The fall of the Roman Empire summary. The emergence of Islam - 7th century
THE FALL OF ROME THE FALL OF ROME
THE FALL OF ROME (476), the death of the Western Roman Empire under the blows of the barbarian tribes of the Visigoths, Huns, Vandals and Ostrogoths, which lasted more than half a century. Around 376 Visigoth king Alaric (cm. ALARIC I) invaded Roman possessions after ravaging the Balkan provinces and Greece for 30 years. In 408, he appears in Italy, besieges Rome twice, but leaves, satisfied with a huge ransom, and proclaims Attalus emperor, who, however, quickly gets out of Alaric's control. Then Alaric besieged Rome again, captured it on August 24, 410 and plundered it for three days, leaving only Christian churches untouched. Having then gone to the south of Italy, he soon died suddenly near the city of Cosenza in Calabria. The fall of Rome made a huge impression on his contemporaries. Impressed by this event, Augustine (cm. AUGUSTINE the Blessed) wrote his essay “On the City of God,” in which he considered the death of Rome as a natural punishment for countless sins.
In the 430-440s, the Romans barely repelled the attack of the leader of the Hunnic tribes, Attila. (cm. ATTILA), who, with the help of his 700,000-strong army, devastated the provinces of Pannonia, Moesia and Gaul. A new test befell Rome in the 450s due to the Vandal invasions. These tribes came from the territory of Maeotis (modern Sea of Azov), around 410 they invaded Spain and then North Africa, where they founded their kingdom with its capital in Carthage. Having built an impressive fleet, the Vandals began to carry out devastating raids on Sicily, Sardinia and Italy. At the end of May 455, the Vandal leader Geiseric landed with an army at the mouth of the Tiber under the pretext of the refusal of the Roman Emperor Petronius Maximus to marry the son of Geiseric with the daughter of Emperor Valentinian III Eudoxia. Panic began in Rome, Petronius Maximus died. Gaiseric sacked Rome for 14 days, and then, capturing the widow and daughters of Emperor Valentinian III and several thousand Roman artisans, left the destroyed capital. Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Balearic Islands came under the rule of the Vandals. The Western Roman Empire was reduced to the size of Italy.
From the time of Alaric's invasion, the power of the emperors of the Western Roman Empire became purely nominal. Real power lies in the hands of military leaders, mostly of barbarian origin. In 475, the commander of the Roman patrician Orestes, who was once the secretary of the Hun leader Attila, and under Emperor Nepos had actual power, declares his 16-year-old son Romulus Mommilius Augustulus emperor (cm. ROMULUS AUGUSTULUS), who became the last official emperor of the Western Roman Empire. Already in the next year, 476, mercenary troops rebelled. The rebel mercenaries were led by Odoacer (cm. ODOACR), a Rugean by birth, who served in the Praetorian Guard. He killed Orestes and dethroned Romulus Augustulus. He saved the life and freedom of Romulus himself, giving him an estate in Campania as his inheritance. Declared king by the mercenaries, he renounced the imperial title, sending the insignia of imperial power to Constantinople. Odoacer motivated this by the fact that the Italians themselves and the Roman Senate consider the existence of an independent empire in the West unnecessary. It was this event already in the 6th century. began to be considered the official date of the death of the Western Roman Empire.
Encyclopedic Dictionary. 2009 .
- FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE
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Fall of Rome- Romulus Augustus was deposed as Emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476 while still young. Julius Nepos however continued to claim the title of Western Emperor after his removal. The fall of the Western Roman Empire is one of the problems in the historiography of ancient... ... Wikipedia
Fall of Rome (1527)- For similar events, see the sack of Rome. Constable Charles de Bourbon leader imperial army, who laid down his head during the capture of Rome. The Sack of Rome on May 6, 1527 (Italian: Sacco di Roma) is a key episode of the Italian Wars, during... ... Wikipedia
FALL OF CONSTANTINOPLE- (May 29, 1453) the capture of the capital of the Byzantine Empire by the Ottoman Turks, which led to its final fall. The offensive of the Ottoman Turks (the name is given after the sultanate of the Ottoman dynasty formed in 1299 in Asia Minor (see OTTOMANS)) on Byzantium led... Encyclopedic Dictionary
Fall of Constantinople
Fall of the Western Roman Empire- Romulus Augustus was overthrown as Emperor of the Western Roman Empire in 476 while still young. Julius Nepos however continued to claim the title of Western Emperor after his removal. The fall of the Western Roman Empire is one of the problems in history... Wikipedia
Fall of Constantinople (1453)- This term has other meanings, see Fall of Constantinople (meanings). Fall of Constantinople Turkish-Byzantine wars ... Wikipedia
Capture of Rome by the Goths (410)- Capture of Rome by the Goths (24-26 August 410) sack of Rome by the Goths in August 410. During the invasion of Italy in the fall of 408, the Visigoth army under the leadership of King Alaric besieged Rome for the first time. Having received a rich ransom, Alaric... ... Wikipedia
Siege of Rome (410)
Sack of Rome (410)- Capture of Rome by the Goths (24-26 August 410) sack of Rome by the Goths in August 410. During the invasion of Italy in the fall of 408, the Visigoth army under the leadership of King Alaric besieged Rome for the first time. Having received a rich ransom, Alaric withdrew... ... Wikipedia
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Books
- The greatness and fall of Rome. Book 1 (Volume I - II), Ferrero Guglielmo. The five-volume work of the outstanding Italian historian and publicist, first published in 1902-1907, is dedicated to the civil wars in Rome, which led to the fall of the Republic and the establishment of...
in different ways. In the Eastern Roman Empire, the processes of feudalization retained the features of greater continuity of the old social structures, proceeded more slowly, and took place while maintaining the strong central power of the emperor in Constantinople.
The path of formation of the feudal formation in the West turned out to be different. Its most important feature is the weakening of the central power of the Roman emperor and its destruction as a political superstructure. Another feature of it is the gradual formation of independent political entities on the territory of the Empire - barbarian kingdoms, within which the process of development of feudal relations takes on forms different from Byzantium, in particular the form of a synthesis of new relations emerging in
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the depths of decaying ancient structures, and relations developing among the conquerors - barbarian tribes and tribal unions.
The gradual weakening of the central power of the Western Roman Empire is explained by serious socio-economic changes in Roman society in the 4th-5th centuries: primarily the decline of cities, the reduction of commodity production and trade, the ever-increasing naturalization of the economy and the movement of the center of economic life from cities to the countryside - huge latifundia, which turn into centers not only agriculture, but also crafts and trade in the area closest to the estate.
The social strata associated with ancient forms of economy and urban life, primarily municipal owners, or, as they were called in the 4th-5th centuries, curials, were ruined and degraded. On the contrary, the social positions of large magnates, owners of huge land masses with a very diverse population, possessing a large supply of food and handicraft products, having their own security and fortified villas, were increasingly strengthened. Weak Western Roman emperors endowed powerful magnates, who, as a rule, belonged to the highest social stratum of the Empire - senators - and occupied important positions in the army, in the provincial administration, at the imperial court, with a number of privileges (exemption from taxes, from obligations in relation to the nearest city , vesting elements of political power over the population of estates, etc.). Such magnates, in addition to the imperial benefits, arbitrarily (in some cases with the consent of the population) extended their power (patrocinium) to neighboring independent villages in which free farmers lived.
Church land ownership was also strengthened. Church communities of individual cities, ruled by bishops, now had large land holdings on which they lived and worked different categories workers - colons, slaves, dependent and free farmers. In the 5th century Monasticism spreads in the West, monasteries are organized, owning vast lands. The strengthening of church, and in particular monastic, land ownership was facilitated by voluntary gifts from Christian believers, and generous gifts from emperors, and more favorable conditions existence, since church lands were exempt from heavy taxes. A rapprochement begins between secular magnates and church hierarchs. Often members of the same Senate family became senior officials and occupied episcopal sees (for example, the family of the noble Gallic aristocrat Sidonius Apollinaris). It is not uncommon for a member of the nobility to begin his career as an imperial official and then take priestly orders and become a church leader (for example, Ambrose of Milan).
