Failure of Empire
eBook - PDF

Failure of Empire

  1. 470 pages
  2. English
  3. PDF
  4. Available on iOS & Android
eBook - PDF

Failure of Empire

About this book

Failure of Empire is the first comprehensive biography of the Roman emperor Valens and his troubled reign (a.d. 364-78). Valens will always be remembered for his spectacular defeat and death at the hands of the Goths in the Battle of Adrianople. This singular misfortune won him a front-row seat among history's great losers. By the time he was killed, his empire had been coming unglued for several years: the Goths had overrun the Balkans; Persians, Isaurians, and Saracens were threatening the east; the economy was in disarray; and pagans and Christians alike had been exiled, tortured, and executed in his religious persecutions. Valens had not, however, entirely failed in his job as emperor. He was an admirable administrator, a committed defender of the frontiers, and a ruler who showed remarkable sympathy for the needs of his subjects. In lively style and rich detail, Lenski incorporates a broad range of new material, from archaeology to Gothic and Armenian sources, in a study that illuminates the social, cultural, religious, economic, administrative, and military complexities of Valens's realm. Failure of Empire offers a nuanced reconsideration of Valens the man and shows both how he applied his strengths to meet the expectations of his world and how he ultimately failed in his efforts to match limited capacities to limitless demands.

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Yes, you can access Failure of Empire by Noel Lenski in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & Ancient History. We have over one million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.

Information

Table of contents

  1. COVER
  2. TITLE
  3. COPYRIGHT
  4. CONTENTS
  5. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
  6. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  7. ABBREVIATIONS
  8. MAPS
  9. Introduction
  10. Chapter 1. The Pannonian Emperors
  11. Chapter 2. The Revolt of Procopius
  12. Chapter 3. Valens’s First Gothic War
  13. Chapter 4. Valens and the Eastern Frontier
  14. Chapter 5. Religion under the Valentiniani
  15. Chapter 6. Administration and Finance under Valentinian and Valens
  16. Chapter 7. The Disaster at Adrianople
  17. Epilogue
  18. APPENDIX A. DATABLE EVIDENCE FOR VALENTINIANIC FORTIFICATIONS
  19. APPENDIX B. SHAPUR'S ADMINISTRATIVE STRUCTURES IN ARMENIA
  20. APPENDIX C. NATURAL DISASTERS AND THE REIGN OF VALENS
  21. APPENDIX D. CIVIC STRUCTURES BUILT UNDER IMPERIAL
  22. BIBLIOGRAPHY
  23. INDEX