Flavius aetius biography books

There was wholesale tax avoidance by the rich and growing inequality between rich and poor, leading to discontent. Lastly the Empire was under massive pressure from external migration. I couldn't help thinking this was all uncomfortably similar to Western Europe today. Oh, and there was also a Brexit - Britain left the Empire sometime between and I am writing this in May and we have about 6 weeks to see whether we get another historical parallel there.

But enough of that and just to be clear to any readers, the last three sentences above were largely tongue in cheek. What about the book? As with the book on Stilicho, the biggest issue is the lack of reliable sources, meaning that almost all of the author's conclusions involve at best reasoned deduction, and at times outright speculation.

This is something the author himself readily acknowledges. Despite the limitations, this is very readable and persuasive flavius aetius biography books. I particularly enjoyed the analysis of the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, which repulsed Attila's invasion of Gaul and seriously dented the Huns' reputation for invincibility. Salutations to the memory of "The Last of the Romans"!

Wai Zin. And what a man. I was in awe of his ability to hold off the enemies from all directions and help postpone the inevitable collapse of Western Roman Empire. This is his life story as well as history of a dying empire. Author did a brilliant job scary together the minimal source materials and giving us this book. Ian Hughes' books on the period where the Western Empire dissolved into nothingness have been very good at providing a clearer picture of the process.

I think this volume might be the best one of the lot. Like his earlier book on Stilicho, this traces the career of one man, who many with the barest of knowledge of the period will know of because of his commanding the Roman side at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains against Attila the Hun. The early section looks at Aetius' early life, and positions him as part of the Roman upper class.

He was traded to the Huns as a 'hostage' during his teenage years; Hughes is at pains to talk about the actual nature of hostages as political insurance in the pre-modern world, something that needs looking at more often. At any rate, this part informs a large part of his thesis. The Roman military had become very conservative with manpower and emphasized sieges and the like to set-piece battles.

The Huns and other tribal confederations still emphasized combat and set-piece battles of various sizes, and Aetius' career shows the same pattern, so Hughes assumes that much of his military training and style comes from his period with the Huns. Aetius also relies on support from Hunnic factions, particularly early in his career. Hughes also figures this comes from friendships formed in his time with them.

This is important during some early maneuverings, which could easily have ended up with Aetius dead as a rebel, but after stong-arming the other faction, ended with him working quite effectively inside and with the system for the next two decades. It can reasonably be said that his use of Hunnic troops during his internal fight against Boniface was part of the downfall of the Western Empire.

Hughes doesn't go too much into that, but does spend a good amount of time and thought on various settlements of barbarians inside the empire. This too he sees as not necessarily destructive of the Empire as it had successfully been done before. In his concluding part though, he talks about the various methods by which this was done, and points out that the Goths in southern Gaul had been allowed to settle with their leadership intact, instead of it being sent elsewhere, generally as leadership in a different section of the army.

This put people used to politics and power with a built-in power base inside the Empire, and that is what Hughes points to as the dramatic step towards the dissolution of the western Empire. Often what is known of Aetius comes straight out of Gregory of Tours, and Hughes does a good job here pulling together the sources, and giving the outline of his character.

I think Hughes may have trended towards being too sympathetic to him, but his conclusions are reasonable. Samuel Valentino. Author 11 books 10 followers. The thing I like best about Hughes' books is that they hone in on one historical figure. Most historians would shy away from that, at least at that time in history. Ship within 24 hours!!. Used - Softcover Condition: Fine.

Flavius aetius biography books: A few kept is the story

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Early Christian and Byzantine Art. Second Edition, new impression.

Flavius aetius biography books: Aetius by Ian Hughes, highly

ISBNpp. JSTOR Volume 1, p. Cited in Jones, p. Prosperi Hauniensiss. Cited in Jones, pp. Comes Africae, AD — Carthage mint. Struck AD —". Chronicon, It is possible that this happened after the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains in Jones, p. ISBNp. But among the long Fasti of her triumphs, few can be found that, for their importance and ultimate benefit to mankind, are comparable with this expiring effort of her arms.

Archived from the original on 12 October Retrieved 23 July Oxford: Oxford University Press. Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West.

Flavius aetius biography books: A Fictional Biography of

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The Hutchinson Concise Dictionary of Music. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. ISBN A new chronology of Venetian opera and related genres, — Stanford, Calif. Retrieved 9 February Kirkus Reviews. Bibliography [ edit ]. Additamenta ad chron. Sources [ edit ]. Further reading [ edit ]. Anicius Auchenius Bassus Antiochus Chuzon.

Anthemius Isidorus Senator. Valentinian Augustus VI Nomus. Calepius Ardabur. Remistus In Authority control databases. Deutsche Biographie DDB. IdRef Historical Dictionary of Switzerland. The biography necessarily is fiction, but the events— along with the fascinating array of characters who ran the Roman Empire — are historical. Read it with enjoyment.

Consider it with foreboding. The fate of Rome was shared by many powers before its time, and has been experienced by many since. Ron Altmann is a naval architect by education, a test engineer by profession, a computer programmer by necessity, a teacher by vocation, and a hermit by disposition. Over the past fifty years he has generated hundreds of proposals, test reports, document manuals, and a few good books.

The Long Defeat is his sixth novel. Ron lives at the edge of Cold Spring, a small town in the middle of the world.