An important factor economic situation Western Empire in the 4th century. and especially in the 5th century. becomes the tax policy of the state. In general, we can talk about a sharp increase in the tax burden, which exceeds the economic capabilities of taxpayers, gradually plunges them into poverty, and undermines their economy. The maintenance of the luxurious imperial court, the extensive bureaucratic central and provincial apparatus, and the army required enormous funds. At the same time, the general economic decline and reduction of material resources, the naturalization of the Empire, the withdrawal of church lands and many magnate latifundia from tax pressure, the devastation of vast areas by barbarian hordes reduced the capabilities of taxpayers. The severity of the tax burden was aggravated by theft and arbitrariness of the bureaucratic apparatus and tax collectors.
Unbearable fiscal oppression and the arbitrariness of the bureaucracy also affected the social interests of the provincial nobility, which, together with local church communities led by bishops, fought for their privileges, and also demanded from the weakening center more energetic measures to maintain and secure borders and suppress the social movements of colonists, slaves, dependent and disadvantaged people. In the 5th century every decade the imperial government gets worse and worse
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carried out these the most important tasks, losing its right to exist. The provincial aristocracy and the local church, which have vast tracts of land and an extensive staff of workers, gradually take into their own hands the functions of suppressing social movements in their areas, repelling barbarian invasions, ignoring the orders of the emperors, and entering into separate contacts with the leaders of the border barbarian tribes. The social support of the Roman Empire is narrowing, and its slow but steady agony begins.
An important factor in the socio-political situation in Western Roman society in the 5th century. there is a gradual divergence of interests christian church, uniting around the Pope and the imperial government. The Church, which has an extensive organization, enormous wealth and strong moral influence, acquires and political influence. The Western Roman emperors failed to neutralize this influence and bring it under their own control, as the Byzantine monarchs did. This was also facilitated by the formal division of residences: the center of the Western church became Rome - a symbol of Roman power and culture, the center of the imperial court - Mediolan, and from 402 - Ravenna. The means of political influence of the Western church was the support of the provincial nobility and active charity among the lower classes (the sale of huge food reserves and material resources of the church), which contrasted with the ever-increasing tax pressure of the central government. And as the authority of the Empire and its bureaucratic apparatus fell, the social and political influence of the church organization increased.
The general decrepitude of the Western Roman Empire was clearly expressed in the collapse of its military organization. The army reformed by Diocletian and Constantine by the end of the 4th century. began to reveal its weakness and low combat effectiveness. With the reduction of material resources and population of the Empire, mass evasion from military service There were increasing difficulties in recruiting the army. Border troops turned into poorly disciplined settlements of military colonists, more occupied with their farming than with military service.
Composed of forcibly recruited recruits, often the same oppressed coloni, recruited criminals and other unsavory elements, the Roman field army lost her fighting qualities. Warriors often became instruments of the ambitious plans of their commanders or plunderers of their own population, rather than an effective means of protecting the state from an external enemy.
A huge army, numbering about 140 thousand border troops and about 125 thousand field troops, requiring colossal funds for its maintenance, performed its direct functions worse and worse with each passing decade. The weakening of the army was no secret to the imperial government, and in order to strengthen the military organization, the Western Roman emperors took a path known back in the 4th century: concluding treaties with the leaders of barbarian tribes, according to which the latter were declared allies (federates) of the Empire and received places for settlement from the emperors , food and equipment, regular pay and turned into mercenary units of the Roman army. However, it was a dangerous path. Such barbarian squads, led by their kings (kings), did not always obey imperial orders; they pursued independent policies, often turning their weapons not so much against an external enemy as against the civilian population for the purpose of robbery. In addition, the possibility of separate contacts with barbarian squads on the part of the local aristocracy fueled, along with other reasons, strong provincial separatism and created conditions for an alliance of the local nobility and barbarian leaders contrary to the interests of the imperial court.
The changed socio-economic and political conditions, and above all the establishment of imperial absolutism in the form of dominance, the strengthening of fiscal oppression and the system of general enslavement required a revision of the previously existing early Empire classical Roman law. By the beginning of the 4th century. accumulated huge amount various legal documents, not always
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corresponding to each other: part of the republican laws up to the laws of the 12 Tables, some praetor’s edicts, decisions of the Senate, interpretations and “answers” of famous jurists, and finally, numerous constitutions of emperors since the time of the Severus, equated to laws. In order to make the legal system effective in new, changed conditions, adapt it to the needs of a despotic state and ensure at least minimal social order, it was necessary to systematize existing legal norms, adapt them to new conditions and unite them in the form of a general and unified state code, the systematized Roman Code rights.
*At the end of the 3rd century. the Codex Gregorianus was created, which included imperial constitutions from Hadrian to the end of the 3rd century; at the beginning of the 4th century. The Codex Hermogenianus was compiled, which included imperial constitutions up to Constantine the Great. At the beginning of the 5th century. The code of Emperor Theodosius II included constitutions from Constantine to Theodosius II, as well as fragments and writings of the largest Roman jurists. A limited range of works of classical legal literature was identified: the works of Papinian, Ulpian, Paul, Modestine, Guy, which were considered iura. The final codification of Roman law was carried out at the beginning of the 6th century. Emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire Justinian, who collected all the imperial constitutions.
To draw up the Code, Justinian created a Commission headed by the famous lawyer and statesman Tribonian. Taking into account previous experience, the Commission was tasked not only with collecting imperial constitutions and quotations from the works of jurists, but also with trying to explain and eliminate contradictions in the texts of classical jurists.
The Justinian Code included four parts: Institutes - a textbook based on Guy's Institutes, Digests (Pandects) - extracts from the texts of classical lawyers in 50 books on public, private, criminal law, etc. Each book was divided into titles and paragraphs and included quotes from civil law with comments by Sabinus, fragments of writings on the praetor's edict, presentation of responsa based on Papinian. In the texts of classical jurists, outdated concepts were replaced with corresponding modern ones, inserts and explanations were made. Justinian's Code included 12 books on private, criminal law, regulations on public administration, and the law of magistrates. Justinian's new laws were included in the fourth part - Novellas. The codification of Roman law was completed.
Serious changes occurred in property law; all types of property, except Roman, ceased to exist (after the edict of Caracalla, which turned all inhabitants of the Empire into citizens, the concept of peregrine property disappeared; after Italy was deprived of tax privileges under Diocletian, the allocation of special provincial property also lost its meaning). There was a radical revision of ancient ideas about property, the division of things into res mancipi and res pes mancipi was abolished, movable and immovable property were equalized.
The transfer of ownership now does not require formalism or praetorial support and remains in the form of a simple transfer - tradition. Acts of transfer of property are formalized in the form of a record (for example, in land registers). Another way is to acquire property by prescription. It is adopted by the state to stimulate the cultivation of land, especially uncultivated areas. By acquisitive prescription, a bona fide owner receives protection in rem, i.e. after ten years of ownership becomes full owner.
The state strongly encourages long-term lease of uncultivated plots in the form of emphyteusis - actual rent for an annual tax. Now it turns into a legally formalized lease, the tenant receives the same protection as the owner, the right to alienation and inheritance. The idea of perpetual rental for private owners is based and developed on it. The claims are becoming more general. Under Justinian, emphyteusis merges with ius in agro vectigali.
State control over the development of property law is manifested in cities where
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it develops in the direction of prohibiting decurions from alienating property without the permission of the magistrate.
