Wednesday 28 September 2016

Peace brings War (as Thucydides observed in 5th c. B.C)

The Roman Empire had Peace & Prosperity. The Goths were pushed out of their lands by the Huns. In 376 A.D. the Goths appeared on the banks of the Danube and asked the Romans to be allowed to live within the Empire. The Romans agreed on condition the Goths surrender their weapons and children. The Romans had weapons inspectors! But some Goths kept their weapons by allowing the inspectors to sleep with their wives or daughters. Following a skirmish started by the Romans there was a battle at Adrianople. The Goths won. On New Years Day 407 the Vandals crossed the Rhine which was frozen over. In 410 the Goths sacked Rome. Some things were better: because of Christianity gladiator fights were stopped. Were "human rights" partly responsible for the misery of the Romans? Thucydides wrote "The Peloponnesian War" in the belief it would be a model for future wars.