Thomas S. Bums
A HISTORY OF THE OSTROGOTHS
Indiana University Press 1984
Stron XVIII+299, format: 16x24 cm
Książka używana: bez defektów
Stan dobry plus
Combining the latest archaeological findings with information from traditional literary sources, Thomas S. Burns presents the first modern portrait of the Ostrogoths from their initial contacts with the Roman world in the third century through the dissolution of their kingdom in Italy in 554.
Placing the Ostrogoths in a European social and historical perspective, Burns begins his story in the centuries before the final invasions of Rome. He introduces the reader to early Ostrogothic tribal, pagan society, and reveals the interactions between these barbarians and the Roman Empire. He analyzes the imperatives that led the Ostrogoths to expand and conquer the lands east of the Dniester River and the lower Danube and to establish the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy.
Burns maintains that Roman-Ostro-gothic relations and exchanges played a most important role in the metamorphosis, rise, and fall of Ostrogothic society. He analyzes the impact of kingship as it intruded into the fabric of local loyalties and influenced the Ostrogoths' confrontation and coexistence with the Roman Empire. He illuminates how Theodoric, the king of the Ostrogoths, devoted his reign to crafting a special place for his people and dynasty in a Roman-dominated world and shows that although they came onto Roman soil in Italy as conquerors, the Ostrogoths remained in many ways ijnmigrants struggling to adapt to their new homeland and position in the world without losing their tribal identity. Theodoric was adept at balancing these two cultures and initiated a program of controlled assimilation of Germans into Roman society. Burns dissects this process, revealing the surprising residual power of the Ostrogoths' tribal and
pagan origins in the face of Roman law, government, civilization, and Christianity, and the affects of this assimilation on Ostrogothic religion, military organization, society, leadership, and daily life (crafts, arts, clothing, diet, agriculture). Much of the early success of the Ostrogoths rested on their ability to build on their own traditions and yet absorb and accept certain Roman organizational and support systems. This flexibility and adaptability enabled the Ostrogoths, particularly Theodoric the Great, to lead barbarian Europe for almost half a century and to shape the coming Middle Ages.
According to Historian Walter E. Kaegi, "This is a very good book. ... I know of no comparable study published or unpublished. . . . the author has succeeded in completing a major work of synthesis very well. . . . the book should be the standard in English for many years."
CONTENTS
preface XI
introduction Xlii
abbreviations xvii
1. Rome and the Northern Barbarians i
2. The Presettlement Phase 18
3. Bondage and Struggle 39
4. Theodoric's Kingdom Surveyed 67
5. The Metamorphosis of Ostrogothic Society 108
6. Religion 143
7. Leadership and Government 163
8. Warriors and the Military System 184
9. The End of the Ostrogothic Kingdom 202
Epilogue 216
notes 221
bibliography 259
index 291
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