[gothic-l] Gothic Use of Steppe Nomad Warfare

[Bertil Haggman]

Both Roman Empires ultimately fell, in the West in
476 AD and in the east 1453 AD. What the tired
Western Empire failed to recognize was the successful
use of steppe nomadic warfare of the Goths.

Attila was, after all, not a very prominent military leader, but the
Huns brought a new method to Gothic warfare, which
led to the defeat of the remnants of the empire.

To understand this it is important to consult _The Cambridge
History of the Early Inner Asia_, Cambridge and New York:
Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Colin Gordon's _The Age of Attila: Fifth-Century Byzantium and
the Barbarians_, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1960,
adds very important knowledge also on the struggle in the West.

All to heavy reliance on Thompson and Heather ought to be
avoided. The anglocentric view, promoted here on the list
should rather be diversified. Western Europe after all is not the center
for research on matters Gothic. Larger resources
and fine scholarship is available the other side of the Atlantic.
Let us not forget, also, Cambridge University as maybe a superior
alternative to London and Oxford.

Cavalry was in the end a new weapon that contributed greatly
to the downfall of the West Roman empire.

Gothically

Bertil





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