A "solid" post often concludes with the story of . Orestes promised his barbarian troops Italian land in exchange for placing his son, Romulus Augustulus, on the throne. When he failed to pay them , the barbarian general Odoacer revolted, deposed the boy, and effectively ended the Western Roman Empire in 476 AD. Purism: Theory, Painting, & Architecture - LiveJournal

: In early 20th-century art, movements like Expressionism were sometimes criticized as a "barbarization" of classical plastic forms —a rejection of Greek rationalism (squares, circles) in favor of raw emotion.

: While there was a shift in military culture, the idea of pure "degradation" is often exaggerated or used as a political tool in modern rhetoric.

The term is also used in art and philosophy to describe the "unmaking" of rational forms.

: Critics at the time, like the historian Vegetius, argued this led to a decline in traditional Roman training and values , such as loyalty and strict drill.