%0 Journal Article
%T The last legions: The ¡°barbarization¡± of military identity in the Late Roman West
%A Bileta
%A Vedran
%J -
%D 2016
%R 10.32728/tab.14.2016.02
%X Sa£¿etak Traditional scholarship has argued that during the fourth and fifth centuries the waning Roman Empire came to rely to a large extent on recruits of foreign, barbarian origin for its defence. Such a pro-barbarian recruitment policy resulted in the weakening and collapse of Roman military capability in the West, and in the fragmentation and disappearance of the Western Roman state. The article re-examines the ¡°barbarization¡± theory, following models postulated by M. J. Nicasie and Hugh Elton, as well as the recent results of identity studies focusing on the ancient world. By using the concept of the ¡°barbarian¡± in political, rather than ethnic terms, the article presents the ¡°barbarization¡± process not as a prime suspect for the empire¡¯s fall, but as another way for the Roman state to maximize its resources and bolster its defences
%K Late Roman army
%K identity in Late Antiquity
%K ¡°barbarization¡±
%K empire studies
%K frontier studies
%U https://hrcak.srce.hr/index.php?show=clanak&id_clanak_jezik=261376