Visigoths, Burgundians and Suevi to federate status.

Majorian and Ricimer were now in controlof Italia. Ricimer was the son of a Suevicking and his mother was the daughter of aGothic one, so he could not aspire to animperial throne. After some months,allowing for negotiation with the newemperor of Constantinople and the defeat of900 Alamannic invaders of Italia by one ofhis subordinates, Majorian was acclaimed asAugustus. Majorian is described by Gibbonas "a great and heroic character".[183] Herebuilt the army and navy of Italia withvigour and set about recovering theremaining Gallic provinces, which had notrecognized his elevation. He defeated theVisigoths at the Battle of Arelate, reducingthem to federate status and obliging them togive up their claims in Hispania; he movedon to subdue the Burgundians, theGallo-Romans around Lugdunum (whowere granted tax concessions and whosesenior officials were appointed from their own ranks) and the Suevi and Bagaudae in Hispania. Marcellinus,magister militum in Dalmatia and the pagan general of a well-equipped army, acknowledged him as emperor andrecovered Sicily from the Vandals.[184] Aegidius also acknowledged Majorian and took effective charge of northernGaul. (Aegidius may also have used the title "King of the Franks".[185]) Abuses in tax collection were reformed andthe city councils were strengthened, both actions necessary to rebuild the strength of the Empire but disadvantageousto the richest aristocrats.[186] Majorian prepared a fleet at Carthago Nova for the essential reconquest of the Dioceseof Africa.

The fleet was burned by traitors, and Majorian made peace with the Vandals and returned to Italia. Here Ricimer met his former friend, arrested him, and executed him five days later. Marcellinus in Dalmatia, and Aegidius around

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 18

Soissons in northern Gaul, rejected both Ricimer and his puppets and maintained Roman rule in their areas.[187]

Ricimer later ceded Narbo and its hinterland to the Visigoths for their help against Aegidius; this made it impossiblefor Roman armies to march from Italia to Hispania. Ricimer was then the effective ruler of Italia for several years.From 461 to 465 the pious Italian aristocrat Libius Severus reigned. There is no record of anything significant that heeven tried to achieve, he was never acknowledged by the East whose help Ricimer needed, and he died convenientlyin 465.

467–472, Anthemius; an Emperor and an army from the EastAfter two years without a Western Emperor, the Eastern court nominated Anthemius, a successful general who had astrong claim on the Eastern throne. He arrived in Italia with an army, supported by Marcellinus and his fleet; hemarried his daughter to Ricimer, and he was proclaimed Augustus in 467. In 468, at vast expense, the Eastern empireassembled an enormous force to help the West retake the Diocese of Africa. Marcellinus rapidly drove the Vandalsfrom Sardinia and Sicily, and a land invasion evicted them from Tripolitania. The commander in chief with the mainforce defeated a Vandal fleet near Sicily and landed at Cape Bon. Here Genseric offered to surrender, if he couldhave a five-day truce to prepare the process. He used the respite to prepare a full-scale attack preceded by fireships,which destroyed most of the Roman fleet and killed many of the men. The Vandals were confirmed in theirpossession of the Diocese of Africa and they retook Sardinia and Sicily. Marcellinus was murdered, possibly onorders from Ricimer.[188] The Praetorian prefect of Gaul, Arvandus, tried to persuade the new king of the Visigothsto rebel, on the grounds that Roman power in Gaul was finished anyway, but he refused.Anthemius was still in command of an army in Italia. Additionally, in northern Gaul, a British army led by oneRiothamus, operated in imperial interests.[189] Anthemius sent his son over the Alps, with an army, to request thatthe Visigoths return Narbo to Roman control. This would have allowed the Empire land access to Hispania again.The Visigoths refused, and defeated the forces of both Riothamus and Anthemius, and with the Burgundians tookover almost all of the remaining imperial territory in southern Gaul.Ricimer then quarreled with Anthemius, and besieged him in Rome (which this time put up a vigorous defence andsurrendered only after more months of starvation).[190] In July, 472, Anthemius was captured and executed (onRicimer's orders) by the Burgundian prince Gundobad. In August Ricimer died of a pulmonary haemorrhage.Olybrius, his new emperor, named Gundobad as his patrician, then died himself shortly thereafter.[191]

