Rome's Gothic Wars: From the Third Century to Alaric. Key Conflicts in Classical Antiquity (review)

This book provides an introduction to the Goths, their history, and their interaction with the Romans, focusing on two main questions: (1) "How did Gothic history develop in such a way that the unprecedented career of Alaric [the Gothic leader who sacked Rome in 410] became possible" and (2) "how do we know what we think we know about the Goths" (11). In eight thematic chapters, bookended by a prologue and an epilogue, both about Alaric, it strives to answer these questions by discussing the history of the Goths and evaluating the relevant sources of evidence.

The first of the questions posed above is perhaps the easier to answer. To do so, Kulikowski traces the history of the Goths, discussing issues like early Gothic raids on Roman territory, the development of Gothic power, and the connections between various Roman emperors and the Goths in the process. Kulikowski argues that the Romans in some sense created the Goths, thanks to "the pressures of life on the Roman frontier" (185), suggesting that "the diverse small groups whom the Romans called . . . Goths because they lived in a particular place and were recruited into particular units of the Roman army eventually became . . . Goths because that was how they were described when they had political dealings with the Roman empire" (69). Thus, the Romans created the Goths and then the ways in which they interacted with them eventually put the Goths into a position to sack Rome.

The second question is somewhat trickier. Traditional accounts of the Goths have relied on sources like the Getica of Jordanes, a sixth-century history that draws on a now-lost history of the Goths written by Cassiodorus. Kulikowski evaluates the motivation behind this traditional reliance and argues that that Jordanes' work is not completely reliable, for several reasons (for instance, oral transmission of the stories about Gothic origins that Jordanes presents could mean that the stories have become distorted and inaccurate). Kulikowski does conclude Jordanes's work can lend valuable insights when it is corroborated with data from other sources, but he is generally reluctant to use it. Instead, Kulikowski draws heavily on other sources of information about the Goths and their history, including archaeological evidence. Some of this archaeological evidence, taken from the Sântana-de-Mures/Cernjachov culture (located in what is now Romania and Ukraine), clearly shows contact between this culture and the Romans (e.g., the use of Roman construction practices in some buildings and the presence of Roman cultural artifacts). In Kulikowski's view, this culture was Gothic and supports his thesis of the Roman creation of the Goths.

According to the description given in the front matter of this book, the volumes in this series are intended to summarize "the main events and key characters, the consequences of the conflict, and its reception over time," and to evaluate "the textual and archaeological sources for the conflict" critically. This book fulfills these objectives admirably. Its summary of the conflicts between the Romans and the Goths is lucid and readable and its critical evaluation of the various sources of evidence is valuable. It is engagingly written and does a nice job of synthesizing received wisdom with more debatable views. The book also contains detailed glossaries of biographies and of ancient sources, several maps, and an extensive section on suggested further readings, all of which enhance its usefulness. It should also be noted that production values are high; the maps are well produced (even though three of them are necessarily spread over two pages), the volume is sturdily bound, and typos have been kept to a minimum. The book provides a handy, accessible overview of the subject matter and can therefore be recommended to students and more experienced scholars alike.