01-02-2002, 03:30 PM
Salve,<br>
<br>
Barbarian farmer warriors were not prime fighting material. Among the barbarian peoples the nucleus of more or less professional full time warrior bands formed by the elite and their retainers would have been fleshed out with ordinary tribesmen farmers and peasants of low quality, usually not as well equipped, disciplined and trained as their Roman counterparts. Soldiers were not born, but had to be trained and this was true for both the empire and its enemies. The Roman army had long been quite succesful at turning peasants and farmers, both indigenous and barbarian, into soldiers and this did not cease after Adrianople. The advantages of the Roman logistical organisation allowed it to field better equipped forces that enjoyed superior discipline and training regardless of their soldier's origin. Overall the fighting value of Roman armies, even if formed by troops of barbarian extraction, continued to be superior to its opponents in the fifth and sixth centuries. Such regular troops were expensive to maintain however and the greater wealth at the disposal of the east allowed it to maintain its regular army in a better way when the western empire tried out defence on the cheap and hired barbarian federates for its campaigning forces.<br>
<br>
Elton, H., <i> Warfare in Roman Europe AD 350-425</i> (Oxford 1996) 312p.<br>
Haldon, J., <i> Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world 565-1204</i> (London 1999) 389p.<br>
Haldon, J., <i> The Byzantine wars</i> (London 2001) 160p.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i></i>
<br>
Barbarian farmer warriors were not prime fighting material. Among the barbarian peoples the nucleus of more or less professional full time warrior bands formed by the elite and their retainers would have been fleshed out with ordinary tribesmen farmers and peasants of low quality, usually not as well equipped, disciplined and trained as their Roman counterparts. Soldiers were not born, but had to be trained and this was true for both the empire and its enemies. The Roman army had long been quite succesful at turning peasants and farmers, both indigenous and barbarian, into soldiers and this did not cease after Adrianople. The advantages of the Roman logistical organisation allowed it to field better equipped forces that enjoyed superior discipline and training regardless of their soldier's origin. Overall the fighting value of Roman armies, even if formed by troops of barbarian extraction, continued to be superior to its opponents in the fifth and sixth centuries. Such regular troops were expensive to maintain however and the greater wealth at the disposal of the east allowed it to maintain its regular army in a better way when the western empire tried out defence on the cheap and hired barbarian federates for its campaigning forces.<br>
<br>
Elton, H., <i> Warfare in Roman Europe AD 350-425</i> (Oxford 1996) 312p.<br>
Haldon, J., <i> Warfare, state and society in the Byzantine world 565-1204</i> (London 1999) 389p.<br>
Haldon, J., <i> The Byzantine wars</i> (London 2001) 160p.<br>
<br>
Regards,<br>
<br>
Sander van Dorst <p></p><i></i>
