04-17-2014, 02:42 PM
Quote:Sixth it appears that the Roman auxilliaries and reserve line fled after the initial gothic cavalry charge during the battle. Why was there no attempt to regroup and reinforce once the main line was in trouble?
Seventh, why did the citizens of Adrianople not allow the suriving forces sanctuary in the city following their defeat. Surely, they would have been able to recognize their own forces?
why are the Romans incapable of a decesive victory at any point during the gothic war? It seems that "the worlds most professional fighting force" is being beaten again and again by relatively unorganized roaming gothic hordes. Again, this makes me question the whether the goths and romans were not more "evenly matched" in fighting ability at this time.
1)Regrouping:
How do you know there was no such attempt?It is explicitly stated somwhere?There is so much more what we don't know then what we know so if attempt like this is not mentioned it does not necessarily mean it did not happened.
2)Sanctuary for suriving forces:
In fact it would not be so easy to recognize who is who.It was not Napoleonic era uniform armies and many Goths were certainly dressed and equiped exactly as Romans were.Also it is not just a question of recognition of who is who.Barbarian soldiers were likely mixed with Roman so they were not two clearly separated bodies which would allow those in the city to let safely in only their soldiers.It is not problem to find similar cases from other battles and sieges where friendly soldiers were not allowed entrance from those very reasons I stated.
3)Romans incapable of a decesive victory:
this is nothing new that would only appeared for the first time during this Gothic war.Sometimes war goes well for the Romans sometimes not.This war was one of those that simply went wrong.Barbarian fighting ability in general does not differed significantly from that of the Romans what was different for a long time was level of training and combat sophistication as well as technological hinterland and yes in all these things Germanic Barbarians get closer to Romans by that time if compared with older times but this alone does not make Roman army somewhat less professional.Ostrogoths were later during Justinian reconquest heavily decimated by the Imperial army-does their defeat mean Goths from those time were less capable warriors than their predecessors?Hardly,yet they were defeated.
