Written by Kenneth W. Harl
Format: MP3
Bitrate: 32 Kbps

The history of the Romans and the "barbarians" they encountered as their mighty legions advanced the frontiers of Classical civilization has in large part been written as a story of warfare and conquest.

But to tell the story on only that level leaves many questions unanswered, not only about the Romans but about the barbarians, as well.

* Who were the Celts, Goths, Huns, Persians, and so many others met by the Romans as they marched to the north and east? And what made them barbarians in the eyes of Rome?

* What were the political, military, and social institutions that made Rome so stable, allowing its power to be wielded against these different cultures for almost three centuries?

* What role did those institutions themselves play in assimilating barbarian peoples, first as provincials and often as players in a vast process of Romanization?

What Is a Barbarian? Explore the Basis of Western European Civilization

Rome and the Barbarians tells the story of the complex relationships between each of these native peoples and their Roman conquerors as they intermarried, exchanged ideas and mores, and, in the ensuing provincial Roman cultures, formed the basis of Western European civilization.

As you examine the interaction between Rome and the barbarians from 300 B.C. to A.D. 600, you learn that the definition of barbarian was, effectively, the "next group not under Roman control." And you see how that definition was always changing, as former barbarians became assimilated into the Roman world, becoming provincials and, often, eventually Romanized themselves.
In leading you through this 900 year period, Tulane University's Professor Kenneth W. Harl organizes the course around two major themes:

* The makeup of Roman society, politics, and military organization, particularly from the standpoint of how those institutions enabled the Romans not only to conquer those peoples, but integrate them

* The role played by the most recent of Rome's barbarian foes—especially the Germans and the Persians—in bringing down the Roman Empire, including the question of what gave them the military or political edge to accomplish this.

Throughout these lectures, and the introduction of each new barbarian culture, Professor Harl emphasizes three crucial aspects of Rome's relationships to them:

1.- The ability of the Romans to adapt and build pragmatically on existing structures of the barbarian world, using what worked, and not simply imposing a "Roman way"
2.- The ways the Romans looked on these barbarians not only as outsiders, but also as potential allies and provincials
3.- What barbarian societies were like at the time of Roman contact and conquest, and how, through assimilation, they contributed to the successful establishment of Roman provinces.

36 Lectures
30 minutes / lecture

1 Greek and Roman Views of Barbarians
2 The Roman Republic
3 Roman Society
4 The Roman Way of War
5 Celtic Europe and the Mediterranean World
6 The Conquest of Cisalpine Gaul
7 Romans and Carthaginians in Spain
8 The Roman Conquest of Spain
9 The Genesis of Roman Spain
10 Jugurtha and the Nomadic Threat
11 Marius and the Northern Barbarians
12 Rome's Rivals in the East
13 The Price of Empire—The Roman Revolution
14 Julius Caesar and the Conquest of Gaul
15 Early Germanic Europe
16 The Nomads of Eastern Europe
17 Arsacid Parthia
18 The Augustan Principate and Imperialism
19 The Roman Imperial Army
20 The Varian Disaster
21 The Roman Conquest of Britain
22 Civil War and Rebellion
23 Flavian Frontiers and the Dacians
24 Trajan, the Dacians, and the Parthians
25 Romanization of the Provinces
26 Commerce Beyond the Imperial Frontiers
27 Frontier Settlement and Assimilation
28 From Germanic Tribes to Confederations
29 Goths and the Crisis of the Third Century
30 Eastern Rivals—Sassanid Persia
31 Rome and the Barbarians in the Fourth Century
32 From Foes to Federates
33 Imperial Crisis and Decline
34 Attila and the Huns
35 Justinian and the Barbarians
36 Birth of the Barbarian Medieval West