Eric Scheske

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The Fall of Rome

The Rise of the Holy Men

The Rise of the Holy Men

So holy men left. They left for the desert and became the forerunners of the monks, though these early counter-culture revolutionaries were “in some ways less comparable to modern monks and nuns than to modern drop-outs, supporters of gurus, or others . . . who abandon the conventional world . . .”. Gibbon, The Fall of

The Barbarians II

The Barbarians II

Ruminations on the Fall of Rome There were many other barbarian “tribes” milling around the Empire's borders, but of those who (by conventional understanding) initially set up kingdoms in the old Roman Empire in the West, all of them were forces within the Empire that worked with the

The Barbarians I

The Barbarians I

Ruminations on the Fall of Rome Mike Duncan, of The History of Rome podcast, on the coming war between Theodosius and Maximus (in the late 380s). Here's Duncan's description of Theodosius' army: “Theodosus' top field generals, Ricimer and Ricimer's nephew, Arbogast, were