Copywriter|
Edit|
The dividing line between the Romans and the barbarians became increasingly blurred
There will be no room in this book to follow the history of the Eastern Roman Empire, although it cannot be completely ignored when studying Western Europe.
Its language and civilization have always been Greek, and thanks to this and Eastern influences, its culture contrasts sharply with the Latin Western culture adopted by the Germans.
Learning has never died out in the East as it did in the West, nor has art reached such a low ebb. Constantinople was the richest and most populous city in Europe in the early Middle Ages.
In the centuries following the division of the Roman Empire in the West, the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire enjoyed the privilege of being the largest and richest city in Europe.
Within its walls, a sign of elegance and civilization that has almost disappeared in the West can be found. Its beautiful architecture, parks, and paved streets amaze travelers from the West.
During the Crusades, Western peoples were impressed when they came into contact with the study and culture of Constantinople.
THE OUTLINE OF THE HISTORY OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE CENTURIES BEFORE THE BARBARIAN INVASION SEES BOTSFORD, THE HISTORY OF ROMAN, THE WEST, THE ANCIENT HISTORY OF THE DEATH OF CHARLEMAGNE, MYERS, ROMAN: RISE AND FALL, OR MOREY, THE OUTLINE OF ROMAN HISTORY, WITH NUMEROUS REFERENCES TO LARGER WORKS.
The best English work on the state of the empire on the eve of the invasion is the diary of Roman society in the last century of the Western Empire (Macmillan, $2.00).
Hatch, the influence of Greek thought on the Christian Church (Williams and Nogert, $1.00), and Renan, the influence of Rome on the development of the Catholic Church (Williams and Nogert, $1.00), are very important for advanced students.
Gibbon's great book, The Decline of the Roman Empire, covers the entire history of the Middle Ages, the best edition of which was edited by Bury (Macmillan & Company, 7 volumes. , $14.00).
With the German invasion and the dissolution of the Roman Empire, the Huns forced the Goths into the Roman Empire.
Battle of Adrianopy, 378. Before 375, the Germans seemed to have tried to enter the empire because they were adventurous, they wanted to enjoy some of the advantages of their civilized neighbors, or more and more of them needed new lands.
The Romans, through their armies, walls and guards, managed only then to prevent the brute from violently occupying their territory.
But suddenly a new force appeared, driving the Germans to the weak Reich. The Huns were Mongols from Central Asia who swept across the Goths, who settled on the Danube, forcing part of them to seek refuge within the borders of the empire.
Here they soon quarreled with imperial officials, and in 378 there was a great battle in Adrianple, in which the Goths defeated and killed the emperor Valens.
The Germans now not only broke through the borders of the empire, but they also knew that they could defeat the Roman legions. Thus, the Battle of Adrianople can be said to mark the beginning of the German conquest of the western part of the empire.
However, in the years following the Battle of Adrienburg, the Visigoths—or as they were commonly called—were induced to accept conditions offered by the emperor's officials, and some Goths agreed to serve in the Roman army.
Author's point of view
Barbarians invade Barbarians invade Alaric and occupy Rome, 410. Soon, a German chieftain, Alarich, was dissatisfied with the treatment he had received.
He gathered an army composed of Visigoths in its core and set out for Italy. Rome fell into his hands in 410 and was plundered by his followers.
Peace agreement with the Roman government
Alaric seemed impressed by the scene of civilization around him. He did not destroy the city, or even cause serious damage to it, and he specifically ordered his soldiers not to harm the church or seize their property.
The Visigoths settled in southern Gaul and Spain. Alaric died before he could find a place to satisfy his people to settle permanently.
After his death, the Visigoths entered Gaul and then into Spain, which was already occupied by other barbarian tribes - the Vandals and Soviets.
In the four years before Aararic captured Rome, they had already crossed the Rhine into Gaul; For three years they destroyed the country and then continued through the Pyrenees.
When the Visigoths arrived in Spain, they quickly reached a peace agreement with the Roman government.
They then began to fight the Vandals, with great success, and the emperor granted them a fairly large region (419) in southern Gaul and established a Visigothic kingdom there.
Ten years later, the Vandals entered Africa, where they established a kingdom and expanded their control over the western Mediterranean.
Their place in Spain was taken by the Visigoths, who, under their king Eurique (466–484), conquered most of the peninsula, stretching their kingdom from the Loire to the Strait of Gibraltar.
The general dismemberment of the empire in the fifth century. It is not necessary to know the chaotic history of the countless barbarian movements that roamed Europe in the fifth century.
There is hardly anywhere in Western Europe that is undisturbed; Even England was conquered by Germanic tribes, Anglos and Saxons.
Attila and the Huns. Battle of Charlons, 451. The establishment of Venice. To exacerbate the general confusion caused by the influx of the Delemic tribes, the Huns, the Mongols who initially pushed the Visigoths into the empire, are now beginning to infuse Western Europe with fear.