472–476; the final emperors, puppets of the warlordsAfter the death of Olybrius there was a further interregnum until March 473, when Gundobad proclaimed Glyceriusemperor. He may have made some attempt to intervene in Gaul; if so it was unsuccessful.[192] In 474 Julius Nepos,nephew and successor of the general Marcellinus, arrived in Rome with soldiers and authority from the easternemperor Leo I. Gundobad had already left to contest the Burgundian throne in Gaul[192] and Glycerius gave upwithout a fight, retiring to become bishop of Salona in Dalmatia.[192]

In 475, Orestes, a former secretary of Attila, drove Julius Nepos out of Ravenna and proclaimed his own son FlaviusMomyllus Romulus Augustus (Romulus Augustulus) to be Emperor, on October 31. His surname 'Augustus' (greatemperor) was changed to 'Augustulus' (little emperor) by rivals because he was still a minor, and he was neverrecognized outside of Italy as a legitimate ruler.[193]

In 476, Orestes refused to grant Odoacer and the Heruli federated status, prompting an invasion. Orestes fled to thecity of Pavia on August 23, 476, where the city's bishop gave him sanctuary. Orestes was soon forced to flee Paviawhen Odoacer's army broke through the city walls, and his army ravaged the city. Odoacer's army chased Orestes toPiacenza, where they captured and executed him on August 28, 476.On September 4, 476, Odoacer forced then 16 year old Romulus Augustulus, whom his father Orestes had proclaimed to be Rome's Emperor, to abdicate. After deposing Romulus, Odoacer did not execute him. The

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 19

Anonymus Valesianus wrote that Odoacer, "taking pity on his youth", spared Romulus' life and granted him anannual pension of 6,000 solidi before sending him to live with relatives in Campania.[194] Odoacer then installedhimself as ruler over Italy, and sent the Imperial insignia to Constantinople.[195]

From 476; last Emperor, rump states

Europe in 477 CE. Highlighted areas are Roman lands that survivedthe deposition of Romulus Augustulus

By convention, the Western Roman Empire is deemedto have ended on 4 September 476, when Odoacerdeposed Romulus Augustulus and proclaimed himselfruler of Italy, but this convention is subject to manyqualifications. In Roman constitutional theory, theEmpire was still simply united under one emperor,implying no abandonment of territorial claims. In areaswhere the convulsions of the dying Empire had madeorganized self-defence legitimate, rump statescontinued under some form of Roman rule after 476.Julius Nepos still claimed to be Emperor of the Westand controlled Dalmatia until his murder in 480.Syagrius son of Aegidius ruled the Domain of Soissonsuntil his murder in 487.[196] The indigenous inhabitantsof Mauretania developed kingdoms of their own, independent of the Vandals, with strong Roman traits. They againsought Imperial recognition with the reconquests of Justinian, and they put up effective resistance to the Muslimconquest of the Maghreb.[197] While the civitates of Britannia sank into a level of material development inferior evento their pre-Roman Iron Age ancestors,[198] they maintained identifiably Roman traits for some time, and theycontinued to look to their own defence as Honorius had authorized.[199][200]

The Ostrogothic Kingdom, which rose from the ruins of the WesternRoman Empire

Odoacer began to negotiate with Zeno, who was busydealing with unrest in the East. Zeno eventually grantedOdoacer the status of patrician and accepted him as hisown viceroy of Italy. Zeno, however, insisted thatOdoacer had to pay homage to Julius Nepos as theEmperor of the Western Empire. Odoacer neverreturned any territory or real power, but he did issuecoins in the name of Julius Nepos throughout Italy. Themurder of Julius Nepos in 480 (Glycerius may havebeen among the conspirators) prompted Odoacer toinvade Dalmatia, annexing it to his Kingdom of Italy.In 488 the Eastern emperor authorized a troublesome Gothic king, Theodoric the Great, to take Italia. After severalindecisive campaigns, in 493 Theodoric and Odoacer agreed to rule jointly. They celebrated their agreement with abanquet of reconciliation, at which Theodoric's men murdered Odoacer's, and Theodoric personally cut Odoacer inhalf.[201]

