Excerpt from The Dynasty of Theodosius: Or Eighty Years Struggle With the Barbarians When my course was completed, I found that I had described in brief outline so many of the leading events recorded in the first two volumes of my book, Italy and her Invaders, that it seemed worth while to offer the result of my labours to those who might not care to peruse the larger work. In order to give a little more completeness to the book, I added a lecture (the Second) on the political and social con dition of the Romans and barbarians, which was not included in the original course. It will easily be understood that it is only by the rejection of many minor details that it is possible toreduce the picture of eighty eventful years within the limits of a compendium like the present. For most of these details, and for all discussion of the authorities on which the history of the period rests, I must refer to my larger work. Occasionally, however, I have touched upon some points not thoroughly discussed in Italy and her Invaders, and when I have done so, I have stated my authority in the notes. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.