Fall of Rome and Rise of Goths

Then came an era when the Imperial purple became the prize of successful generals acclaimed by their legions; and the frontier armies, themselves largely formed out of Teutonic or other semi-“barbarian” tribes, found themselves face to face with new barbarian hordes which for another century and a half they held in check. But the tremendous external pressure on frontiers so vast made it imperative that the Government should be somewhat decentralised. At the end of the third century Diocletian parted the empire into four great divisions. The new system could not endure; Constantine the Great again became sole emperor. Under him Christianity was at length adopted as the state religion; the Church herself became a fundamental factor in the political system; and the political centre of gravity was transferred from Rome to Byzantium.

Beginning of Byzantium

Again the empire was partitioned, and then, for a brief while before the end of the fourth century, united again under Theodosius. But the end was at hand. For a few years the great general Stilicho held the Teutonic Goths at bay in Italy, while Vandals and Sueves poured through Gaul into Spain. Then, early in the fifth century, Stilicho died. Alaric led his conquering hordes to the gates of Rome, and sacked the Eternal City. His successor, Ataulf, took his Goths away, to drive the Vandals out of Spain into Africa, and set up a great western kingdom on their own account. But after the Goths, fresh barbarians swarmed in—Tartar Huns under Attila, who wrought huge devastation and then vanished for ever; then fresh Teutonic armies, which took possession of Italy, though in the East the Empire still held its own. And in Gaul the (German) Franks under their king, Clovis (Chlodwig, Ludwig), established the dominion which was to give its name to France when the Frankish element had almost passed out of the country. Far-away Britain had already been abandoned, and was falling a prey to the Saxons and the Angles, the “English” who were driving the earlier Celtic inhabitants before them into the mountain fastnesses of the west and north. Again, in the East, in the sixth century, the empire centred at Byzantium asserted its power. Justinian is memorable for that great codification of Roman Law on which the legal systems of half the jurists in Europe have been based. His reign is famous also for the exploits of his brilliant general, Belisarius, who destroyed the Vandal kingdom in Africa, restored the Imperial rule in Italy, and recovered provinces in Asia which had been in danger of falling into the grip of the now aggressive rulers of Persia. But in the West, the success was only temporary. Under pressure of Tartar or Slavonic hosts from the East, a fresh Teutonic swarm, the Lombards, entered Italy and mastered the North. The significance of Rome now lay in the supremacy of her pontificate, unacknowledged in the East.

TIME-TABLE OF THE WORLD: A.D. 1 to 500

Organisation of the Roman Empire. The Rise of Christianity. Partition of the Empire. The Barbarian Invasion and Fall of the Western Empire. Rise of the Franks

A.D.
   1

The East and Africa

Europe

A.D.
   1

Beginning of the Christian Era.
Imperial system completed under Tiberius.
Rhine, Danube, and Euphrates form frontiers of the Empire.
Caligula and Claudius emperors.
BRITAIN: Roman occupation.
Spread of Christianity.

  50

  50

Destruction of Jerusalem by Titus, 70.

Nero emperor: Galba, Otho, Vitellius.
Vespasian: the “Flavian” emperors.
Nerva chosen by Senate in succession to Domitian. The “Five good Emperors,” 96–180.
Succession of Trajan, 98.

 100

 100

Arabia designated as a Roman province.
Trajan’s expedition to the Persian Gulf unsuccessful. Eastward expansion of Rome checked.

Trajan’s campaigns in Dacia.
Administration organised under Hadrian.
Roman law systematised by Salvius Julianus.
Antoninus Pius.

 150

 150

Establishment of Roman supremacy in Armenia.

Successful campaigns of Severus against Parthians.

Development of Roman civilisation in Gaul and Spain.
Campaigns of Marcus Aurelius in Pannonia.
The legions in Illyria, largely composed of “barbarians,” acquire power. After Commodus, series of emperors by military selection.
Severus temporarily assigns the West to Clodius Albinus.

 200

 200

Persian kingdom of the Sassanides displaces the Parthian Empire.

Further systematising of Roman law by the juris consulti, Ulpian, etc.
Increasing pressure of Teutonic tribes on the frontier. Campaigns of Maximinus.
Decius emperor: official persecution of Christianity.

 250

 250

Overthrow of Emperor Valerian in the East by the Persians.
Destruction of Palmyra in the reign of Zenobia.

Advance of the Goths and Alemanni checked by Claudius and Aurelian.
Diocletian emperor. Division of the Empire under a subordinate “Augustus” and two subordinate “Cæsars”.

 300

 300

Extension of Buddhism in China.

Last persecution of Christians under Diocletian.
Constantine the Great.
Constantinople (New Rome, Byzantium) is made the centre of the Empire.
Christianity established as the State religion
Council of Nicæa.

 350

 350

Unsuccessful Roman campaign against Persia.

Temporary revival of Paganism under Julian the Apostate.
Advance of the Goths checked by Theodosius.
Empire separated into East and West, 396.
Alaric the Visigoth held in check in the Western Empire by Stilicho.
Westward movement of Vandals through Gaul to Spain.

 400

 400

Vandals, expelled from Spain, established in Africa.

Sack of Rome by Alaric, after death of Stilicho.
End of the Roman occupation of Britain.
The Goths withdraw westwards. Establishment of the Visigothic kingdom of Theoderic in Spain and Aquitania.
Irruption of the Huns under Attila.

 450

 450

 500
A.D.

BRITAIN: The coming of the Saxons.
Barbarian “Patricians” set up and depose Western Emperors.
Odoacer, “King” in Italy, recognises supremacy of the Eastern Emperor Zeno.
Theoderic the Ostrogoth founds a Teutonic State in Italy.
Rise of the Franks in Gaul, under Clovis.

 500
A.D.

In Spain, the Gothic supremacy gave promise of an orderly and just government. In the wide realms of the Franks anarchy and bloodshed were almost ceaseless. In neither did the dominant Teutons drive out the older Iberian and Celtic populations, as the English were doing in the open lands of the northern island. In both, the German institutions were developing into that feudal system which was utterly incompatible with the maintenance of a strong central rule, since it enabled a powerful vassal to bid defiance to his nominal suzerain. Throughout the sixth and seventh centuries progress was stayed in ancient Gaul; in Spain it was to be revolutionised by a new invader.

Islam in Being

Eastward, at the end of the sixth century, the Slavonic wave was surging upon the empire’s northern frontier; in Asia, Persia was again forcing her way towards the Mediterranean. Both were checked by the Emperor Heraclius early in the seventh century. But, meantime, a new Power had come into being. Mohammed had arisen. Inspired by the fanatical fervour of Islam, the warriors of Arabia, soon to be known as the Saracens, swept all before them. They did not at first make Europe their objective; the Caliphs carried their conquering arms over Western Asia, into Egypt, and along the southern coasts of the Mediterranean. Then they began to beat against the empire itself. The eighth century had hardly opened when they poured into Spain; dissensions among the Gothic chiefs gave them prompt victory. They swept up to the Pyrenees; but their advance was stayed by Charles Martel, the virtual lord of the Frankish kingdom. On the East their armies assailed Constantinople, but were disastrously repulsed by the Emperor Leo the Isaurian.