The main type of mortgage right for all types of property has become a mortgage. Through mortgage, the state could provide some protection to the lower strata of the population, since the debtor, while retaining the rights of ownership, has freedom of action up to alienation.
Changing fundamental concepts of law influenced changes in the process. A previously rarely used extraordinary process began to develop. It was based on the magistrate's right to defend and was an administrative proceeding. The formal process is dying out, as the difference in citizenship and types of property has disappeared. The extraordinary process becomes the norm. If the entire ordinary process (legal and formal) was based on the agreement of the parties, then the new process is based on the power of the magistrate. The magistrate acts in it not as a judge, but as an administrator, defending new relations in law*.
One of the decisive factors in the historical development of society and the state in the 5th century. became a revolutionary movement of the oppressed and disadvantaged sections of the population. The painful formation of new classes of producers was complicated by the presence of a despotic state, which hindered the introduction of milder forms of dependence than slavery. The general enslavement established under the Dominance in the 4th century was a system that bizarrely combined a new form of dependence and slave relations proper, a system from which not only the lowest, but also the middle strata of the Roman population suffered cruelly. All this aggravated the social situation in the Empire, created great tension in class relations, resulting in various forms of social and class protest. The situation was aggravated by unbearable fiscal oppression, the arbitrariness of officials and the army, including hired barbarian squads, general impoverishment, and lack of internal security and stability. A feature of the mass movements of the 5th century. was their heterogeneous social composition, the participation of representatives of different classes and social groups, slaves, colons, ruined free farmers, artisans, traders, lower urban and even some middle strata, curials. Social protest was often intertwined with separatist sentiments and religious clashes, and in this case, the composition of participants in popular movements became even more variegated. Without clear political programs, the mass movements of the 5th century. objectively were directed against the despotic state, the remnants of outdated slave relations, entangling Roman society and preventing movement forward.
An example of a powerful popular movement, diverse in its social composition, is the Bagaudian movement in Gaul, which arose in the 3rd century, and in the 5th century.
* Text marked with asterisks - I. A. Gvozdeva.
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flared up with renewed vigor. “What else gave birth to the Bagaudas,” exclaims Salvian, “if not our exorbitant penalties, the dishonesty of rulers, proscriptions and robberies committed by people who turned the collection of public duties into a source of their own income, and taxes into their booty?..” The Bagauda movement covered the central regions of Gaul, but it was especially strong and organized in the district of Armorica (modern Brittany). Led by their leader Tibatton, the Bagaudas in 435-437. liberated Armorica from Roman authorities and established their rule. After the defeat in 437 by the imperial troops (which also included Hunnic troops) led by Aetius, the Bagaudian movement broke out in the 440s and lasted for almost a decade.
In Africa, social protest of the population took the form of religious movements. Already from the 3rd century. African Christian communities showed separatist sentiments, which received organizational form in the teachings of Bishop Donatus. The extreme left wing of Donatism became the so-called circumcellions, or agonists (fighters for the true faith), in whose movement the phenomena social protest prevailed. “What master,” said their opponent Augustine, “was not forced to fear his slave if he resorted to their (agonists - V.K.) protection? Who dared to even threaten the ruiner or the culprit? Who could recover from the destroyer of wine warehouses, from the debtor demanding their help and protection? Under fear of clubs, fires, and immediate death, documents for the worst slaves were destroyed so that they would leave as freemen. The confiscated promissory notes were returned to the debtors. Everyone who neglected them in rude words, forced to carry out orders with even rougher whips... Some fathers of families, people of high birth and noble upbringing, were brought in barely alive after their beatings or, tied to a millstone, turned it, driven by whips, like despicable cattle.” Until the late 420s, the agonists were a serious danger to the local aristocracy and Roman power.
Heresies—religious movements that do not recognize the established dogmas of the orthodox church—become a unique form of social protest. Particularly widespread in the 5th century. in Gaul there was a heresy of a native of Britain, Pelagius, who rejected the main dogma of the church about the sinful nature of people, allegedly burdened original sin Adam, and on this basis denying slavery, oppression and social injustice. Pelagianism in a unique religious form, by emphasizing the perfect essence of man, justified various forms of social protest of the lower classes of Roman society against increasing exploitation, fiscal oppression and the norms of slave law.
Mass popular movements, different in their forms of manifestation, shook the moribund public relations and the despotic state behind them - the Western Roman Empire.
Radical changes in the socio-economic structure and state organization took place in the context of an increasing influx of barbarian tribes to the Roman borders, their constant breakthroughs and robberies of border and inland territories. The tribal federations of the Franks, Suevi, Alemanni, Burgundians, Vandals, Goths and other tribes living along the Roman border limes experienced the process of decomposition of the clan system and the formation of early class relations, which was accelerated by the powerful influence of Roman civilization. A layer of tribal nobility is being identified, uniting around itself the warlike squads of their fellow tribesmen, who prefer military craft to any other; The militancy of the border barbarian tribes is growing. Their aggressiveness is fueled by the weakening military power of the Empire and the wealth of the Roman provinces.
At the end of the 4th century. The so-called great migration of peoples begins, caused by the movement of a large coalition of tribes led by the Huns from the Caspian steppes in a western direction.
During the great migration of peoples at the end of the 4th-5th centuries. movements of numerous peoples, tribal unions and tribes of Eastern and Central Europe occurred on an unprecedented scale. They had a huge impact on socio-economic relations and
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The political situation both in Europe and throughout the Mediterranean, due to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, brought the end of the entire ancient world closer.
These were the fundamental features and specific forms of manifestation of the social revolution, during which the ancient slave-owning Roman society and its statehood in the western part of the former Mediterranean Empire collapsed.
2. Collapse and death of the Western Roman Empire. At the beginning of the 5th century. The central government, headed by the guardian of the young Emperor Honorius (395-423), a Vandal by birth, Stilicho, had to solve two urgent problems - repelling the barbarian invasions of Italy and suppressing the separatist movement in Gaul.
In 401-402 With great difficulty, it was possible to repel the invasion of the Visigothic squads led by Alaric and resume contractual relations with them. In 404 - 405 Italy was in dire danger from the invasion from the Eastern Alps by the hordes of the Goth Radagais, who reached Florence, but was completely defeated not far from this city. These incursions showed that the most serious danger threatens the center of the state, Italy, and directly the capitals of the state - the historical capital of the city of Rome and the residence of the emperor, which became a heavily fortified Ravenna, surrounded by impassable swamps. To protect the imperial capital, Stilicho transferred part of the maneuverable field troops from Britain and Gaul to Italy, thereby weakening the defense of the Rhine borders and all of Gaul. The withdrawal of some troops meant that the Empire was essentially leaving the western provinces to their fate. This was immediately taken advantage of by tribal coalitions of Alans, Vandals and Suevi, who broke through the Rhine border in 407 and, crossing the Rhine, rushed into Gaul, devastating everything in their path. The Gallo-Roman aristocracy was forced to take the matter of provincial defense into its own hands. The troops stationed in Britain and Gaul proclaimed Constantine emperor (407-411), who managed to restore the situation on the Rhine border, push the Vandals and Suevi into Spain, somewhat stabilize the internal situation in Gaul itself, and suppress the activity of the Bagauds.
