ABSTRACT
Ideology and practice thus met in the field of foreign policy, or, at least, in Ammianus’ response to that policy. Because the Saxons are not to be treated as equals but as a ‘destructive band of brigands’, it is perfectly proper to destroy them, even at the cost of breaking agreements. The passage defines the area I wish briefly to investigate in this chapter. How did fourth-century Romans construct their image of the barbarian, and how did it impinge upon policymaking? More than that, what happened to these old images in the face of the new realities of the fifth century, when barbarians conquered the western half of the Roman state?
