Barbarians

Barbarians offers a fresh new look at the Roman Empire from the perspective of those labelled as 'barbarians' by the Romans. Dr Stephen P. Kershaw constructs a narrative around the lives, personalities, successes, and failures of the key opponents of Rome's rise and dominance, and of those who ultimately brought the empire down.

'And now what will become of us without barbarians? Those people were a sort of solution.'

'Waiting for the Barbarians'
C. P. Cavafy

History is written by the victors, and Rome had some very eloquent historians. The so-called barbarians left minimal records, yet they made a tremendous impact on the Roman imagination. Whether resisting from outside Rome’s borders or rebelling from within, they emerge vividly in Rome's historical tradition and have left a significant footprint in archaeology.

Rome's history, as narrated by the Romans, follows a remarkable trajectory from its humble beginnings as a tiny village of refugees from a conflict zone to a dominant superpower. This trajectory eventually transforms into the medieval and Byzantine worlds. However, throughout this history, Rome faced significant resistance and rebellion from peoples it deemed barbarians.

Historian Edward Gibbon saw the Roman Empire as one of the pinnacle achievements of human civilization, brought down by barbarian invaders such as the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Goths, Vandals, Huns, Picts, and Scots. To others, the ravaging of Rome injected new life into a declining Italy. Gibbon’s concept of 'decline and fall' has since been reappraised as transformation, brought about by religious and cultural revolution.

This new history, based on both ancient historical writings and modern archaeological research, offers an innovative view of the Roman Empire through the experiences and lives of notable adversaries of Rome's rise, dominance, and fall—or transformation. These adversaries include Brennus, the Gaul who sacked Rome; the Plebs, internal resistors; Hannibal; Viriathus, the Iberian shepherd and skilled guerrilla; Jugurtha and the struggle to liberate Africa; the Germanic threats from the Cimbri and the Teutones; Spartacus, the gladiator; Vercingetorix and the rebellion in Gaul; Cleopatra; Boudicca, Queen of the Iceni and scourge of Rome; the Great Jewish Revolt; Alaric the Goth and the Sack of Rome; Attila the Hun, 'Born to Shake the Nations'; and the Vandals, who contributed to the fall of Rome.