ABSTRACT
POLITICALLY the fifth century saw the break-up of the Roman Empire, the consolidation of the barbarian gains, and the separation between East and West. In the East the emperors, although they were continually on the defensive against the barbarians, managed to maintain their own authority because their power was not rivalled by that of excessively able generals within their own forces. But in the West the story was very different. In the first quarter of the century the Visigoths made good their settlement in the south of Gaul, and in the second the Vandals settled in Africa, while there were continual inroads of Huns in Gaul and Italy. The defence against these adversaries was undertaken by barbarian generals in Roman service, who gradually displaced the emperors and finally dispensed with them altogether.
