Who are the ‘barbarian peoples’ in the fourth and fifth centuries CE? How do different sources portray them and how does this affect our current understanding of the end of the Roman Empire?

Papers should be 4–5 pages, double-spaced with standard margins and 12 pt. font. Please put your name on the top of the essay, along with the question that you are answering as well as which referencing system you have chosen to use (i.e. MLA, Chicago, etc). Please also include your name in the document title. All papers should use a referencing system and have a bibliography (this is not included in the page count). While you may use any referencing system of your choice, please be consistent (i.e. do not switch between different referencing systems).


Make sure you refer to at least two primary source and three secondary sources in your essay. These can be sources that we have read for class as well as ones you find on your own. 



Essay Topic: 

  • Who are the ‘barbarian peoples’ in the fourth and fifth centuries CE? How do different sources portray them and how does this affect our current understanding of the end of the Roman Empire?


I posted these PDF Files you will use these sources: 


Primary Sources:

  • Augustine, City of God in Readings in Medieval History, Vol. I, ed. Patrick Geary, 5th edition (Toronto, 2016), pp. 40–50

  • Tacitus, ‘Germania’ in Readings in Medieval History, Vol. I, ed. Patrick Geary, 5th edition (Toronto, 2016), pp. 58 –69

  • Jordanes, ‘History of the Goths’ in Readings in Medieval History, Vol. I, ed. Patrick Geary, 5th edition (Toronto, 2016), pp. 69–96

  • ‘Hidebrandslied’ in Readings in Medieval History, Vol. I, ed. Patrick Geary, 5th edition (Toronto, 2016), pp. 96–98


Secondary Sources:

  • Chris Wickham, The Inheritance of Rome: A History of Europe from 400 to 1000 (New York, 2009)

  • Bryan Ward-Perkins, The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization Oxford, 2006), read pp. 14–62

  • Guy Halsall, ‘Two Worlds Become One: A ‘Counter-Intuitive’ View of the Roman Empire and ‘Germanic Migration’’, German History 32.4 (2014), pp. 515–32 [PDF]

  • Walter Goffart, ‘Rome’s Final Conquest: The Barbarians’, History Compass 6 (2008), pp. 1–29 (pp. 19–29 are notes and bibliography) [PDF]

  • Barbarian Against Rome by Peter Willcox and Rafael trevino


You do not have to use all these sources, but make sure you refer to at least two primary source and three secondary sources in your essay.


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