INVASIONS OF 4TH - 5TH C.
German Tribal Structure: Tacitus Germania (lst C. AD)
Economics:
hunting, grazing, not settled agriculture
Politics:
COMITATUS = war band,
followers of
warlord king; personal loyalty
to (elected)
king as strongest bond
( comparison
to vs Roman state)
Social:
distinctions between nobles, freemen, slaves
Roman
Influence on Germans: military tactics & service;
political
org: 4th C. first tribal confederations:
e.g.
Alemanni = "all men"; "Franks" = freemen
Pressure on German tribal confederations allied with Rome:
Asiatic
migrations: begin in 4th C, end l5th C;
nomadic
horsemen;
first =
Huns; Bulgars, Mongols; last = Magyars
5th C. INVASIONS: Visigoths, Alaric, Vandals, Huns
410 AD SACK OF ROME BY ALARIC / VISIGOTHS
ROMAN ATTITUDES TO GERMAN
"BARBARIANS":
major historical source =
TACITUS' GERMANIA 98
AD:
Tacitus as member of Senatorial elite
father-in-law: Agricola, governor of Roman Britain
Historian of Roman Empire:
criticizes
decline of republican virtue
Emperors
following Augustus as corrupt, decadent
Tiberius,
Nero, Caligula = "bad Emperors"
** TO BE DISCUSSED IN
SECTIONS WEEK I ** [see Sections Link]
1) What
information does Tacitus have about German society?
2) What is
his attitude to the Germans? Positive? Negative? Mixed?
3) What is
his motive for writing this report on barbarian behavior?
4) How is
Rome depicted by Tacitus?
FIFTH CENTURY
INVASIONS
VISIGOTHS (West
Goths)
Arian
missionary Ulfilas 340-8: translates Arian Bible to Gothic
Battle of
Adrianople, 387: defeat of Emporer Valens by Goths
ALARIC --
410 Sack of Rome: refutation of idea that this is
due to Christianity in Augustine's City of God 4l3
Galla
Placidia (daughter of Theodosius; sister of co-Emporers)
captured
by Alaric; marries his brother Athaulf the Goth;
returns to Rome after Athaulf's death, marries Roman general
becomes mother & regent to Emp. Valentinian III (425-450):
- shows permeability of upper level Roman
and Gothic society
VANDALS (Arians): 429
invade Africa, besiege Hippo; 439 Carthage;
leader Gaiseric
(d 477); attack Italy by sea; 534 conq'd by Rome
HUNS: enter Europe 372 from
Urals; 375 Danube; 451 Gaul; 452 Italy
ATTILA
"the scourge of God": attacks Empire, extracts tribute
from Emperor at Constantinople; invades western Empire
451 Troyes:
Huns defeated by Aetius, last great Roman general
(but note that Aetius' army is largely German)
452 invades
Italy; Venice founded by Italians fleeing Huns
POPE LEO I persuades Attila to spare Rome; Attila dies 453