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This is a very big book, running to 4636 printed pages in its second, much revised edition, plus the 522 pages of Volume I of the first edition, which I've also put onsite. It is therefore taking me a while. If you see this notice, the transcription is still unfinished.

Update 20 Sep 24: The text is now complete and completely proofread. There remains, however, to add the maps and other images, many hundreds of links still outstanding to texts cited by Hodgkin, and an occasional annotation or photograph. I hope to have it all ship-shape by early 2025.

Thomas Hodgkin:
Italy and Her Invaders

Vol. I Book I: The Visigothic Invasion

Introduction.		1
1	Early History of the Goths.	23
Note A	On some omitted Chapters of the De Rebus Geticis, and on the Identification of the Goths and Getae.	95
Note B	On the names Ostrogoths and Visigoths.	100
Note C	On the Runic Alphabet of the Goths, the Alphabet of Ulfilas, and Gothic Grammar.	102
2	Early History of the Goths.	112
3	Valentinian the First.	185
4	The last years of Valens.	234
5	Theodosius and the Foederati.	277
6	The victory of Nicaea.	334
7	The fall of Gratian.	377
Note D	The Altar of Victory.	407
Note E	St. Chrysostom on the Deaths of Emperors.	407
8	Maximus and Ambrose.	409
9	The Insurrection of Antioch.	470
10	Theodosius in Italy and the Massacre of Thessalonica.	510
11	Eugenius and Arbogast.	535
Note F	On the Death of Valentinian II.	590
12	Internal Organisation of the Empire.	594
13	Honorius, Stilicho, Alaric.	636
Note G	On the Name Alaric.	676
Note H	On the Division of Illyricum.	677
14	Arcadius.	679
15	Alaric's First Invasion of Italy.	702
Note I	On the Chronology of Alaric's First Invasion.	734
16	The Fall of Stilicho.	737
17	Alaric's Three Sieges of Rome.	766
Note J	Statistical Aspects of the Contest between Rome and the Barbarians.	811
18	The Lovers of Placidia.	817
Note K	Usurpers in the Western Empire during the reign of Honorius.	849
19	Placidia Augusta.	850
Note L	Bonifacius and Aetius.	889
Note M	Bishops and Churches of Ravenna.	899
20	Salvian on the Divine Government.	918

Vol. II Book II: The Hunnish Invasion

1	Early History of the Huns.	1
Note A	On the Early Identification of the Hiong‑nu with the Huns.	35
2	Attila and the Court of Constantinople.	37
3	Attila in Gaul.	99
Note B	On the site of the so‑called Battle of Châlons.	143
4	Attila in Italy.	146
Note C	On the Date of the Foundation of Venice.	182

Book III: The Vandal Invasion and the Herulian Mutiny

1	Extinction of the Hunnish Empire and the Theodosian Dynasty.	189
Note D	On the Character of Petronius Maximus.	206
2	The Vandals from Germany to Rome.	209
Note E	Chronology of the Vandal Kings.	290
3	The Letters and Poems of Apollinaris Sidonius.	297
4	Avitus, the Client of the Visigoths.	374
Note F	On the Alleged Immoralities of Avitus.	393
5	Supremacy of Ricimer. Majorian.	396
6	Supremacy of Ricimer (continued). Severus II, the Lucanian, A.D. 461‑465. Anthemius, the Client of Byzantium, A.D. 467‑472.	430
7	Olybrius, the client of the Vandal, A.D. 472. Glycerius, the client of the Burgundian, A.D. 473‑474. Julius Nepos, the client of Byzantium, A.D. 474‑475. Romulus Augustulus, son of Orestes, A.D. 475‑476.	475
Note G	Vandal Dominion over the Islands of the Mediterranean.	503
8	Odovacar, the Soldier of Fortune.	506
9	Causes of the Fall of the Western Empire.	532

Vol. III Book IV: The Ostrogothic Invasion

1	A Century of Ostrogothic History.	1
Note A	On the Route of the Ostrogothic Army and their Settlement in Macedonia.	28
2	The Reign of Zeno.	30
3	The Two Theodorics in Thrace.	72
4	Flavius Odovacar.	122
Note B	On Odovacar's Deed of Gift to Pierius.	150
5	The Rugian War.	155
Note C	Odovacar's Name in an Inscription at Salzburg.	174
6	The Death-Grapple.	177
Note D	The 'Annals of Ravenna' on the war between Odovacar and Theodoric.	214
7	King and People.	222
8	Theodoric and his Court.	257
Note E	The Edictum Theodorici Regis.	309
Note F	The Terracina Inscription.	314
Note G	The two Cassiodori (Father and Son).	314
9	Theodoric's Relations with Gaul.	319
10	Theodoric's Relations with the East.	379
11	Theodoric's Relations with the Church.	439
12	Boethius and Symmachus.	466
Note H	Seventeenth-Century Literature about Boethius.	516
13	The Accession of Athalaric.	519
14	Justinian.	536
15	Belisarius.	573
16	The Errors of Amalasuntha.	627
Note I	The Ostrogothic Coinage.	649