The strengthening of the position of the usurper Constantine in Gaul was facilitated by the inaction of the central government, which was busy repelling new threat Italy from the same Alaric, who was in Illyria. In 408, after the removal from power and the murder of the all-powerful temporary worker Stilicho, the court group that came to power broke off allied relations with Alaric and his squads again moved to Italy. Alaric this time chose the path to Rome and in the fall of 408 besieged the “eternal city.” Only at the cost of a large ransom did the inhabitants of Rome manage to lift the siege and leave the Visigoths. Alaric's attempts to negotiate an acceptable peace with Ravenna
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were again disrupted by the court group, and Alaric, in order to intimidate the Ravenna court, led his squads to weakly defended Rome. On the way to Rome, fugitive slaves joined the Goths. Left to the mercy of fate, without receiving any support from the emperor, who took refuge in the perfectly fortified Ravenna, Rome was taken on August 24, 410 (and the gates of Rome were opened by city slaves) and brutally plundered. The fall of Rome made a strong impression on his contemporaries. Rome, the conqueror of so many states and tribes, the historical capital of the world state, the symbol of Roman power and civilization, the “eternal city,” itself became a victim of barbarian squads. The fall and brutal sack of Rome awakened among all cultured people of the Mediterranean an understanding of the doom of the Roman state in general, the imminent decline of the Western Roman Empire, its culture, and the entire social structure. One of the largest figures in the Christian Church of the early 5th century. Bishop of the city of Hippo Regia Augustine, under the influence of this catastrophe, began work on his later famous essay “On the City of God” (412-425), in which he reflected on the reasons for the rise and fall of earthly kingdoms, including the Roman Empire, and developed his the concept of a divine city replacing earthly kingdoms.
The imperial government in Ravenna after 410 found itself in a very difficult situation. The Visigoths, who plundered Rome (after the unexpected death of 34-year-old Alaric in 410, his nephew Ataulf was proclaimed king of the Goths), blocked Italy, the self-proclaimed Emperor Constantine ruled in Gaul, and Spain was ruled by hordes of Alans, Vandals and Sueves who had broken through there. The empire was falling apart. Under these conditions, Ravenna was forced to change its policy towards the barbarians and make new concessions: instead of the usual hiring of barbarian troops to serve the Empire, as was done back in the 4th century, the Western Roman emperors were forced to agree to the creation of semi-independent barbarian state formations in the territory An empire that retained illusory sovereignty over them. So, in 418, in order to remove the dangerous Visigoths from Italy and at the same time
freed from the usurpers, the Visigoths, led by King Theodoric, were given Achvitania, the southwestern part of Gaul, to settle.
The Visigoths settled here permanent residence the whole tribe, with wives and children. Their warriors and nobles received land plots through confiscation of 1/3 to 1/2 of the land from the local population. The Visigoths began to establish their own economy, using the legal norms and customs existing in their environment. Certain relationships were established with local residents, Roman citizens and landowners, for whom Roman law continued to apply. The Visigoths were viewed as conquerors, masters of the entire territory, although they were considered allies (foederates) of the imperial court. Thus, in 418, the first barbarian kingdom arose on the territory of the Western Roman Empire.
Back in 411, the Ravenna court recognized as federates of the Empire the tribal formations of the Suevi, firmly settled in the northwestern part of Spain, and the Vandals, who, however, could not gain a foothold in Spain and, taking advantage of the invitation of the African governor Boniface, not without the consent of Ravenna, in 429 they crossed to Africa, forming there the Vandal kingdom led by King Genseric. Unlike the Visigoths, who maintained peaceful relations with local residents, the Vandals in their kingdom established a harsh regime in relation to the Roman population, including landowners, Christian hierarchs, destroyed cities, subjected them to robberies and confiscations, and turned residents into slaves. Weak attempts by the provincial administration and the Ravenna court itself to force the Vandals to submit did not lead to any results, and in 435 the Empire officially recognized the Vandal kingdom as an ally of the Empire with a formal obligation to pay an annual tax to Ravenna and protect the interests of the emperor. A significant part of the African provinces was actually lost.
Other barbarian formations on the territory of the Empire were the kingdoms of the Burgundians, which arose in Sabaudia, i.e. in southeastern Gaul (443), and the Anglo-Saxons.
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owls in south-eastern Britain (451). The new semi-independent barbarian kingdoms obeyed the orders of the imperial court only if it suited their interests, but more often they pursued their own policies. The emperors were powerless to bring them to obedience. Skillfully maneuvering in a difficult political situation, the Ravenna court in the 420-450s still retained the appearance of the existence of the Western Roman Empire, in which the barbarian kingdoms and regions were considered its constituent parts. Some of the cohesion of the Western Roman Empire was facilitated by terrible danger, which began to threaten her from the Hunnic tribes.
The Huns, who captured Pannonia in 377, at the end of the 4th - beginning of the 5th century. behaved relatively calmly and did not yet pose a serious danger to Rome. On the contrary, the Romans willingly recruited Hunnic troops to achieve their military-political goals. For example, one of the famous
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Roman commanders, who enjoyed great influence at the court of Emperor Valentinian III (425-455), Flavius Aetius often used mercenary Hunnic troops against other tribes - the Burgundians, Visigoths, Franks, Bagaudas, etc.
However, by the beginning of the 440s, there was a sharp increase in the military activity of the Huns, led by their leader Atilla (434-453). The Huns add a number of tribes to their alliance and, taking advantage of the weakness of both the Western Roman Empire and Byzantium (Byzantium at that time was waging difficult wars with the Vandals in Africa and with the Persians on the Euphrates), they begin devastating raids on the regions Balkan Peninsula. The Byzantines managed, partly through ransom and partly through military force, to repel the attack of the Huns, and in the early 450s they invaded the territory of Gaul, plundering and burning everything in their path. The Hun hordes posed a mortal danger not only to the Gallo-Romans, Roman citizens, landowners, but also to the numerous barbarian tribes living in Gaul on the territory of the Empire and who had already tasted the benefits of Roman civilization. A strong coalition was created against the Huns from the Franks, Alans, Armoricans, Burgundians, Visigoths, Saxons, military settlers - Letos and Riparians. Ironically, the anti-Hun coalition was led by Flavius Aetius, who had previously willingly used Hunnic mercenaries in the interests of the Empire. The decisive battle - one of the largest and bloodiest battles of antiquity - took place on the Catalaunian fields in June 451. According to the Gothic historian Jordan, losses on both sides amounted to a huge figure - 165 thousand soldiers, according to other sources - 300 thousand. The Huns were defeated , their extensive and fragile state union began to disintegrate, and soon after the death of Attila (453) it finally collapsed.
The Hunnic danger rallied disparate forces around the Empire for a short time, but after the Catalaunian victory and the repulsion of the Hunnic invasion, the processes of internal disunity in the Empire intensified. The barbarian kingdoms cease to reckon with the Ravenna emperors and pursue an independent policy. The Visigoths undertake the conquest of most of Spain, expanding their possessions at the expense of the imperial regions of Southern Gaul. The Vandals capture a significant part of the African provinces and, having built their own fleet, devastate the coasts of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica. Taking advantage of the powerlessness of the Ravenna court, the Vandals attacked historical capital The empire and the residence of the head of the Western Roman Church - the pope - were taken and subjected to a 14-day defeat of Rome (455), unprecedented in history. Everything that could not be taken with them was senselessly destroyed by the vandals. Since that time, the word “vandalism” has been used to describe extremely cruel, senseless destruction of cultural property.
In Gaul, the kingdom of the Burgundians is strengthening, and the influx of Franks is increasing, who are firmly established in its northern regions. The local nobility of Spain and Gaul finds it more profitable to establish cooperative relations with the barbarian kings, the real masters of the regions they captured, than with the distant and powerless Ravenna court. As if a logical epilogue to the crumbling Western Roman statehood was the belated squabble over the illusory power of the emperor among various cliques of courtiers and commanders of individual armies. One group or another places their puppets on the throne of Ravenna, with whom no one takes any account and who are quickly thrown off the throne.
Some exception was the Emperor Julius Majorian (457-461). Amid the general chaos and devastation, Majorian tried to find means for the internal and external consolidation of the Empire. He proposed several important reforms that were supposed to ease the tax burden and streamline taxation, strengthen urban curiae and average urban land ownership, and revitalize city life and restore the cities, freeing the inhabitants of the remaining Roman provinces from debt. Majorian managed to stabilize the difficult situation in Gaul and Spain and strengthen Roman rule there.