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 20

LegacyThe legacy of the Roman Empire in Western Europe includes manufacture, trade, and architecture, widespreadsecular literacy, written law, and an international language of science and literature.[201] The Western barbariansdestroyed and could not replace these higher cultural practices, but their redevelopment by mediaeval polities awareof the Roman achievement formed the basis for the later development of Europe.[202] Observing the political realityof lost control, but also the cultural and archaeological continuities, the process has been described as a complexcultural transformation, rather than a fall.

Notes[1][1] Harper 2011.[2] Ward-Perkins 2005, pp. 87–121.[3][3] Ward-Perkins 2007, p. 1.[4] e.g. Why Nations Fail. Acemoglu D and Robinson JA. Profile Books (Random House Inc.) 2012. ISBN 978-1-8466-8429-6. pp. 166–175[5][5] Goldsworthy 2003, pp. 68-73.[6][6] MacMullen 1988, p. 110.[7] Edward Gibbon Chapter 2. Fall In The West. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire http:/ / www. ccel. org/ ccel/ gibbon/

decline/ files/ volume1/ chap2. htm[8] Gibbon & 1782 Chapter I: The Extent Of The Empire In The Age Of The Antonines. Chapter II: The Internal Prosperity In The Age Of The

Antonines. Chapter III: The Constitution In The Age Of The Antonines..[9][9] Heather 2005, p. 67.[10][10] Heather 2005, p. 123.[11] Letki 2012, pp. 52–53.[12] Aurelius Victor De Caesaribus. chapter XXXIII verse 34. "Et patres quidem praeter commune Romani malum orbis stimulabat proprii

ordinis contumelia, 34 quia primus ipse metu socordiae suae, ne imperium ad optimos nobilium transferretur, senatum militia vetuit et adireexercitum. Huic novem annorum potentia fuit." http:/ / www. thelatinlibrary. com/ victor. caes. html (in Latin)

[13] Heather 2005, pp. 63–64.[14] MacMullen 1988, pp. 137–142.[15] Macarius Magnes, Apocriticus IV: 23 (http:/ / www. tertullian. org/ fathers/ porphyry_against_christians_02_fragments. htm): "Therefore

you make a great mistake in thinking that God is angry if any other is called a god, and obtains the same title as Himself. For even rulers donot object to the title from their subjects, nor masters from slaves."

[16][16] MacMullen 1988, pp. 110, 147.[17][17] Matthews 2007, p. 253.[18][18] MacMullen 1988, p. 170.[19][19] Matthews 2007, p. 278.[20][20] Halsall 2007, p. 103.[21][21] Matthews 2007, p. 284.[22][22] Heather 2005, p. 119.[23][23] Jones 1964, p. 131.[24] Heather 2005, pp. 115–116.[25] MacMullen 1988, pp. 181–183.[26][26] MacMullen 1988, pp. 23, 178, 186.[27][27] MacMullen 1988, p. 161.[28] MacMullen 1988, pp. 190–193.[29][29] MacMullen 1988, p. 176.[30] Heather 2005, pp. 112–115.[31] G. M. Klein Goldewijk and W. M. Jongman. They never had it so good. Roman stature and the biological standard of living. As quoted in:

Willem Jongman. Gibbon was right: The decline and fall of the Roman economy. In: Crises and the Roman Empire , pp 183-200. Editors O.Hekster; G. Kleijn; Daniëlle Slootjes. Brill: 2007. Chapter DOI: 10.1163/ej.9789004160507.i-448.38 E-ISBN 9789047420903 pages 194-195.http:/ / books. google. co. uk/ books?id=nG-S-X_uI6EC& pg=PA183& lpg=PA18#v=onepage& q& f=false

[32][32] MacMullen 1988, p. 175.[33] Tacitus, Annals (Tacitus), book 11, chapter 18. http:/ / penelope. uchicago. edu/ Thayer/ E/ Roman/ Texts/ Tacitus/ Annals/ 11B*. html

Corbulo... recalled the legions, as lethargic in their toils and duties as they were ardent in pillage, to the old code with its prohibitions againstfalling out on march or beginning an action without orders.

