but they had a vast reservoir of money, government, and commerce to keep them stable. An unstoppable force at the time were the large numbered Germanic tribes that tried to enter Roman territory on several occasions. A Roman general named Stilicho, was blamed for the military fall of the West. The East blamed Stilicho for allowing the barbarians to enter Italy. The legions of Rome, which had long since languished in the gradual decay of discipline and courage, were exterminated by the Gothic and civil wars; and it was found impossible without exhausting and exposing the provinces to assemble an army for the defense of Italy (Gibbon 560). Because of the heavy burden the West endured, the Romans decided to accept the Germanic tribes into Rome and incorporate them in their lives. After a short time, the Roman army had become vastly Germanized. Many Germans were officers in the Roman army. The fact that landowners would not give up men to join the army was the main reason why Rome allowed so many Germans to join the military (Haywood 118). Along with Haywoods argument, Boak says that the lack of military spirit among the Romans that caused the emperors to depend to such a great extent upon barbarians (26). According to Haywood, It would have been entirely possible for the Romans to have gone on slowly absorbing Germans without letting the process get out of hand until a new situation was created in which in the West a combination of Roman and Romanized German strength was beyond any sort of attack from the outside. Perhaps the army could have been restored to the old citizen system, as it was in the East (121). The Roman government charted their own destiny when they allowed Germans into the military. The Germans quickly began infiltrating the Imperial army from the inside and worked their way out. Even the manner of life throughout Rome slowly developed and changed into the German lifestyle. Upon arrival, the Germans allowed...
