The Alamanni and Rome, 213-496: Caracalla to Clovis John F. Drinkwater The Alamanni figure prominently in both ancient and modern accounts of barbarian raiding into the Roman Empire from the third century AD. Settling in 'Alammania' (roughly modern Wurttemberg), uncomfortably close to the great cities of central France and northern Italy, they are depicted as a chronic menace. They may certainly be counted among the founders of medieval and modern Europe, giving their name to the French ('Allemagne') and Spanish ('Alemania') for 'Germany'. However, their origins and development are obscure, and their historical significance is open to debate. This book, the first of its kind in English, explores these issues from the point of view of their interaction with the Roman world. Through close study of the historical and archaeological evidence, it follows the Alamanni from their appearance under Caracalla, in 213, to their conquest by Clovis the Frank, around 496. It argues that they were never a major threat. Alamannic leaders depended heavily on imperial support and were generally co-operative. They became troublesome only when drawn or invited into Roman civil war, or when attacked by emperors for their own ends. Indeed, what emerges is the Empire's fabrication of Alamanni (and Franks) as an external 'threat' as a means of justifying the Roman imperial presence in the West. The Alamanni, too close to the western Empire, lost their independence soon after its disappearance, without ever having produced their own 'successor kingdom'.