If an explanation is needed, I applied the title of this monograph to a review of essays on The Visigoths from the Migration Period to the Seventh Century, edited by Peter Heather, in 1999, in an ethnographical series (Studies in Historical Archaeoethnology, Vol. 4, Woodbridge, Boydell). My column, however, appeared in the Times Literary Supplement under a different heading. As is usual, some of the contributions were excellent, others less so. I thought that the general effect gave too much importance to the tribal origins of the Goths as opposed to the formative experience of service in the late Roman army. I could not set out my reasons in a review, and it seemed incumbent to provide a balanced version by one author. My balance is from having published general histories of Portugal and of Spain, and of the formation of both modern Peninsular states, recalling the fact that the Germanic domination of the Iberian Peninsula includes also that of the Sueves. The suggestion comes from Professor Keith Cameron, who has read my text to the the last comma to my benefit. I alone am responsible for surviving errors.
Harold Livermore
Sandycombe Lodge, Twickenham