Reddit reviews The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians
We found 4 Reddit comments about The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
> 2nd research its not hard do it and you will find I'm right
Yeah, no. I've read books by people who know what they're talking about, like Peter Heather. Feminism ain't got nothing to do with it.
Feminism also doesn't explain why the Eastern Roman Empire lasted until 1453.
And the connection between feminism and Babylon is pure, unadulterated bullshit--pretty much what I expect from somebody who tells people to "research" instead of supporting their position.
What do you mean sources? Primary or secondary? Most stuff on the Vandals comes from the Roman perspective. As for secondary sources, a lot of the really good stuff is in German but if you want a survey on this subject in English, I suggest AHM Jone's The Later Roman Empire, 284-602:
A Social, Economic, and Administrative Survey and George Ostrogorsky's History of the Byzantine State. Peter Heather's The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians also has some obscure tidbits that most people would not normally know. Also, who could forget the The Cambridge Ancient History series? They actually have a chapter dedicated to the Vandals.
Oh god, that scene even has a German wearing a horned helmet. It appears the film creators were going for "stock fantasy barbarians".
Having said that, the Germanic warriors in that period can be contrasted with the orderly machine-like Romans. Showing individual bravado was important for them, as it was for the Celts. And the Germanic warriors were indeed larger. Roman soldiers grew up in a densely populated place with low availability of meat and dairy, while the Germans had access to a more varied diet. The overspecialization in grain production made the Romans shorter. I've seen a lot of different estimates, but it appears from measuring skeletons and from the historical record than Roman soldiers were about 5'5 or 5'6 (165-167 cm).
By the time of the Migration Period we would expect the Germanic tribes to have taken on more Roman-like features: more disciplined troops and better armor and weaponry. I hear this is part of Peter Heather's argument in his new book, though I haven't read it yet to confirm.
I'll vouch for the Peter Heather book. I'm reading it right now, he has a lot of good insights.