[34][34] Nicasie 1998, p. 187.[35][35] Ward-Perkins 2005, p. 37.[36] MacMullen 1988, pp. 173–175, 181.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 21

[37][37] Nicasie 1998, p. 261.[38] #CITEREFAmmianus"what good he did to Gaul, labouring as it was in utmost destitution, appears most clearly from this fact: when he first

entered those parts, he found that twenty-five pieces of gold were demanded by way of tribute from every one as a poll and land tax; but whenhe left, seven only for full satisfaction of all duties. And on account of this (as if clear sunshine had beamed upon them after ugly darkness),they expressed their joy in gaiety and dances.http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/16*.html|Ammianus & "whatgood he did to Gaul, labouring as it was in utmost destitution, appears most clearly from this fact: when he first entered those parts, he foundthat twenty-five pieces of gold were demanded by way of tribute from every one as a poll and land tax; but when he left, seven only for fullsatisfaction of all duties. And on account of this (as if clear sunshine had beamed upon them after ugly darkness), they expressed their joy ingaiety and dances. http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Ammian/16*.html, book XVI, chapter V.

[39][39] Heather 2005, p. 61.[40][40] Burns 1990, p. 283.[41][41] Jones 1964, p. 147.[42][42] Jones 1964, p. 152.[43][43] MacMullen 1988, p. 51.[44][44] Gibbon vol.2, p. 513.[45] Gibbon & 1782 Chapter XXVII: Civil Wars, Reign Of Theodosius.—Part I. Death Of Gratian..[46][46] MacMullen 1988, p. 185.[47][47] Nicasie 1998, p. 263ff.[48][48] Nicasie 1998, p. 256.[49][49] Halsall 2007, p. 183.[50][50] Burns 1994, p. 48.[51] Ab Urbe Condita by Titus Livius. Translated from the Original with Notes and Illustrations by George Baker, A.M.. First American, from

the Last London Edition, in Six Volumes (New York: Peter A. Mesier et al., 1823). Vol. 6, surviving summaries of books LXIII, LXV,LXVII, LXVIII, http:/ / oll. libertyfund. org/ index. php?option=com_staticxt& staticfile=show. php%3Ftitle=1758&layout=html#chapter_92709 accessed 4th July 2012

[52] Heather 2005, pp. 182–183,212.[53] Jones 1964, pp. 157–158, 169.[54][54] Milner NP. Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science, second edition, Liverpool University Press, 1996. pp. xxxvii ff[55] Seeck O. Die Zeit des Vegetius. Hermes 1876 vol.11 pp. 61–83. As quoted in Milner NP. Vegetius: Epitome of Military Science, second

edition, Liverpool University Press, 1996. pp. xxxvii ff[56] De Re Militari. Flavius Vegetius Renatus. Translated by Lieutenant John Clarke 1767. Etext version by Mads Brevik (2001) http:/ / www.

