Incorporating exciting new material that has come to light since the last German edition of 1980, Herwig Wolfram places Gothic history within its proper context of late Roman society and institutions. He demonstrates that the barbarian world of the Goths was both a creation of and an essential element of the late Roman Empire.

Herwig Wolfram is Professor of History at the University of Vienna and Director of the Austrian Institute for Historical Research.

"Herwig Wolfram's book represents the culmination of his scholarly work in this field and synthesizes the archaeological and historical research of several generations of scholars. Every serious student of the ancient, as well as the medieval, world should have a copy. Future textbooks on the period will have to take account of its contents. . . . An extremely important book."—Robert K. Sherk, History

"Through a fresh examination and reassessment of the Latin and Greek sources, Wolfram provides a wealth of detail on the formation of the Gothic tribes, their migrations, and the later history of the Ostrogothic and Visigothic settlements. . . . There are original and provocative ideas and conclusions presented here . . . and it is safe to say that neither the Goths, nor their historians, will ever be the same."—Everett Crosby, The Virginia Quarterly

"This book provides a thoroughgoing revision of our knowledge of the German invasions."—Michel Rouche, Francia

"Wolfram's study is indispensable."—B. S. Bachrach, Choice