The history of the Romans and the "barbarians" they encountered as their mighty legions advanced the frontiers of Classical civilization has in large part been written as a story of warfare and conquest.
But to tell the story on only that level leaves many questions unanswered, not only about the Romans but about the barbarians, as well.
Who were these Celts, Goths, Huns, Persians, and so many others met by the Romans as they marched to the north and east? And what made them "barbarians" in the eyes of Rome?
What were the political, military, and social institutions that made Rome so stable, allowing its power to be wielded against these different cultures for almost three centuries?
What role did those institutions themselves play in actually assimilating barbarian peoples, first as provincials and often as players in a vast process of actual Romanization?