Barbarians: The Goths
1. The Danube River bordered the territory of the Goths.
2. The Goths’ economy was based in agriculture and trade; the political system of Goths was organized by
tribes/clans/tribal council – lacked significant adherence to a single leader.
3. The Goths left their ancestral homelands to seek refuge with Rome.
4. The important thing to remember about the late Roman Empire is that no emperor ever turned down a ready supply of
troops (tradition dating back to the Roman Confederation).
5. The Goths adopted Christianity (tied to the traditional insistence on the worship of the gods of the Romans/the Roman
state) in the hopes of trying to win the favor of the emperor.
6. Romans traded dogs/dog meat to the Goths for slaves.
7. Hunger inspired the Goths to rebel against Rome.
8. The Roman base camp for the assault on the rampaging Goths was Adrianople.
9. The Roman army and the Goth army each numbered 15 to 20 thousand men.
10. By the end of the Roman Empire, the military technology gap (Rome still had the advantage of
training/discipline/tactics) between the Romans and the barbarians had disappeared.
11. The Battle of Adrianople was the worst defeat of the Roman army in nearly 400 years because the Goths killed 2/3;
10-15 thousand men of the army, including the emperor Valens.
12. The treaty of 382 between Rome and the Goths gave the Goths settlement in modern-day northern Bulgaria in
exchange for service in the army (traditional clause).
13. Goth troops were used by Rome against the Huns, Vandals, and Persians.
14. Alaric wanted to find for the Goths land and rewards (food and cash), and for his officers a rank in the Roman
hierarchy (represents the frontier of Roman ambitions and Gothic ambitions).
15. Mobility in Gothic society was an option if a person had good military abilities.
16. The Goths marched on Italy while the Vandals and the Franks battered Italy from the north.
17. The sacking of Rome by the Goths in 410 was symbolically significant because the Roman Empire no longer appeared
to be unconquerable (the empire was fragmented at this time).
18. Alaric’s legacy was the joining of the Gothic peoples into an independent kingdom that would preserve the culture of
Rome during the Dark Ages.
19. After they formed their own empire, the Goths came to be known as the Visigoths.