pvv. ntnu. no/ ~madsb/ home/ war/ vegetius/ dere03. php[57][57] Heather 2005, p. 188.[58][58] Burns 1994, p. 54.[59][59] Jones 1964, p. 157.[60][60] Halsall 2007, p. 185.[61][61] Burns 1994, pp. 102, 152.[62][62] Burns 1994, p. 65.[63][63] Jones 1964, pp. 162, 169.[64][64] Jones 1964, p. 162.[65] Jones 1964, pp. 166–167.[66][66] Jones 1964, p. 164.[67][67] Jones 1964, p. 159.[68][68] MacMullen 1988, p. 178.[69][69] Burns 1994, p. 159.[70][70] Jones 1964, p. 173.[71][71] Alföldy 2001, p. 17.[72] Heather 2005, pp. 217–218, 242, 255.[73][73] Jones1964, p. 187.[74][74] MacMullen 1988.[75][75] Burns 1994, p. 153.[76] Heather 2005, pp. 213–214.[77][77] Burns 1994, p. 154.[78] Zosimus, book 5 http:/ / en. wikisource. org/ wiki/ New_History/ Book_the_Fifth[79] Burns 1994, pp. 162–163.[80][80] MacMullen 1988, p. 189.[81][81] Burns 1994, p. 183.[82][82] Burns 1994, p. 186.[83][83] Burns 1994, p. 187.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 22

[84][84] Burns 1994, p. 169.[85][85] Burns 1994, p. 175.[86][86] Ward-Perkins 2005, p. 60.[87][87] Burns 1994, p. 173.[88][88] Jones 1964, p. 192.[89][89] Burns 1994, p. 191.[90][90] Burns 1994, p. 190.[91][91] Burns 1994, p. 193.[92][92] Burns 1994, p. 195.[93][93] Burns 1994, p. 198.[94][94] Gibbon, 277[95] Zosimus, Nova Historia, book 5. http:/ / www. tertullian. org/ fathers/ zosimus05_book5. htm[96][96] Burns 1994, p. 215.[97][97] Burns 1994, p. 216.[98][98] Burns 1994, p. 218.[99][99] Burns 1994, p. 227.[100][100] Burns 1994, p. 219.[101] Burns 1994, pp. 224–225.[102][102] Burns 1994, p. 228.[103][103] Burns 1994, p. 236.[104][104] Halsall 2007, p. 216.[105] Burns 1994, pp. 226–227.[106][106] Connolly 1998, p. 189.[107] Burns 1994, pp. 233–234.[108][108] Burns 1994, p. 234.[109][109] Heather 2005, p. 227.[110][110] Heather 2005, p. 226.[111][111] Burns 1994, p. 239.[112] Burns 1994, pp. 238–239.[113][113] Burns 1994, p. 240.[114][114] Burns 1994, p. 242.[115][115] Burns 1994, p. 243.[116] Burns 1994, pp. 243–244.[117] Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers: Series II/Volume VI/The Letters of St. Jerome/Letter 127 Philip Schaff et al. http:/ / en. wikisource. org/

wiki/ Nicene_and_Post-Nicene_Fathers:_Series_II/ Volume_VI/ The_Letters_of_St. _Jerome/ Letter_127[118][118] Heather 2005, p. 239.[119] Burns 1994, pp. 228–231.[120] Heather 2005, pp. 229–232.[121][121] Burns 1994, pp. 196, 237, 238.[122][122] Burns 1994, p. 238.[123][123] Burns 1994, p. 245.[124][124] Heather 2005, p. 198.[125] Heather 2005, pp. 202–205.[126] Jones & 1964 185–189.[127][127] Burns 1994, p. 128.[128][128] Heather 2005, p. 244.[129] Heather 2005, pp. 205–212.[130][130] Heather 2005, p. 251.[131][131] Burns 1994, p. 257.[132] Eucharisticus Paulinus Pellaeus English translation by H. G. Evelyn White, 1921, Loeb Classical Library's Ausonius, vol. II, pp 295‑351.

http:/ / penelope. uchicago. edu/ Thayer/ E/ Roman/ Texts/ Paulinus_Pellaeus/ Eucharisticus*. html[133] Burns 1994, pp. 258–259.[134][134] Burns 1994, p. 259.[135] Burns 1994, pp. 259–260.[136] Heather 2005, pp. 240–241.[137][137] Burns 1994, p. 260.[138][138] Heather 2005, p. 241.[139][139] Heather 2005, p. 242.[140] Heather 2005, pp. 246–248.

