Francais | English | Espanõl

Arthur Ferrill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search

Arthur Ferrill is the author of The Fall of the Roman Empire: The Military Explanation

In this book Ferrill supports the claims of Vegetius, about increased "barbarisation" and "germanisation" helping to cause the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. He states that allowing barbarians to settle within Rome's borders to act as a buffer zone against other barbarians created friction, and led to a decrease in the size of the Roman Empire's Borders.

He also states that the Germans were recruited in such large numbers by the Western empire that they in fact changed it from a Roman to a German culture. For example, field army units would not use their helmets, the pilum was replaced, and the standard of drill declined, leading to a lack of military skill within the Empire.

Personal tools