Armată şi societate în lumea romană.Dezagregarea structurilor militare romane imperiale în Occident
Army and Society in the Roman World. The Desegregation of Roman Imperial Military Structures in the West

Summary/Abstract: The study focuses on the military organization and social change in the Later Roman Empire the end of the regular Roman army in the Western Empire. For historians of the twentieth century, explaining the links between social change and warfare has become a major concern. The social and political framework of society is significantly linked to the military organization of that society. The degree of social stratification in a society is closely linked to the extent of participation in military activity within society. In the imperial period, the potential importance of service in the Roman army as a means of gaining upward social mobility was clear. The fifth-century Roman army in important way behaved differently from the army of the fourth century, and regular units were ceasing to be what decided battles. While regular units might include a considerable proportion of men who were of barbarian origin, Roman armies of this period also included large numbers of units made up entirely, or almost entirely, from barbarian of various kinds. The career of Aetius, the last great commander of the Western Empire, illustrates the importance of private forces in war and politics in the fifth century. Thus, it looks as if by 450 the bulk of the field army in the West consisted of federates. The institution of bucellarii represented a limited „privatization” of part of the state’s role of providing a standing defence force. In these circumstances, the permanent field armies of paid career soldiers were allowed to run down.

• Details
• Contents