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The Goths by Peter Heather

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The Czar
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Post by The Czar » Tue April 10th, 2012, 8:32 pm

No, but I'll have to check it out. I have become fascinated with the post-apogee Roman period (from Augustus through the fall) and it annoys me that there is radio silence when a region falls to "the barbarians." I've always thought that surely those people had some kind of culture and history worth reading about, and that the Rome vs. Barbarians view of history was fostered by a Classicalis bias.
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
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Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

SGM
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Post by SGM » Tue April 10th, 2012, 9:40 pm

[quote=""The Czar""]No, but I'll have to check it out. I have become fascinated with the post-apogee Roman period (from Augustus through the fall) and it annoys me that there is radio silence when a region falls to "the barbarians." I've always thought that surely those people had some kind of culture and history worth reading about, and that the Rome vs. Barbarians view of history was fostered by a Classicalis bias.[/quote]

Does it become silent? I am not so sure. The evolution of France is probably a pretty good example of development from a Roman province, becoming part of the Merovingian Empire, then the Carolingian and onwards towards Capetian France and separation from the Holy Roman Empire. It's that development that I find fascinating and it is quite easy to follow Gaul splitting into provinces and then coalescing again into the French state. With other nations, the path is less easy to follow.
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith

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The Czar
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Post by The Czar » Thu April 12th, 2012, 3:20 am

[quote=""SGM""]Does it become silent? I am not so sure. The evolution of France is probably a pretty good example of development from a Roman province, becoming part of the Merovingian Empire, then the Carolingian and onwards towards Capetian France and separation from the Holy Roman Empire. It's that development that I find fascinating and it is quite easy to follow Gaul splitting into provinces and then coalescing again into the French state. With other nations, the path is less easy to follow.[/quote]

Right, I guess I mean earlier than that, they are just kind of faceless "barbarian" hordes. You never hear about what happened during the periods that the Vandals controlled Africa, for example.

My local library has this book. It will be my next read after I finish slogging through Gibbon.
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
_______________________________________________
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

SGM
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Posts: 700
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Post by SGM » Thu April 12th, 2012, 4:56 am

[quote=""The Czar""]You never hear about what happened during the periods that the Vandals controlled Africa, for example.[/quote]

Yes, that's true. I have been interested in that and the Visigoths in Spain in the past. I don't follow it up any more because I have changed my area of interest but I did go through a phase....
Currently reading - Emergence of a Nation State by Alan Smith

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The Czar
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Post by The Czar » Thu April 12th, 2012, 8:23 pm

[quote=""SGM""]Yes, that's true. I have been interested in that and the Visigoths in Spain in the past. I don't follow it up any more because I have changed my area of interest but I did go through a phase....[/quote]

Yeah, I'm not so much interested in the brief period where say, the Goths ruled Italy before Belisarius threw them out, but the period where Africa and Spain were held for long periods of time by "barbarians" interest me.

I have to figure that there was some interesting blend of "barbarian" and roman cultures. Or three cultures actually, the native (african, spanish) cultures, the Germanic "barbarian" culture, and the remains of the Roman one.
Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times. This arises from the fact that they are produced by men who ever have been, and ever shall be, animated by the same passions, and thus they necessarily have the same results.
_______________________________________________
Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli

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