It seemed that the power of the Empire was being revived. However, the restoration of a strong Western Roman Empire was no longer beneficial to either the representatives of the provincial
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the aristocracy, much less the barbarian kings: Majorian was killed, and with him the last attempt to restore the Empire was buried. After this, the puppet Emperors of Ravenna quickly replaced each other, depending on the influence of one or another court clique. In 476, the commander of the imperial guard Odoacer, originally from the Germanic tribe of Sciri, deposed the 16-year-old emperor, who, ironically, bore the name of the mythical founder of the city of Rome and the Roman state Romulus, nicknamed not Augustus, but Augustulus for his early childhood, and destroyed the institution itself Western Roman Empire, and sent the signs of imperial dignity to Constantinople and formed in Italy own kingdom- State of Odoacer.
The Western Roman Empire ceased to exist. On its ruins, new states arose, new political entities, within the framework of which the formation of feudal socio-economic relations began. And although the fall of power of the Western Roman emperor, who had long ago lost prestige and influence, was not perceived by contemporaries as a major event, in world history The year 476 became the most important milestone - the end of the ancient world, the slave-owning ancient formation, and the beginning of the medieval period European history, feudal historical formation.
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ROMAN EMPIRE UNDER CONSTANTINE (306 - 337 AD)
354-355
Period of history IV-VII centuries. called the Great Migration. It is reliably known that at that time several dozen tribes changed their settlement territory, where they lived for a long period. Now they preferred to go explore new territories. In connection with this grandiose event, the map of Europe changed dramatically.
The fall of the Roman Empire occurred.The Western Roman Empire disappeared, but small kingdoms of the Germans appeared. Rome fell, and this means that the era of antiquity has ended. A new history has begun - the history of the Middle Ages.
Prerequisites for the fall of the Roman Empire
In the 3rd century. Germanic tribes encroached on the borders of the Roman Empire. The Romans managed to hold back their attacks, but at the same time they spent a lot of energy. Some territories came under the control of the barbarians, but on the whole the empire continued to exist. The destruction began with the arrival of the Huns to European territory. For reasons of their own and unknown to us, they left the territory of Asia. Previously, they were located near the borders of Ancient China.
The Huns went to the West and in 375 they found themselves on the territory of one of the Germanic tribes - the Goths. The Goths then lived in the northern Black Sea region, they were excellent warriors, but the hordes of the Huns were soon able to defeat them. The Ostrogoths immediately submitted to the Huns, and the Visigoths had to flee to the borders of the Roman Empire. They chose to submit to Rome in order to avoid reprisals against them by the Huns.
The Goths settled on the land of the Roman Empire, but they gave little territory. And besides, she was extremely infertile. Accordingly, there was not enough food. There were few food supplies from the Romans. We can say that they openly mocked the Goths, and also interfered in their internal affairs. This led to an uprising. The Goths marched on Constantinople.
In 378, near Adrianople, they were met by the Roman army. There was no turning back for the Goths; they rushed into battle. A few hours later the glorious Roman army ceased to exist, the emperor was killed. This battle hit the Roman Empire very hard, and the army could not be restored.
In other battles, the empire was defended by an army of mercenaries. German mercenaries, for a reward, agreed to protect the Romans from other Germans. Ordinary citizens of the empire did not want to defend its territory; they were of the opinion that life would not get worse after the conquest of their territory by the Germans.
Beginning of the fall of the Roman Empire
The last army that approached the walls of Rome was the army of Hannibal. But even he did not dare to lay siege to this city. Rome was the capital of the greatest state. The territory of the empire was located around it. Therefore, the thought of capturing the city and breaking through the steel legions did not occur to any conqueror.
The current emperor of the Roman Empire, Honorius, is still a child - real power is in the hands of the military leader Stilicho. He was a vandal by birth. Many did not trust him and believed that he himself wanted to seize power. Honorius listened to the rumors and Stilicho was killed. The brilliant commander died. The Visigoths approached Rome, the inhabitants were on the verge of death and agreed to surrender. The leader Alaric demanded that all the gold, jewelry and slaves be brought to him.
The agreement took place, the Visigoths left. But after a couple of years, Alaric again approached the walls of Rome. The gates were opened, how this happened is not known for certain, but in 410 the Roman Empire fell. The city was sacked in three days. Many Romans managed to escape, the rest were sold into slavery. Alaric had no use for Rome, and he went to the northern territories.
The fall of the “Eternal City” had a terrifying effect on contemporaries. It even got to the point that many believed that the fall of Rome was the collapse of the whole world! Everyone was in despair over the destruction of a previously unshakable state. Great Empire fell, what will happen next???
All these feelings were well expressed in his works by Aurelius Augustine. The essay “On the City of God” tried to explain why this happened. Why did the Roman Empire fall? Aurelius expressed the opinion that this was payment for the cruelty that the empire had committed over many centuries.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
The destruction of Rome left the empire in complete chaos. The Huns, who had previously ravaged many tribes, were approaching. The most famous Hun leader was Attila, in order to gain power he committed fratricide. In 451, Attila crossed the Rhine and met the army of the Roman commander Aetius. The Battle of the Catalaunian Fields took place and went down in history. It was a meeting of two huge armies, the Huns retreated. A year later, Attila invaded Italy and approached Rome. Pope Leo I gifted the leader and he went back. A year later, Attila died at his wedding.
Four years passed after the Battle of the Catalaunian Fields, Rome was again captured by barbarians - the Vandals. In 455, the Vandals sailed along the Tiber to Rome, the inhabitants of the city were not ready to defend it. Again the Pope negotiated and the Vandal leader Geiseric accepted Roman gifts and plundered Rome for only fourteen days. At the same time, all residents remained alive, and churches and temples were not burned.
Few noticed the complete disappearance of the Western Roman Empire. It had long been clear to everyone that this would soon happen, so it did not cause much horror. In 475, the emperor in Rome was Romulus Augustus, nicknamed “Augustus”, since he did not play a big political role. In 476 a coup d'état took place. The barbarian Odoacer arranged for him, but he did not want to be emperor. The Senate was obliged to declare that the emperor of the Western Roman Empire was not needed. Let it be only in the eastern part, a diadem and a purple robe were sent there. This was the end of a great power. Only its eastern part remained, which later became known as Byzantium.
Fall of the Roman Empire video
Internal contradictions continued to tear apart the already devastated empire as a barbarian warlord paved his way to supreme power. He killed everyone who stood in his way, even close friends. The Roman Empire lost control of its once vast western provinces due to rebellions and violent attacks by barbarian tribes. In these troubled times, a Roman commander appears who hopes to restore Rome to its former glory. But a cruel barbarian ruler stands in his way. And the ringing of their swords will give countdown to the end of the empire.
Romans and Huns
By the 5th century AD due to hundreds of years of continuous warfare from the Western Roman Empire only a shadow remains. The Empire plunged into deep chaos. From the outside, countless enemies pressed on her - barbarians, seeking to take possession of its lands. But the main thing is the terrible economic situation; the empire did not receive the income necessary to maintain a strong army and maintain government administration.
Without a strong army, Rome was defenseless against the largest hordes of barbarians the empire had ever seen - led by a ferocious leader.
5th century chronicler Kalinnik recalled their cruelty: “The Huns became so strong that they were able to conquer hundreds of cities. This was accompanied by so many murders and bloodshed that it was impossible to count the corpses.”
The Huns, a nomadic tribe from the east, ravaged what little remained of the empire.
In the West there was no more state The West simply fell apart. There were many different armies and parties fighting for power, but there was no power itself.
The capital of the eastern part of the empire could survive the attack of the Huns, but the weaker Western Empire became the main target of their conquests and was forced to give the province to Attila.
