The Goths and the Roman Empire

The goths first show up in the roman record around two 38 a d, just as the empire was dealing with its year of the six emperors. The size and force of this invasion was so shocking that the provincial legions barely had time to react before the goths had come and gone. For years, the assumption had been occasional raids, aside that the tribes beyond the danube were no match for the legions. And so focused on the domestic situation, the romans were simply not prepared to deal with the kind of aggressive threat the goths posed.