Feared enemies

[Goffredo]

The Romans were around for a long time so the enemies and the fears changed in time. The Gauls first (during expansion into Northern Italy the Romans became confident they could beat them), then the Germans (especially after Arausio the Germans were perceived as terrible enemies however the victories of Marius again gave the romans confidence but a healthy respect was gained too as Ceasar's soldiers around 50 years later were again worried before the battle with the German war lord Ariovistus). The Romans were certainly nervous just after the Varus disaster but the situation was put under control quickly and the fear subsided. Those that actually worried were those closer to the limes. The next time there were worries about the Germans was about 160 year later but again the Romans stabilized the frontier and were actually thinking of expanding into the enemy territory (Marcus Aurelius). The real crises was during the third century. There MANY people were worried as many cities deep inside the empire started building walls. Aurelian's wall in Rome itself are a testimony to those worrisome times. The Goths went deep into Greece and for a while did what they wanted even killing an emperor (Decius). The Parthians were not really feared in spite of Roman defeats. The Sassanians were certainly more seriously dangerous. In the later years Alaric was a problem but more so because of the Roman incapability of nailing him down more than his invincibility (he was almost destroyed by the Romans a couple of times). Maybe the only other example of a fear comparable to Hannibal would be Attila.<br>
P.S. speaking of walls check out the 3rd century Roman walls of Lugo, a small Spanish town in Galicia<br>
www.concellodelugo.org/eng.htm <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://pub45.ezboard.com/ugoffredo.showPublicProfile?language=EN>goffredo</A> at: 4/5/01 9:34:12 am<br></i>