Vol. IV Book V: The Imperial Restoration

1	The First Year of the War.	1
2	Belisarius at Carthage and at Naples.	22
3	The Elevation of Witigis.	62
4	Belisarius in Rome.	73
5	The Long Siege Begun.	114
6	The Cutting of the Aqueducts.	133
Note A	The Schedules of Frontinus.	158
7	The Gothic Assault.	161
8	Roman Sorties.	182
9	The Blockade.	210
10	The Relief of Rimini.	253
Note B	On the March of Belisarius.	282
11	Dissensions in the Imperial Camp.	283
Note C	On the Topography of Orvieto.	299
12	Sieges of Fiesole and Osimo.	301
13	The Fall of Ravenna.	326
14	Affairs at Constantinople.	353
15	The Elevation of Totila.	376
16	Saint Benedict.	410
17	The Return of Belisarius.	443
18	The Second Siege of Rome.	455
19	Roma Capta.	493
20	The Re‑occupation of Rome.	505
Note D	On the alleged Blindness and Beggary of Belisarius.	536
21	The Third Siege of Rome.	540
22	The Expedition of Germanus.	553
23	The Sorrows of Vigilius.	571
24	Narses and Totila.	609
Note E	On the Site of the Battle of 552.	643
25	Finis Gothorum.	646

Vol. V Book VI: The Lombard Invasion

	[Introduction]	1
1	The Alamannic Brethren.	3
2	The Rule of Narses.	49
3	The Langobardic Foreworld.	68
Note A	On the Early Homes of the Langobardi.	141
Note B	Extract from the Codex Gothanus.	146
4	Alboin in Italy.	151
Note C	On the forms Langobardi and Lombardi.	174
Note D	Notices of Alboin and the Lombards in the 'Traveller's Song'.	175
5	The Interregnum.	178
6	Flavius Authari.	230
Note E	On the Correspondence of 588 between the Austrasian Court and the Court of Constantinople.	277
7	Gregory the Great.	279
Note F	The Letters of Pope Gregory I.	333
8	Gregory and the Lombards, 590‑595.	344
9	The Papal Peace.	389
10	The Last Years of Gregory.	421
11	The Istrian Schism.	454

Vol. VI Book VII: The Lombard Kingdom

1	The Seventh Century.		1
2A	The Four Great Duchies	Duchy of Trient.	22
2B		Duchy of Friuli.	36
2C		Duchy of Benevento.	62
2D		Duchy of Spoleto.	83
Note A	Ecclesiastical Notices of the Lombards of Spoleto.		97
3	Saint Columbanus.		105
4	Theudelinda and her Children.		148
5	The Legislation of Rothari.		174
6	Grimwald and Constans.		239
Note B	The Story of St. Barbatus.		293
7	The Bavarian Line Restored.		300
8	Story of the Duchies, continued.		327
9	The Papacy and the Empire, 663‑717.		339
Note C	List of Popes from the death of Gregory I (604) to the ordination of Gregory II (715).		387
10	The Laws of Liutprand.		389
Note D	Prices under the Lombard rule.		413
11	Iconoclasm.		415
12	King Liutprand.		437
Note E	On the alleged Letters of Pope Gregory II to Leo III.		501
Note F	Correspondence of Pope Gregory III with the Venetians as to the recovery of Ravenna.		505
13	Political State of Imperial Italy.		509
Note G	On the continued existence of the Senate of Rome during the Seventh and Eighth Centuries.		561
14	Political State of Lombard Italy.		565

Vol. VII Book VIII: Frankish Invasions

NOTE: In addition to the chapters, there's stuff at the beginning of the volume (plates of coins with a few pages of text), not done yet.

1	Introduction. The Merovingian Kings. Early Frankish History.	1
2	The Early Arnulfings.	24
3	Pippin of Heristal and Charles Martel.	41
4	Dukes of Bavaria.	63
5	The Great Renunciation.	85
6	The Anointing of Pippin.	120
7	The Donation of Constantine.	135
8	The Struggle for the Exarchate	160
Note A	List of the cities ceded by Aistulf to Stephen II (756).	222
Note B	The Fragmentum Fantuzzianum.	224
Note C	On the date of Pippin's First Invasion of Italy.	229
9	The Pontificate of Paul I.	235
Note D	On the Officers of the Papal Household.	276
10	A Papal Chaos.	278
11	The Pontificate of Stephen III.	292
12	Ravenna and Rome.	329
13	The Accession of Pope Hadrian.	342
14	End of the Lombard Monarchy.	364
Note E	The Alleged Donation of Territory in Italy by Charles the Great to Pope Hadrian.	387

