113. THE FUSION OF GERMANS AND ROMANS
THE GERMANIC KINGDOMS
We have now followed the fortunes of the Germans for five centuries from the end of the Roman Empire in the West. Most of their kingdoms, it has been seen, were not permanent. The Visigothic and Burgundian dominions in Gaul yielded to the Franks, and those of the Visigoths in Spain, to the Mohammedan Arabs. [30] The Vandal possessions in North Africa were regained by the emperors at Constantinople. [31] The rule of the Ostrogoths in Italy endured for only sixty years and that of the Lombards passed away after two centuries. The kingdoms established by the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons alone developed into lasting states.
HINDRANCES TO THE FUSION OF GERMANS AND ROMANS
But even where the Germans did not found permanent kingdoms, they mingled with the subject provincials and adopted much of the old Roman civilization. The fusion of the two peoples naturally required a long time, being scarcely completed before the middle of the tenth century. It was hindered, in the first place, by the desire of the Germans to secure the lands of the Romans. Wherever the barbarians settled, they appropriated a large part of the agricultural soil. How much they took varied in different countries. The Ostrogoths seem to have seized one- third of the land in Italy; the Visigoths, two-thirds of that in Gaul and Spain; the Anglo-Saxons, perhaps all the tillable soil of Britain. It could not but be galling to the Romans to surrender their farms to the barbarians. In the second place, the Germans often assessed heavy taxes on the Romans, which they themselves refused to pay. Tax-paying seemed to the Germans a mark of servitude. In the third place, a barrier between the two peoples arose from the circumstance that each had its particular law. For several centuries following the invasions there was one law for the Romans—that which they had enjoyed under the empire—and another law for the Germans—their old tribal customs. After the Germans had lived for some time in contact with the Romans they wrote out their laws in the Latin language. These "Laws of the Barbarians" still survive and throw much light on their early beliefs and manners.
CONDITIONS FAVORING FUSION
In spite of the hindrances to fusion, it seems true that the Germans and the Romans felt no great dislike for each other and that, as a rule, they freely intermingled. Certain conditions directly favored this result. First, many Germans had found their way within the empire as hired soldiers, colonists, and slaves, long before the invasions began. Second, the Germanic invaders came in relatively small numbers. Third, the Germans entered the Roman world not as destroyers, but as homeseekers. They felt a real reverence for Roman civilization. And fourth, some of the principal Germanic nations, including the Visigoths, Burgundians, and Vandals, were already Christians at the time of their invasions, while other nations, such as the Franks and the Anglo-Saxons, were afterwards converted to Christianity. As long, however, as most of the Germans remained Arian Christians [32] their belief stood in the way of friendly intercourse with the Roman provincials, who had accepted the Catholic faith.
[Illustration: Map, THE PEOPLES OF EUROPE at the beginning of the Tenth
Century.]
CONTRAST BETWEEN EAST AND WEST
If western Europe during the early Middle Ages presented a scene of violence and confusion while the Germans were settling in their new homes, a different picture was afforded by eastern Europe. Here the Roman Empire still survived and continued to uphold for centuries the Roman tradition of law and order. The history of that empire forms the theme of the following chapter.