barca Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Has anyone read this book? Interesting premise. It got my attention, but I gradually lost interest after reading about 1/3 of it. I found his very strong opinions more than I was will to suffer. http://www.amazon.com/Ruin-Roman-Empire-New-History/dp/0060787376 If I can sum it up O'Donnel is essentially saying the following "everything would have been fine if not for those evil Byzantines. If only they had been nice to those enlightened barbarians and let them have their way, everything would have been OK." He takes the bashing of Justinian to a new level. He also stated that Justinian's fortification of the Danube was a mistake because it created an "us against them" mindset and preventing the free flow of recruits for the military. He also attacked Boethius as no doubt plotting against Theodoric, and therefore deserving his fate. He describes Theodoric as more "roman" and less "barbaric" than the emperor Justin, Justinian's uncle. I will admit that Justin was not very well educated, but he had enough insight to recognize that about himself, and he delegated many responsibilities to his more educated nephew. These are only a few examples of the strong opinions expressed in the book. Has anyone else read it? Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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