Under their leader Attila, the barbaric Romans called him "the scourge of God", and the barbaric Huns invaded Gaul.
But the inhabitants of Rome and the Germans united against the invaders and defeated them at the Battle of Charon in 451. After this refusal, Attila turned to Italy.
But the imminent danger was avoided. Attila, persuaded by the embassy headed by Pope Leo the Great, abandoned his plans to march on Rome.
In less than a year, he died, and with him died the power of the Huns, who never haunted Europe again. However, their invasion of Italy had a permanent result.
Because it was then that fugitives from cities in northeastern Italy fled to sandy islands off the Adriatic coast, established small towns and developed into beautiful and powerful Venetian cities.
The "Fall" of the Western Empire, 476. The year 476 is generally considered the date of the "fall" of the Western European empires and the beginning of the Middle Ages. Something like this happened that year.
Since Theodosius the Great decreed in 395 that his two sons assign the administration of the empire to them, most emperors in the West proved to be weak and lazy rulers.
Barbarians wandered around, while German troops in the service of the Reich amused themselves, setting up and overthrowing puppet emperors. In 476 AD, German mercenaries in the Roman army demanded that a third of Italy be handed over to them.
Author's point of view
After this request was refused, their leader Odoacer exiled the last Western emperor (ironically Romulus Augustus the Younger) to a villa near Naples.
Life of the Romans
Odoacer sent the imperial coat of arms to the emperors of the East, asking for permission to rule Italy as the emperor's representative, thus ending the line of the emperors in the West.
Theodoric conquered Odoacs and established the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.
However, Odoacer was not called upon to establish a lasting German kingdom on Italian soil, as he was conquered by Theodoric, king of the great Ostrogoths (or Ostrogoths).
Theodoric spent ten years in Constantinople in his early years and thus became familiar with Roman life.
Since his return to his people, he has sometimes been a dangerous enemy and awkward friend of the Eastern Emperor. Under his leadership, the Ostrogoths harassed and destroyed various parts of the Eastern Roman Empire and once threatened the capital itself.
The emperor repeatedly reconciled him by conferring him various honors and titles and offering large amounts of money and land to his people.
When Theodoric was determined to lead his people to Italy against Odoacé, it must have been a great relief to the government.
"If I fail," said Theodoric to the emperor, "you will be free from an expensive and troublesome friend; If with God's permission, I succeed, and I will rule, in your name and glory, that part of the empire liberated from slavery by the Roman Senate and my weapon of victory. ”
The struggle between Theodoric and Odoacer continued for several years, but Odoacer was eventually imprisoned in Ravenna and surrendered, and a few days later was betrayed and killed by Theodoric's own hands (493).
is an Ostrogothic in Italy. The Ostrogoths' attitude towards those who already owned the land and towards Roman culture was important. Theodoric put the name of the Eastern Emperor on the coins he issued and did everything he could to secure the Emperor's approval of the new German kingdom.
However, although Theodoric wanted the emperor to approve his usurpation, he did not know that he would truly submit to Constantinople.
Inside the church of Ravenna, in the time of Theodoric Lavenna, in the time of Theodoric invaders occupied a third of the land for themselves, but this was discreet and did not seem to cause confusion.
Theodoric upheld Roman laws and institutions, which he greatly appreciated. Old positions and titles were preserved, and the Goths and Romans lived under the same Roman law.
Order was restored to the school and learning was encouraged. In Ravenna, where Theodoric chose as his capital, the beautiful architecture of his reign remains.
The Ostrogoths were pagans of the Arians. After his death in 526, Theodoric left an admirable organized state, but it had a distinct weakness. Although the Goths were Christians, they were unorthodox by the standards of Italian Christians.
They were converted by Eastern missionaries, their early Arian heresy popular in Constantinople. The doctrine takes its name from Arius (336 AD), an elder in Alexandria, but has been condemned by the Council of Nicæa.
Elius' followers did not have the same concept of the nature of Christ and the relationship of the three members of the Trinity as recognized by Rome.
Therefore, the Ostrogoths were not only barbarians - they could have been forgiven - but also, in the opinion of the orthodox Italians, they committed unforgivable heresy. Theodoric himself was very tolerant of his time.
His conviction that "we cannot command in matters of religion, because no one can be compelled to believe against his will", indicating a spirit different from the traditions of the Roman Empire and the Roman Church, which represented the faith of the Orthodox Church.
The German kingdom of Theodoric's time.
Although Theodoric had established his kingdom in Italy with such enlightenment and moderation, now under the control of France the most powerful barbarian people, the Franks, they played a more important role in the formation of modern Europe than other German races.
Author's point of view
In addition to the Ostrogoths and Frankish kingdoms, the Visigoths had kingdoms in Spain, the Burgundians founded kingdoms on the Rhône, and the Vandals founded kingdoms in Africa.
Royal alliances were concluded between the ruling families of these countries, and for the first time in European history we saw something akin to a national family, who lived within their own borders and dealt with each other as independent powers.
bibliography