Fall of the Western Roman Empire 23

[141][141] Matthews 1975, p. 378.[142][142] Heather 2005, p. 257.[143][143] Halsall 2007, p. 234.[144] Halsall 2007, pp. 231–232.[145][145] Heather 2005, p. 246.[146] Heather 2005, pp. 274–278.[147][147] Heather 2005, p. 261.[148][148] Heather 2005, p. 260.[149][149] Heather 2005, p. 283.[150][150] Heather 2005, p. 285.[151][151] Halsall 2007, p. 240.[152][152] Heather 2005, p. 290.[153][153] Halsall 2007, p. 244.[154][154] Heather 2005, p. 288.[155] Gibbon & 1782 Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part II..[156] De gubernatione Dei by Salvianus. The fifth book. verses 5–7. http:/ / www. ccel. org/ ccel/ salvian/ govt. iv. vi. html[157] Gildas. On The Ruin of Britain (De Excidio Britanniae). Translation by J. A. Giles http:/ / www. gutenberg. org/ cache/ epub/ 1949/

pg1949. html[158][158] Halsall 2007, p. 247.[159] Heather 2005, pp. 288–290.[160] Heather 2005, pp. 291–292.[161] Gibbon & 1782 Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part I..[162] Ward-Perkins 2005, pp. 54–62.[163] Ward-Perkins 2005, pp. 58–62.[164] Heather 2005, pp. 293–294.[165] #CITEREFGibbonChapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part

I.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/files/733/733-h/gib3-35.htm|Gibbon & Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part I.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/files/733/733-h/gib3-35.htm.

[166][166] Heather 2005, p. 298.[167] Heather 2005, pp. 295–297.[168][168] Heather 2005, p. 297.[169][169] Heather 2005, p. 330.[170][170] Heather 2005, p. 332.[171] #CITEREFGibbon1782Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part

I.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/files/733/733-h/gib3-34.htm|Gibbon, 1782 & Chapter XXXIV: Attila.—Part I.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/files/733/733-h/gib3-34.htm.

[172] The Life of St. Severinus (1914) by Eugippius pp. 13–113, http:/ / www. ccel. org/ ccel/ pearse/ morefathers/ files/ severinus_02_text. htm.English translation by George W. Robinson, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.

[173] #CITEREFGibbonChapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part III.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/files/733/733-h/gib3-35.htm|Gibbon Chapter XXXV: Invasion By Attila.—Part III.http://www.gutenberg.org/files/25717/25717-h/files/733/733-h/gib3-35.htm.

[174] Bury, J. B., The Cambridge Medieval History Vol. I (1924), pages 418–419[175] Heather 2005, pp. 375–377.[176][176] Halsall 2007, p. 256.[177] Gibbon & 1782 Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire..[178][178] Heather 2005, p. 379.[179][179] Heather 2005, p. 381.[180][180] Halsall 2007, p. 260.[181] Heather 2005, pp. 382–383.[182][182] Halsall 2007, p. 261.[183] Gibbon & 1782 Chapter XXXVI: Total Extinction Of The Western Empire.—Part II..[184] Martindale 1980, pp. 708–710.[185] Halsall 2007, p. 266–267.[186][186] Jones 1964, p. 241.[187][187] Halsall 2007, p. 391.[188][188] Halsall 2007, p. 273.[189] Halsall 2007, pp. 276–277.[190][190] Halsall 2007, p. 277.[191][191] Halsall 2007, p. 278.

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[192][192] Halsall 2007, p. 279.[193] Encyclopedia Britannica online (http:/ / www. britannica. com/ EBchecked/ topic/ 509048/ Romulus-Augustulus)[194][194] Gibbon, p. 406[195] Halsall 2007, pp. 280–281.[196][196] Jones 1964, p. 246.[197][197] Halsall 2007, pp. 405-411.[198][198] Ward-Perkins 2005, p. 118.[199] The Britons: from Romans to barbarians. Alex Woolf. pp 345–380 in Regna and Gentes. The relationship between Late Antique and Early

Mediaeval Peoples and Kingdoms in the Transformation of the Roman World. Edited by Hans-Werner Goetz, Jörg Janut, and Walter Pohlwith the collaboration of Sören Kaschke. Brill, Leiden, 2003. ISBN 90-04-12524-8

[200] Halsall 2007, pp. 284–319.[201][201] Halsall 2007, p. 287.[202] Ward-Perkins 2005, pp. 87–122.