Pannonia, 449 AD
In the former provinces of the empire, the Romans now had to get along with their barbarian rulers - the Huns.
The Romans and barbarians differed from each other in clothing, hairstyle, preferences in food and life. Although by that time the Romans and barbarians had become accustomed to each other, the centuries-old hostility had not gone away.
But one of the Romans felt free in this stormy sea and even managed to extract some benefits from Attila’s reign. His name was .
Orestes was a Roman and he grew up in Pannonia captured by the Huns. However, he became one of Attila's close associates.
The empire was collapsing, but the Roman origins of Orestes and other natives in Pannonia brought them favor with Attila. They are Romans, because they speak and behave like Romans, these people were raised in Rome, absorbed its customs and cultures, they were real Romans and acted as their fellow citizens had acted for centuries.
Orestes, who received a Roman education, stood out among Attila's many barbarian allies and associates. He soon occupied a prominent position at the ruler's court.
Orestes undoubtedly understood that Attila turned out to be a far-sighted politician who tried to connect the Huns and Romans marriage ties and political alliances, so that lay the foundations of a new empire in the north.
Constantly being close to Attila, Orestes learned firsthand how cruel barbarian justice could be. His Roman sensibilities were easily offended.
It can be said that Romans and barbarians did not understand and did not like each other, it was not easy for them to treat each other with tolerance. These different peoples with different cultures had to live together and cooperate in many important matters, but they did not accept each other.
And although Orestes was disgusted that the barbarians were sacrificing their enemies, he felt that Attila’s reign opened up the path for him to achieve his own goals.
Orestes, while at the court of Attila, saw how he tried to create a state almost from scratch, and Orestes realized that this a real chance to re-create the Roman power, which would be led by a king who would unite the forces of the barbarians and the Romans to restore the glory of Rome from the time of its founders.
Although Orestes served the barbarians, he always remained a Roman and considered himself and his people above all others. He wanted to restore the former greatness of the empire.
The collapse of the power of the Huns
In 453 AD. during Attila's wedding night the reign suddenly comes to an end, and this will soon lead to the collapse of the power of the Huns and their barbarian allies.
bride found him dead, as it turned out later, from a hemorrhage, and fearing that she would be accused of murder, she spent the whole night next to the corpse.
Gundobad chose him, thinking that the emperor would remain faithful to him. It is clear that Glycerius had to rule to please Gundobad, depending on his support.
Now there are many more barbarians around the emperor than there are Romans. The army of the Western Empire was largely, if not entirely, barbarian. It is quite possible that there were still original Roman units there, but when we read about this army, we see that there were Arabs, Germans and many other foreign warriors in it.
At the head of the mercenaries of Glycerius was a barbarian named. He received a position in the emperor's guard largely because he showed military ability and the makings of a leader.
This is exactly how Rome was discovered by Orestes when, after several decades of wandering, he finally arrived there. At his first meeting with Odoacer, he had no idea how much the empire had changed since its former glory.
From the power of the Western Empire in 470 AD almost there's nothing left, but not everyone still understood that she's doomed, many saw this as a temporary weakness, the result of some unfortunate mistakes, and it seemed that everything could still be corrected.
Orestes' diplomatic experience allowed him to obtain a high position in the imperial army. But he was surprised to see the barbarian Odoacer, who, not possessing the same talents, occupied the same position.
They were both very ambitious. They survived very severe trials: Orestes served at the court of the bloodthirsty Attila, Odoacer was a military man and later in Rome he literally climbed out of their poverty, taking a high position. It was probably their ambition and considerable abilities that made them rivals.
Each of them saw the empire in his own way: one through the eyes of a Roman, the other through the eyes of a barbarian. After many years spent at the court of Attila, the Roman Orestes became a military leader of the Roman army, but in Italy he discovers that the empire is falling apart and is almost no longer owned by the Romans, and real rulers- not Emperor Glycerius, but barbarian warlords, Odokar and the Burgundian king Gundobad.
Italy, 473 AD
In the past, Rome hired mercenaries, but they were always kept away from power. In the 5th century they are part of the army as monolithic groups of Germans. They wore their own clothes, ate their own food, adhered to their own customs, maintaining their familiar hierarchy and methods of government. Oddly enough, they managed not to dissolve in this seething imperial cauldron.
The warriors of Gundobad could achieve the same position in the army as the noble Romans. The army of Glycerius, unlike the army of Gundobad, was more heterogeneous, including both the Burgundians and warriors of many other nations, but together they formed a single army in Italy.
The barbarians and Romans in the Roman army probably hated each other: the Romans believed that since this was the Roman Empire, then they, the Romans, should stand above the barbarians in it; many believed that the barbarians should be expelled from the army altogether.
Roman the army was no longer a single organism, in its ranks mature split. Even the military leader Orestes, a skilled diplomat, was powerless here.
While Rome suffered heavy losses in battles with tribes such as those in Gaul, Roman soldiers began to doubt the loyalty of their barbarian allies.
At that moment, everyone already had their own interests, the former unity disappeared. Even among the Romans themselves, groups with conflicting interests formed in the army.
Chaos reigned in the army: no one else fought for the emperor, everyone was for himself.
Emperor Julius Nepos at the head of the Western Empire
The weakened Western Empire could no longer save its Mediterranean coasts from plunder, and the stronger Eastern Empire with its capital in Constantinople, finally, intervened.
Constantinople, 473 AD
The aging Eastern Emperor lived in complete safety in the imperial palace in the capital.
In the Roman Empire of the mid-5th century, there was a clear division between East and West. Unlike the West, the East grew strong and prospered.
Blaming Glycerius for all the failures of Rome, Leo hoped to expand his sphere of influence by installing a new emperor in the West -.
Nepos was chosen as Emperor of the West due to the position he held in Leo's court. Nepos's position was very secure: he was married to a relative of the emperor and was quite suitable for lead the invasion of Italy.
In 474 AD. Nepot gathered an army and led her from Constantinople to Italy. The East was going to once again strengthen its power and influence in the West, replacing Glycerius with its protege. This reaction is not surprising.
As the new emperor, Nepos had a lot of work to do to justify the trust, but if he could not expel the barbarians from the Western Empire, he would collapse.
While Nepos's army sailed from Constantinople, the Western Emperor Glycerius in Rome feverishly prepared to fight back. But as soon as Glycerius gave the order to Orestes and Odoacer to prepare an army, he became convinced that he had relied in vain on the devotion of the barbarians: Gundobad with his Burgundians abandoned him in difficult times.
Gundobad left his post and again became King of the Burgundians. This seemed to him much more attractive than being commander-in-chief of Glycerius.
It was no longer the Roman Empire. Its soldiers, brought up in completely different traditions and values, were strikingly different from people's militia Rome.
Without the support of the Burgundians, even the army of Orestes and Odoacer could not save Glycerius from the invasion of Nepos.
When Nepos approached Rome, Glycerius and his generals went to meet him, but not for battle, but to beg for mercy.
Glycerium found itself in a very difficult position. He could not count on military support either from hired barbarian mercenaries or from his own soldiers. Therefore, when the Eastern Emperor sent Nepos to take the throne of the Western Empire, Glycerius made the only reasonable decision: he surrendered without a fight.
Nepos, who expected to have to wage a bloody war to overthrow Glycerius, now granted life to the deposed emperor.
Nepos wanted to give all this a semblance of legality. It was as if he had become emperor with the support of the eastern ruler and the consent of the western one, who voluntarily left, recognizing that Nepos was better suited for this.
He made Glycerius a bishop and sent into exile away from Rome.
In June 474 AD, when Nepos became the Western Emperor, he was recognized by both Orestes and Odoacer. Being equally ambitious, they began to vying with each other to show their devotion to the new emperor.
