http://realmofryan.blogspot.com/2009/... ( )

This is a little, well-researched book by an Italian professor on the battle of Adrianople fought on Aug 9, 378, which the author claims was decisive in regard to the Roman empire. Though the battle was fought not far from
Constantinople, the Roman empire that fell was the Western Roman empire. That fell in 476--the Eastern empire lasted till 1453. So the subtitle is a bit misleading--but that empire can rightly be deemed not the Roman empire. This is not a bad book, and is one which students of those times will find of interest. I myself was not too interested in it, I found.. ( )

Barbero has presented one of the most important battles in history (and one rather unknown in modern society) in a thorough, yet easily read and understood way. His approach is quite narrative and interesting.

If you have any interest in Ancient Rome, I fully recommend this volume. The Battle at Adrianople represented the beginning of the end for Rome as a barbarian army massacred a Roman one, and in so doing, killed Emperor Valens on the field of battle. Surely this was a great step toward the eventual sacking of Rome not long after. ( )

The story of the Gothic War and the famous Battle of Adrianople has often been re-constructed, for example by Gibbon (1776) and more recently by Peter Heather The Fall of the Roman Empire (2005) and Michael Kulikowski Rome's Gothic Wars (2006) - what makes this account special is not any new over-arching theory, but simply a well researched, reliable and very well told story - if writing history is a type of literature, this is literature at its best. Barbero has the ability to fire the imagination and make it all real - he can take a single sentence from Ammianus Marcellinus (the primary source for the events) and draw in other related material to fill in the details to make a book-length retelling where others have a chapter or two. As Steven Coats said, reviewing in the New York Times (April 29, 2007), this is an "elegant and pleasurable little account - what a joy it is to read about the ancient world in digestible portions." This is clearly a book for the general reader, but Barbero is a medieval scholar, it contains supporting footnotes (which are worthwhile) and references to further reading. I never tire of reading about this story, it brings together so many elements of the ancient and medieval worlds, it was one of the pivotal moments in world history and also one of the most dramatic.

With all the praise above and stars, a couple things about what the book is not: 1) this is a short book, 147 pages of actual text, the rest is footnotes 2) it is not for specialists or experts - Barbero does not go into too much chronological or geographic detail - it is not a definitive scientific study 3) the question if Adrianople was the dividing line between the Ancient and Medieval world is thankfully relegated to the Preface and last two pages, a "hook" I suppose. The books real value is in the skillful narration of events, and understanding the process of the 'barbarization' of the Roman Empire. ( )