The first two centuries of the Roman Empire witnessed the establishment and development of a profitable commerce between two great regions of the earth, the Mediterranean countries and India. Continue reading “Rome’s Commerce with India – Travel between Italy and the Near East”
Dismemberment of the Roman Empire in the West: Sueves and Vandals in Spain – The Vandal Conquest of Africa
The prospect of a return to peace and settled life in Spain seemed more distant than in Gaul. Soon after the Visigoths had departed, war broke out between Gunderic, king of the Asding Vandals, and Hermeric, king of the Suevians. Continue reading “Dismemberment of the Roman Empire in the West: Sueves and Vandals in Spain – The Vandal Conquest of Africa”
Western Europe gradually passes from the power of the Roman into that of the Teuton
The Visigoths had now obtained a permanent home by the shores of the Atlantic. This final settlement of the Visigoths, who had moved about for twenty years in the three peninsulas of the Mediterranean, was a momentous stage in that process of compromise between the Roman Empire and the Germans which had been going on for many years and was ultimately to change the whole face of western Europe. Constantius was doing in Gaul what Theodosius the Great had done in the Balkans. There were now two orderly Teutonic kingdoms on Gallic soil under Roman lordship, the Burgundian on the Rhine, the Visigothic on the Atlantic. Continue reading “Western Europe gradually passes from the power of the Roman into that of the Teuton”
Wallia and the Visigothic settlement in Gaul
After a short intervening reign Wallia was elected king; and Wallia is an important person in the history of the Visigoths, for it was he who succeeded in marking out the limits of their new kingdom in Gaul. Continue reading “Wallia and the Visigothic settlement in Gaul”
Ancient Rome and the Eurasian trade networks
In this post we present selected parts from the excellent and very informative paper titled “Beyond frontiers: Ancient Rome and the Eurasian trade networks“, by Marco Galli (2016). Continue reading “Ancient Rome and the Eurasian trade networks”
The reign of Roman Emperor Phocas
Phocas was a mere brutal soldier—cruel, ignorant, suspicious, and reckless, and in his incapable hands the empire began to fall to pieces with alarming rapidity. Continue reading “The reign of Roman Emperor Phocas”