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Article Sources and Contributors 25

Article Sources and ContributorsFall of the Western Roman Empire  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=580819826  Contributors: 2A01:E35:8AAF:B70:411F:4FCA:A9F:A65, Againme, Alexander Domanda,Art LaPella, Bazuz, Bgwhite, Binksternet, Bobbtheman124, Charles Matthews, Chris the speller, ChrisGualtieri, Cplakidas, Davidiad, Diana35858, EuroCarGT, Exsol12, Filursiax, Freebirds,George Ponderevo, HaeB, Hires an editor, Jim1138, John K, Joy, JustAMuggle, Kuralyov, Laurel Lodged, Llywrch, Muhends, P. S. Burton, RashersTierney, Richard Keatinge, Satellizer,SchreiberBike, Soerfm, Sowlos, Stbalbach, The Transhumanist, Theodore!, Train2104, Truthanado, Wavelength, Wetman, Yosy, 42 anonymous edits

Image Sources, Licenses and ContributorsFile:Roman Republic Empire map.gif  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Roman_Republic_Empire_map.gif  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors:Roke (d)File:RomanEmpire 117.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:RomanEmpire_117.svg  License: unknown  Contributors: Original uploader was Andrei nacu at en.wikipediaFile:Map of Ancient Rome 271 AD.svg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Map_of_Ancient_Rome_271_AD.svg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Contributors: Blank map of South Europe and North Africa.svg: historicair 23:27, 8 August 2007 (UTC)File:Tetrarchy map3.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Tetrarchy_map3.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Coppermine Photo GalleryFile:Solidus Julian.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Solidus_Julian.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Ajdebre, Amada44, Carlomorino,Cristiano64, FlagUploader, G.dallorto, Goldfritha, Passportguy, Saperaud, 2 anonymous editsFile:Theodosius I's empire.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Theodosius_I's_empire.png  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Geuiwogbil aten.wikipediaFile:Consular diptych Probus 406.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Consular_diptych_Probus_406.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: AnRo0002, Clio20,Cplakidas, G.dallorto, Marsyas, Nonopoly, TcfkaPanairjdde, 1 anonymous editsFile:John William Waterhouse - The Favorites of the Emperor Honorius - 1883.jpg  Source:http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:John_William_Waterhouse_-_The_Favorites_of_the_Emperor_Honorius_-_1883.jpg  License: Public Domain  Contributors: John WilliamWaterhouseFile:Stilicho.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Stilicho.jpg  License: GNU Free Documentation License  Contributors: Photographed by User:BullenwächterFile:ChristianPendantMaria398-407.JPG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:ChristianPendantMaria398-407.JPG  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike3.0,2.5,2.0,1.0  Contributors: PHGCOMFile:DN Honorio Florentissimo.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:DN_Honorio_Florentissimo.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0 Contributors: KleuskeFile:Hispania 418 AD.PNG  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Hispania_418_AD.PNG  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Aiurdin, Alexandrin, Bokpasa, JMCC1,Jmabel, Medievalista, PANONIAN, Santosga, The Ogre, Warburg, Xaverius, 5 anonymous editsFile:MajorianEmpire.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:MajorianEmpire.png  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: User:Tataryn77File:Roman-Empire 477ad.jpg  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Roman-Empire_477ad.jpg  License: Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 3.0  Contributors: ThomasLessman (Contact!)File:Ostrogothic Kingdom.png  Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Ostrogothic_Kingdom.png  License: Public Domain  Contributors: Cplakidas, Cwbm (commons),Flamarande, Gryffindor, Nuno Tavares, 5 anonymous edits

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