Rome to 'paint' Trajan's Column with light

UPI ^ | March 22, 2008 | unattributed

[jalisco555]

It’s fun to argue history, isn’t it. Sure the Romans held Dacia for 165 years until the barbarians got their act together but once that happened it couldn’t be defended. Contrast that with Gaul, with it’s much more defensible borders. As for the East, while he didn’t plan for his death his advances there were ultimately untenable. Hadrian was wise to pull back. Either you conquer Parthia or you leave it alone. Most of Rome’s troubles in the East were of their own making.

[SunkenCiv]

Gaul was overrun at the same time, and was one of the two rebellious, independent kingdoms or empires that Aurelian had to deal with. Gaul was continually resettled for most of the period of Roman rule, by small groups entering from the east, as natural climate change caused migrations out of Central Asia.

Rome’s problems in the east were due to their not finishing off the Parthian kingdom. Overland linkage with the Kushans, and through them with China, could have made it quite a different world.

[jalisco555]

Was Gaul actually overrun? I thought the breakaway Gallic kingdom managed to control it's borders. I thought Gaul wasn't finally overrun until the Rhine froze in 410 (I think). Even then, the Romans did a remarkable job of restoring a large measure of control over Gaul. I'm reading Peter Heather's terrific book "The Fall of the Roman Empire" which details these events.

As for the Parthians, keep in mind that Rome's problems there were of their own making. If Crassus hadn't invaded Parthia in search of glory and booty things might have been more peaceful.

Roman history is fascinating, isn't it?

[SunkenCiv]

The nice part is that the picture of that time is much richer, despite the decline in classical ed.