Book IX: The Frankish Empire

1	The Pontificate of Hadrian I	Byzantine Affairs.	1
2	The Pontificate of Hadrian I	Italian Affairs.	21
Note A	The Chronicon Salernitanum on Arichis and his family.		91
3	Tassilo of Bavaria.		97
4	Two courts: Constantinople and Aachen.		108
5	Pope and Emperor.		165
6	Charles and Irene.		206
7	Venice.		218
8	The Final Recognition.		250
9	Carolus mortuus.		259
Note B	On the Entombment of Charles the Great.		273
10	The Life of the People.		276

Technical Details

Editions Used

zzz Thomas Hodgkin died in 1913: the work consequently entered the public domain on 1 Jan 1984.

His Life of Charles the Great (1897) is online in full at Elfinspell.

Proofreading

As almost always, I retyped the text by hand rather than scanning it — not only to minimize errors prior to proofreading, but as an opportunity for me to become intimately familiar with the work, an exercise I heartily recommend: Qui scribit, bis legit. (Well-meaning attempts to get me to scan text, if successful, would merely turn me into some kind of machine: gambit declined.)

This transcription has been minutely proofread. I run a first proofreading pass immediately after entering each chapter; then a second proofreading, detailed and meant to be final: in these tables of contents, chapters are shown on blue backgrounds, indicating that I believe them to be completely errorfree; red backgrounds would mean that the chapter had not received that second final proofreading. The header bar at the top of each chapter page will remind you with the same color scheme. [Violet backgrounds indicate pages where the text has been thoroughly proofread, but from which images or the like may be missing.]

The print editions were very well proofread, typographical errors occurring on average every eighty pages. These rare errors then, when I could fix them, I did, when important (or unavoidable because inside a link), with a bullet like this;º and when trivial, with a dotted underscore like this: as elsewhere on my site, glide your cursor over the bullet or the underscored words to read what was actually printed. Similarly, bullets before measurements provide conversions to metric, e.g., •10 miles.

Inconsistencies or errors in punctuation are remarkably few; they have been corrected to the author's usual style, in a slightly yellower white — barely noticeable on the page when it's a comma for example like this one, but it shows up in the sourcecode as <SPAN CLASS="emend">. Finally, a number of odd spellings, curious turns of phrase, apparently duplicated citations, etc. have been marked <!‑‑ sic in the sourcecode, just to confirm that they were checked.

Any overlooked mistakes, please drop me a line, of course: especially if you have a copy of the printed book in front of you.

Pagination and Local Links

For citation and indexing purposes, the pagination is indicated by local links in the sourcecode and appears in the right margin of the text at the page turns (like at the end of this line p57 ): it's hardly fair to give you "pp53‑56" as a reference and not tell you where p56 ends. Sticklers for total accuracy will of course find the anchor at its exact place in the sourcecode.

In addition, I've inserted a number of other local anchors: whatever links might be required to accommodate the author's own cross-references, as well as a few others for my own purposes. If in turn you have a website and would like to target a link to some specific passage of the text, please let me know: I'll be glad to insert a local anchor there as well.

The marginal captions are almost certainly by Hodgkin, since at one point (VIII.198, note) he assumes that the similar marginal captions in Gibbon were written by that author himself.

The icon with which I indicate this work is an obvious one: a schematic map of the Italian peninsula and its principal outlying islands of Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica (which last is now French), with arrows suggesting the commonest routes by which the peninsula will be invaded over the centuries.

Images with borders lead to more information.
The thicker the border, the more information. (Details here.)

My warm thanks to
Susan Rhoads, M.D.
whose generous gift of the eight volumes of the second edition
made this transcription possible.

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1	Plan of the Work. Summary of Roman Imperial History.	1
2	The Dynasty of Valentinian.	25
3	Early History of the Goths.	43
Note A	On the Early History of the Goths, as told by Jornandes.	82

1	The Last Years of Valens.	89
2	Theodosius.	129
3	Internal Organisation of the Empire.	200
4	Honorius, Stilicho, Alaric.	234
Note B	On the Name Alaric.	274
Note C	On the Division of Illyricum.	275
5	Alaric's First Invasion of Italy.	277
Note D	On the Chronology of Alaric's First Invasion.	310
6	The Fall of Stilicho.	314
7	Alaric's Three Sieges of Rome.	338
Note E	Statistical Aspects of the Contest between Rome and the Barbarians.	390
8	The Lovers of Placidia.	397
9	Placidia Augusta.	431
Note F	Early Ecclesiastical History of Ravenna, or Notes from the First Part of the Liber Pontificalis of Agnellus.	472
Note G	St. Augustine and Count Bonifacius.	495
10	Salvian on the Divine Government.	504

Thomas Hodgkin: Italy and Her Invaders