Adrian Goldsworthy

They've actually shown that they can be hard to control. And, you know, that's why you get, end up with the end with you're putting a nephew, a relative as emperor, because you think, well, okay, he's young. I can definitely control him.

The warlords have been making most of the key decisions and they're the only ones that can keep a level of, of defense of military capability that you need because you are threatened on all sides. And just to assert yourself and to make some, you know, the point of anybody listening to you at all. So the emperor has become, wholly a figurehead. You know, there is really nothing they do.

The warlords have been making most of the key decisions and they're the only ones that can keep a level of, of defense of military capability that you need because you are threatened on all sides. And just to assert yourself and to make some, you know, the point of anybody listening to you at all. So the emperor has become, wholly a figurehead. You know, there is really nothing they do.

The warlords have been making most of the key decisions and they're the only ones that can keep a level of, of defense of military capability that you need because you are threatened on all sides. And just to assert yourself and to make some, you know, the point of anybody listening to you at all. So the emperor has become, wholly a figurehead. You know, there is really nothing they do.

Their personality hasn't mattered beyond do they turn against a general and try and get rid of him or provoke somebody else? Do they favor another one? This sort of thing. Well, that's all they're doing. Anything practical is being done by the man in charge of the army, and the only basis of his power is keeping control of that army.

Their personality hasn't mattered beyond do they turn against a general and try and get rid of him or provoke somebody else? Do they favor another one? This sort of thing. Well, that's all they're doing. Anything practical is being done by the man in charge of the army, and the only basis of his power is keeping control of that army.

Their personality hasn't mattered beyond do they turn against a general and try and get rid of him or provoke somebody else? Do they favor another one? This sort of thing. Well, that's all they're doing. Anything practical is being done by the man in charge of the army, and the only basis of his power is keeping control of that army.

So there is a clear logic, the point of view of Odoacer, to just do it. Let's put the two jobs together and let's do this.

So there is a clear logic, the point of view of Odoacer, to just do it. Let's put the two jobs together and let's do this.

So there is a clear logic, the point of view of Odoacer, to just do it. Let's put the two jobs together and let's do this.

anything like this comes into the what-ifs of history. If people had acted differently, if they'd got their act together a generation or so earlier, they could have sorted it out. If Valens had made a few better decisions and been a bit less hasty at Adrian Opel, would all sorts of problems have been avoided in the future? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe there would have been different problems. But

anything like this comes into the what-ifs of history. If people had acted differently, if they'd got their act together a generation or so earlier, they could have sorted it out. If Valens had made a few better decisions and been a bit less hasty at Adrian Opel, would all sorts of problems have been avoided in the future? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe there would have been different problems. But

anything like this comes into the what-ifs of history. If people had acted differently, if they'd got their act together a generation or so earlier, they could have sorted it out. If Valens had made a few better decisions and been a bit less hasty at Adrian Opel, would all sorts of problems have been avoided in the future? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe there would have been different problems. But

Human history is made up by human beings making decisions, and often they get things wrong or they do things that prove to be catastrophic. That's there. You can't remove that element. So simply to put it into terms of long-term trends against this, to see it as, well, this is a system that could flourish in the economic system of a Mediterranean-based agricultural economy, that sort of thing.

Human history is made up by human beings making decisions, and often they get things wrong or they do things that prove to be catastrophic. That's there. You can't remove that element. So simply to put it into terms of long-term trends against this, to see it as, well, this is a system that could flourish in the economic system of a Mediterranean-based agricultural economy, that sort of thing.

Human history is made up by human beings making decisions, and often they get things wrong or they do things that prove to be catastrophic. That's there. You can't remove that element. So simply to put it into terms of long-term trends against this, to see it as, well, this is a system that could flourish in the economic system of a Mediterranean-based agricultural economy, that sort of thing.

There's truth in that, but it doesn't answer everything. These are people living their lives and making decisions. A lot has changed. And you can also make the other point that for many of the people living in the Western Empire, even the bit that was still acknowledged itself as part of the Western Empire, the deposition of Romulus Augustulus made no difference at all to their daily lives.

There's truth in that, but it doesn't answer everything. These are people living their lives and making decisions. A lot has changed. And you can also make the other point that for many of the people living in the Western Empire, even the bit that was still acknowledged itself as part of the Western Empire, the deposition of Romulus Augustulus made no difference at all to their daily lives.

There's truth in that, but it doesn't answer everything. These are people living their lives and making decisions. A lot has changed. And you can also make the other point that for many of the people living in the Western Empire, even the bit that was still acknowledged itself as part of the Western Empire, the deposition of Romulus Augustulus made no difference at all to their daily lives.

There's still a warlord in charge who's now calling himself a king, but he's where you go if you've got a problem, if you need protection, if you need help, this sort of thing. The laws are the same. There's not this sudden, oh, let's do everything, you know, the good old German way of Even to the point where, think about it in that basic level, you get the Romance languages developing.