Defences of the western Roman empire in 5th century

[Theodosius the Great]

I can't be sure of course, but the Romans often built fleets when they had use for them, letting them rot away after the expedition was over.

We see a similar attitude over here on the Lower Rhine: rather than sailing upriver, Roman barges were only used locally for a longer period of time, or else scrapped and/or used as a harbour defence.

Interesting. So, it, at least sometimes, was Roman practice to discard or recycle used ships for other uses. It seems so wasteful and expensive, but maybe the practice implies that Roman ships were not built that sturdily, having short lifespans ?

the only time that Aetius was in a position to do anything about Africa was after the Huns had become the main threat. However, Aspar was till the man who in effect dealt with Africa, being the man who relieved Boniface. In effect, Aetius never had the jurisdiction to act in Africa, as I argued earlier.

Thanks for the timeline. It does help put things in perspective.

I must have confused Aetius' authority with Stilicho's.

So, Aetius always had at least one rival, sometimes two, but I think he always commanded the most powerful army in the West. There was an army for Italy and Africa but his troops were probably the most battle-hardened. It sounds like he could've gotten his way if he ever decided to force the issue.

But you're right, the ultimate responsiblilty for failing to recover Africa was Valentinian III's (or whoever pulled his strings). Ceding terriority so close to Carthage (for how ever short a time) was a fatal mistake, IMO. The Vandals only grew stronger when Rome let up the pressure.



~Theo