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Originally Posted by Amled
The reliance on mercenary armies to defend itself is always a bad idea.
When Rome fielded armies composed mainly of Romans, and whose allegiance was to Rome itself, these armies were virtually unsurpassed.
When this practice fell into decline, so did the West Roman Empire.
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The Romans had used mercenaries as far back as the Republican period. For a long time, allied peoples formed the
alae or wings of the manipular legion. Later in Roman history, these forces would be known as
foederati, meaning roughly 'federates.'
The problem was not the fact that the later Roman army used mercenaries, but that the later emperors lost control of the officer corps. Incidentally, this officer corps was made up of many Germans and other federated people. The Roman army was capable even in the fifth century and could defeat any opponent if it was properly used. It was the loss of central control that led to the constant civil wars of the third and fourth centuries.