Orestes, being a Roman himself, was still convinced that Rome was alive and must be defended. Odoacer, it seems, was sure that Rome no longer existed. At the very time when the very fate of Rome was being decided, interests collided these two, undoubtedly, very capable people.
Nepos appointed Orestes and Odoacer to high positions at court, giving them both such power that no one else in Rome had. Elevating both Orestes and Odoacer at the same time, and endowing them with equal powers, he thereby laid the seeds the future collapse of his own power. Nepos did not understand that it was risky to elevate such strong and strong-willed people; it could become a threat.
Overthrow of Nepos
But the nuances of Roman court politics soon faded in comparison ruthless attacks of the Visigoths to the only province remaining to the Western Empire in Gaul.
During the heyday of the empire, in these lands now known as Provence in France, civilization flourished, but in the 470s AD. they became the target of constant attacks by the Visigoths and their king Eurich.
The proud and ambitious king of the Visigoths, eager to expand the borders of his possessions, decided to attack Roman territories in southern France.
The Visigoths did have a numerical advantage. This resulted in the constant reduction of the Gallic possessions of the Roman Empire until a tiny piece of land remained in modern southern France.
Bloodthirsty Visigoth warriors devastated settlements in Provence, not sparing the helpless Roman inhabitants.
Poorly armed and untrained, the Imperial legionaries were no match for the barbarians. It seems, the Goths were better organized, and their kingdom was stronger. They could gather more troops, and they were excellent warriors, ready for any vicissitudes of military action.
The battle was brutal, a real massacre, urgent action had to be taken.
Although the Roman commander Orestes was not such an experienced warrior, Emperor Nepos sends him from Rome to Gaul to drive the barbarians out of there.
He was to become commander in Gaul. But the question is: is this really such a great honor and high position, since in Gaul there are almost no territories subject to Rome left? So it's quite possible that this was just a convenient excuse. remove Orestes away from Rome.
But having arrived at the troops stationed on the Italian border, the former diplomat Orestes intends to prove himself as a military leader and strategist, hoping to bypass both Odoacer and Emperor Nepos himself.
He offers his barbarian warriors a deal: if they go with him against Emperor Nepos, Orestes will allocate them lands in Italy.
We know that Orestes went against Nepos. Instead of submitting to the authority of the emperor, he decided to take power for himself. Why did he do this? Most likely he wanted to restore the empire.
Leaving Gaul to the Visigoths, Orestes and his troops moved from northern Italy back to Rome, but when Emperor Nepos found out about this, he ran V .
In August 475 AD. Orestes came to Ravenna and ordered a search of the city to find the emperor. The barbarians began to rob, instilling fear in the inhabitants with their fury.
It can be assumed that Orestes either believed that Emperor Nepos was selling the empire to the barbarians, or he himself craved power in the empire.
But even on pain of death no one revealed where the emperor was hiding. Nepos managed to secretly escape from the city, as the 6th century chronicler Jordanes testifies: “Nepos fled to. Deprived of power, he languished, leading a lonely life in the very city where he had recently made the exiled Glycerius bishop.”
Orestes believed that since Nepos had disappeared and the barbarian warriors obeyed his orders, he could now restore order to an empire mired in chaos.
Surprisingly, Orestes did not sit on the throne himself, but did emperor of his 10 year old son. Orestes believed that since he was raised among the barbarians and served at the court of the Huns, the Italian nobility would not want to see him, Orestes, as emperor, but they would accept the purebred Roman Romulus, because this was quite consistent with their traditions. Although now the Romans’ views on power have changed greatly.
The boy remained in the well-fortified city of Ravenna. He remained under the protection of his uncle Paul. Romulus was a teenager and had not yet matured; his name Augustulus meant "little August".
Young Romulus was just his father's puppet. Exactly Orestes will rule the empire, finally pushing aside his rival Odoacer and preventing him from becoming the most influential man in Rome.
Filled with pride Orestes forgot about his promises to the barbarians. They did what they promised - they helped Orestes remove Nepos, and now they demanded land.
The barbarians wanted to settle in Italy on the ancestral Roman lands, many of which belonged to hereditary senators. Orestes was a true Roman and could not allow this: he refused.
Orestes could not pay the barbarians, but the soldiers obeyed the emperor only if he paid them. Therefore, when Orestes, who seized power by deceit and placed his son on the throne, could not give them the money they wanted or the land they demanded, they had only one thing left: to replace the emperor with another who would give them what they wanted.
With the help of his bodyguards, Orestes escapes. But he underestimated the determination of the barbarians, thirsty for revenge.
The barbarians' revenge on Orestes
Rome, 476 AD
When Orestes refused to give the barbarians land in Italy, they turned to his main rival Odoacer for help.
The warriors acted very wisely by turning to Odoacer, because, as they believed, he was able to satisfy their demands. Odoacer himself was a barbarian, and the warriors expected that he would give them land and money without a doubt, no matter where they had to get it from - the main thing was that the warriors were satisfied. And Odoacer had to agree to the offer of the barbarian army.
They came to him and said: “If you can get land for us, you will become our king.” It was tempting. Now there was a Roman army under his command, but in fact - a hodgepodge of Germanic tribes.
Together they will perform to end Roman power in the empire. Now Odoacer, as he had long wanted, could take revenge on Orestes, who dared to deprive him of power in Rome.
And they immediately began to attack Italian cities. Cities were plundered for many days, and everything of any value was taken from the inhabitants.
Risking their lives for an empire they did not even consider theirs, the barbarians realized that the time had come to make Rome pay in blood for what it could not pay for in money or land.
Imagine for a moment that you are a warrior. You have to live on the meager means you receive. And now you haven't been paid at all. Nothing may happen because of one time, but if it happens two, three, four times in a row, you will die of hunger. Will you continue to serve those who forced you to starve?
Odoacer was secretly pleased that he could finally subjugate Italy and settle accounts with Orestes.
Then in 476 we were not talking about a conventional war, there was no battle, no sieges. Just hungry warriors looking for a livelihood by doing what they could do. They were trained to fight, and killed everyone who stood in their way. That's why there were attacks, violence, robberies.
While Odoacer approached, Orestes left his son, the young Emperor Romulus, in Ravenna in the care of his uncle Paul, while he ran V Ticin in Northern Italy.
Orestes was forced to seek refuge from Odoacer in Ticinus, in a city that is now called. We know that the bishop of the city granted him asylum.
But even the temple of God could not protect him from the barbarians. Orestes fled, while Odoacer and the soldiers devastated the church, desperately trying to find him.
All the collected offerings were taken away from the bishop, all the money collected to help the poor was taken away by Odoacer's soldiers. They also burned many buildings, including the church.
Just as the church perished in the fire, Orestes hopes for the revival of the empire also collapsed. Odoacer didn't care about preserving Rome, he had long ago realized that Rome was no more. But what role did he play? What were you going to use your power for?
Orestes flees Ticinus with a handful of bodyguards, hoping to gain time to prepare for the decisive meeting with Odoacer. Once they both occupied a high position at court, now they are forced to fight for their lives.
They were proud of the position they occupied, and neither wanted to allow the other to have even an ounce of power. And of course, a collision is inevitable.
Orestes and his army reached Placentia, modern in Italy, until finally met in Odoacrom.
Northern Italy, 476 AD.
Inexperienced in military affairs, Orestes had little chance of surviving the battle against the barbarians of Odoacer. It was brutal, bloody battle. In such a battle, fighting spirit played even big role than training. Someone had to win and someone had to lose. Soldiers stepped over corpses, the wounded moaned, people lost their self-control in horror.
Surprisingly in the last, tragic years of the empire there was always someone who was ready to cling to imperial power and try to restore the empire. They believed that the empire could still be saved, that it had not yet collapsed, but we understand that these attempts were doomed.
Although it seemed reckless, he refused to admit defeat.
