The Day of the Barbarians: The Battle That Led to the Fall of the Roman Empire

"A very readable narrative of one of the most significant battles in European history…An excellent resource."―Booklist

On August 9, 378 AD, at Adrianople in the Roman province of Thrace (now western Turkey), the Roman Empire began to fall. Two years earlier, an unforeseen flood of refugees from the East Germanic tribe known as the Goths had arrived at the Empire's eastern border, seeking admittance. Though usually successful in dealing with barbarian groups, in this instance the Roman authorities failed. Gradually coalesced into an army led by Fritigern, the barbarian horde inflicted a disastrous defeat on Emperor Valens. The Empire did not actually fall for another century, but some believe this battle signaled nothing less than the end of the ancient world and the start of the Middle Ages. With impeccable scholarship and narrative flair, renowned historian Alessandro Barbero places the battle in its historical context and vividly recreates the events leading to the clash, bringing alive leaders and common soldiers alike. Narrating one of the turning points in world history, The Day of the Barbarians is military history at its very best.

Alessandro Barbero is a professor of Medieval Studies at the University of Piemonte Orientale in Vercelli, Italy. A previous winner of the Strega Prize, Italy's most distinguished literary award, he is the author of The Battle: A New History of Waterloo, and Charlemagne: Father of a Continent.