The fall of the Western Roman Empire fascinates many people, and a great deal has been written on the subject. Yet, what is published often focuses on the same great events, so that many smaller players are almost forgotten. For instance, what followed the deposition of the last emperor in 476 CE has received far less attention than what preceded it. The book under review here sets out to focus on exactly one of these lesser-known entities. Ian Wood explains the focus and terminology of the book, and its title: “I have become increasingly convinced that the Burgundians as a people are of little significance, unlike their leaders, the Gibichungs, and those who advised them. My title, therefore, deliberately does not include the word ‘Burgundian’, but only the regional name ‘Burgundy’. Nor do I see the Gibichungs as Germanic kings. The word ‘kingdom’ is also absent from my title” (p.10).

Wood’s terminology and decisions differ markedly from previous research. They open new possibilities and offer a fresh perspective. On the other hand, they sit uncomfortably alongside some of the author’s other terminological choices. For example, he uses modern placenames for cities (except in a few examples, where he uses the ancient names and gives the modern ones in brackets), while using Roman administrative names for regions. Similarly, he refers to the Eastern Roman Empire as ‘Byzantine’, a term that is now outdated for this period (the fifth and sixth centuries CE), as most scholars increasingly use ‘Eastern Roman Empire’.

This book attempts to provide a general description of the Gibichung family, who ruled Burgundy in the fifth and early sixth centuries. It does this largely through a variety of textual sources and, to a very limited degree, through material objects such as coins. Its main thesis is that the Gibichungs aspired to be, and actively were, imperial agents, first for the Western Roman Emperor, and after the deposition of the last emperor in the west, they sought to become representatives of the Eastern Emperor. The Gibichungs, and their efforts to be agents of the emperor, demonstrate that the definition of the fall of the Western Roman Empire, and the situation in its former territories, were far more complex and diverse than what academic literature usually represents. In this vein, the use of the deposition of the last Western Roman emperor in 476 CE as the date of marking the end of the Western Roman Empire is artificial as the decline started earlier and continued much later, as argued by the author.

In principle, the book is organised chronologically, but the text jumps backwards and forwards in time quite often. The first two chapters touch on many aspects, from the earliest attestations of the Burgundians and their location to their activities in the early fifth century. While reading these two engaging chapters, one begins to think that the book could be a good general, even popular, publication, particularly if it included more maps depicting the changing political situation in each half century, some explanation of how the dates of the texts cited were established and the dates of birth, death and reign of the persons mentioned given in brackets. As one continues reading, however, it becomes clear that the structural problems are more serious and more numerous than this.

There is a real sense that the book is partly assembled from earlier published papers, as mentioned in the acknowledgement, and this disjointedness and lack of chronological coherence will be apparent to any reader. Figures are mentioned by name with no real attempt to help the reader keep track of them, which makes for a rather bewildering monograph. The lack of consistency only makes matters worse. For example, quotations from ancient texts sometimes appear with the Latin first and a translation in brackets in the body of the text, but in other cases appear only in Latin with no translation. Text names are also inconsistently given in either English or Latin. Furthermore, the dating, authorship and reliability of texts, events and other terms (for example, the Theban Legion) are often referred to but only discussed 100 pages after they are first cited in footnotes or mentioned in the text, if they are alluded to at all. Introductory chapters presenting and debating these texts, events and terms at the start of the book, or an organised appendix, would have been welcome.

In a book as unconventional as this one, it is perhaps no surprise that there is no concluding chapter and that the book ends abruptly. This is a shame, since Wood’s basic contention, that the Gibichungs consistently sought, and to some degree acted as, imperial agents until the early sixth century, is fascinating and important. This book strives to be an updated adaptation of Wood’s 1970s dissertation, incorporating his subsequent decades of work, and would have been a meaningful contribution to the field if it had been better organised and revised to address the problems noted here. One difficulty lies in identifying the book’s intended audience and the usefulness for that audience. Currently, some non-specialist readers will find useable sections on the history of Burgundy, but they are too few. It is not well suited to specialists in the field, since it does not engage extensively with the scholarly literature. It could have served as an introductory text for the general public and students as well as others, had it been better structured. I hope that Wood will take the time to reforge this book into a more readable and accessible one.