Odoacer and Orestes were key figures in the West. The future of Rome rested on their shoulders, and they had to find common language with each other. A compromise should have been found, but this did not work out, and Italy is gripped by violence and chaos.
It was a battle to the death, and in this battle at the end of the empire, the Romans were forced yield to stronger barbarians.
We don't know exactly what happened when Odoacer managed to get to Orestes, but most likely the Roman faced a quick and cruel end. There was no elaborate ceremony, no funeral, Orestes had to disappear. No doubt she was waiting for him secret and speedy execution.
Fall of the Western Roman Empire
Having won, Odoacer and his troops headed to Ravenna to deal with the remaining matter - the young son of Ores, the last emperor of the Western Empire.
12-year-old Emperor Romulus Augustulus and his uncle Paul did not know about the death of Orestes and were not prepared for Odoacer's attack.
When Odoacer came to Ravenna, Romulus could not resist, but Paul, who was Romulus's guardian, tried to protect his nephew. Odoacer's people killed Pavel and went after the emperor Romulus Augustulus.
Frightened by the noise of his uncle's murder, the boy tried to run away. Last Roman Emperor, driven like an animal, could not escape from the barbarian’s sword, there was nowhere to run.
Romulus was just a puppet, so Odoacer had no reason to touch him. The ruthless warrior did an amazing thing: he saved the boy's life, sending him to link.
By saving Romulus's life, Odoacer showed mercy to the Romans and made it clear that he could act as a just ruler.
In the summer of 476 AD. Odoacer became first barbarian ruler of Italy.
Now Odoacer became king. He did not become the king of Italy or the Roman Empire, he was the king of his warriors, this ragtag horde, which was then called the Roman army.
Odoacer is now king, but not emperor, because Roman Empire more than 500 years after its origin in 27 BC. Now completely collapsed.
It became the end of the Roman emperor's power in the West. Now there will be a king there. The Roman Empire still existed in the East, but the Western lands were not subject to it, and the Western world had changed beyond recognition.
News of the Fall of Rome quickly reached the new eastern emperor in Constantinople.
The envoys brought news that the Eastern Empire had been waiting in fear for many years. They brought the last news from the boy emperor.
The last thing Odoacer made Romulus Augustulus do before removing him from the throne was send an envoy on behalf of the Senate and the Emperor with a message about transfer of imperial power to Constantinople and that there would no longer be an emperor in the West.
Since Italy was now ruled by a barbarian, the former symbols of imperial power were no longer needed.
We know that Odoacer declared that he was not going to wear purple robes and a golden wreath - signs of the power of the emperor, he threw away these regalia of the past, he brought something new, becoming in the West a king, not an emperor. Clothes, wreaths, jewelry and other imperial items now belonged only to the eastern emperor.
But in his hands they were no longer symbols of power and authority, but only signs of failure and defeat.
In Italy, families of barbarian warriors finally received the lands they had fought for. The West was now in their hands.
Odoacer, of course fulfilled what he promised his soldiers. He kept his word, giving what was due to them, remaining in the eyes of his relatives an honest and generous leader.
But it was the distribution of land, and the women and children of the barbarians who settled within the empire, that had a much greater impact than armed attacks.
At first, powerful Rome willingly accepted strangers, drawing benefits from this for itself. But in the end when the barbarians came in large numbers and wanted to become part of the Roman Empire, the Romans were no longer ready to accept them as they had been before. This inability to turn the influx of foreigners into a source of strength became one of the main reasons for the death of the Roman Empire.
Legacy of the Roman Empire
But despite the fall of the empire, in some corners, such as monasteries, libraries, these repositories of knowledge and other achievements of Roman civilization were miraculously saved and preserved.
Rome stood the test of time because, while there was still an emphasis on learning, education and books, everything was based on Roman traditions, and Roman literature and culture were considered the basis of civilization.
Legacy of the Roman Empire, especially in its western part, is very great: a lot of new things were introduced, including new terms, concepts, and in the languages we speak, traces of Roman influence can be traced, the Roman heritage is all around us, and we must not forget about it.
The rise and fall of Rome, its path from the republic to the fall of the empire, and what was created and accumulated along this path largely predetermined further development of the entire Western world.
This civilization has survived centuries of war, disaster, corruption and plague in order to disappear at the hands of one barbarian warrior.
We will always be fascinated by both the history of the Roman Empire itself and the history of its fall. She, of course, largely predetermined the formation modern world, but let's face it: for the last fifteen hundred years a lot has been said and written about the empire. Is it necessary to raise this topic again? The answer is simple: we must remember Rome because it exhibited all the wonderful as well as all the terrible traits of human nature. If we look at them carefully, we can understand that perhaps we can follow good examples and not be like bad ones.
CHAPTERXV
The fall of paganism and the triumph of Christianity
V. The Fall of the Western Roman Empire
362. Reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire
In the 5th century happened fall of the Western Roman Empire, which finally separated from the East at the end of the 4th century (395). The German barbarians, constantly pressing from across the Rhine and Danube, demanded energetic resistance, which necessitated a large army and enormous financial costs. Meanwhile, the population of the empire found itself less and less able to resist the barbarians and bear the burden of taxes. From the end of the 3rd century. the emperors were forced to fight some tribes of the Germans settle their other tribes in the border areas of the empire with the responsibility to protect its borders. At the same time, for the correct receipt of taxes, they considered themselves forced attach the agricultural population to the land, and landowners to their cities. Internal unrest and abuses by officials completed the misery of the population of many provinces. Regional uprisings were often just the result of their population's dissatisfaction with the oppression of the empire. To the unbearable for the people state requirements more joined extortions from landowners. In Gaul, for example, the mass of the people were in a state of serfdom even before the Roman conquest, which not only did not change this attitude, but even directly contributed to the development of large estates. The dissatisfied Gallic columns, in alliance with slaves, day laborers and vagabonds, began at the end of the 3rd century. make up rebel gangs, or bagaudas, who started a whole uprising. Their leaders (Elian and Amand) proclaimed themselves emperors, built a fortified camp near the confluence of the Marne and the Seine, and from there made devastating raids on the country. The Bagaud unrest continued for a long time. The discontent of the enslaved population was also expressed in the fact that many ran straight to the barbarians, together with whom they attacked the regions of the empire.
Back in the 1st century. Pliny said that “the latifundia destroyed Italy and the provinces,” and indeed from the 3rd century. the economic decline made itself felt more and more strongly, especially in the West, bringing with it a general decline in the cultural standard of living. The society of the Roman Empire split into a landed aristocracy and a enslaved people. Burdened with heavy duties, the impoverished, ignorant and humiliated colons could not manage their plots well and had no particular interest in supporting the empire. Ruined curials also lose the strength to bear duties and lose interest in public life. Only representatives of the landed nobility remained strong and free from general state enslavement. Taking advantage of certain privileges under the law (such as freedom from bearing municipal burdens), members of the imperial senatorial class began to evade paying taxes and military service and refuse to obey the courts, making sure that each latifundia was a special, closed and self-sufficient little world. These “lords of the earth,” who had in their possessions everything they needed, isolated their estates both economically and in government terms, as if no longer feeling the need to maintain the unity of the empire. The Roman nobility, in its indifference to political life, reached the point that its members began to refuse the most important positions in the state in order to maintain their position as independent masters of the earth. By oppressing the masses and bringing them to complete indifference to the fate of the state, the magnates of the 4th and especially the 5th centuries. Thus undermined the unity of the empire and lost Roman patriotism. If the columns fled to the barbarians, then the magnates did not resist the barbarians, especially when they felt that under the new rulers of the province they would not be worse off. In the East, with its more developed economic life and more ancient culture, the internal relations of the empire were better, and it defended itself with great success in the fight against the barbarians. No wonder the emperors of the 4th century. there was a strong preference for the East.
