The Beginnings of Rome

(b) From the Death of Theodosius to the Extinction of the Western Empire (395-476).—Through more than a century from the accession of Diocletian the Roman empire had suc ceeded in holding at bay the swarming hordes of barbarians. But, though no province had yet been lost, as Dacia had been lost in the century before, and though the frontier lines of the Rhine and the Danube were still guarded by Roman forts and troops, there were signs in plenty that a catastrophe was at hand.

From all the writers who deal with the 4th century we have one long series of laments over the depression and misery of the provinces.' To meet the increased expenditure necessary to main tain the legions, to pay the hosts of officials and to keep up the luxurious splendour of the imperial courts, not only were the taxes raised in amount but the most oppressive and inquisitorial methods were adopted in order to secure for the imperial treas ury every penny that could be wrung from the wretched tax payer. The results are seen in such pictures as that which the panegyrist Eumenius draws of the state of Gaul (306-312) under Constantine, in the accounts of the same province under Julian 5o years later, in those given by Zosimus early in the 5th century, and in the stringent regulations of the Theodosian code, dealing with the assessment and collection of the taxes. Among the graver symptoms of economic ruin were the decrease of population, which seriously diminished not only the number of taxpayers, but the supply of soldiers for the legions ; the spread of infanticide ; the increase of waste lands whose owners and cultivators had fled to escape the tax collector; the declining prosperity of the towns; and the constantly recurring riots and insurrections, both among starving peasants, as in Gaul, and in populous cities like Antioch. The distress was aggravated by the civil wars, by the rapacity of tyrants, such as Maxentius and Maximus, but above all by the raids of the barbarians, who seized every opportunity afforded by the dissensions or incapacity of the emperors to cross the frontiers and harry the lands of the provincials. Constantine Julian (356-360) and Valentinian I. (364-375) had each to give a temporary breathing-space to Gaul by repelling the Franks and Alamanni. Britain was harassed by Picts and Scots from the north (367-370), while the Saxon pirates swept the northern seas and the coasts both of Britain and Gaul. On the Danube the Quadi, Sarmatae, and above all the Goths, poured at intervals into the provinces of Pannonia and Moesia, and pen etrated to Macedon and Thrace. In the East, in addition to the 'Rostovtzeff, Social and Economic History of Rome, ch. 12.

constant border feud with Persia, we hear of ravages by the Isau rian mountaineers, and by a new enemy, the Saracens.

Even more ominous of coming danger was the extent to which the European half of the empire was becoming barbarized. The policy which had been inaugurated by Augustus himself of set tling barbarians within the frontiers had been taken up on a larger scale and in a more systematic way by the Illyrian emperors of the 3rd century, and was continued by their successors in the 4th.

In Gaul, in the provinces south of the Danube, even in Macedon and Italy, large barbarian settlements had been made—Theodosius in particular distinguishing himself by his liberality in this respect.

Nor did the barbarians admitted during the 4th century merely swell the class of half-servile coloni. On the contrary, they not only constituted to an increasing extent the strength of the im perial forces, but won their way in ever-growing numbers to posts of dignity and importance in the imperial service. Under Constantine the palace was crowded with Franks. Julian led

Gothic troops against Persia, and the army with which Theodosius defeated the tyrant Maximus (388) contained large numbers of Huns and Alans, as well as of Goths. The names of Arbogast, Stilicho and Rufinus are sufficient proof of the place held by barbarians near the emperor's person and in the control of the provinces and legions of Rome ; and the relations of Arbogast to his nominee for the purple, Eugenius, were an anticipation of those which existed between Ricimer and the emperors of the latter half of the 5th century.

Barbaric Invasions.

It was by barbarians already settled within the empire that the first of the series of attacks which finally separated the western provinces from the empire and set up a barbaric ruler in Italy was made, and it was in men of barbarian birth that Rome found her ablest and most successful defenders. The Visigoths whom Alaric led into Italy had been settled south of the Danube as the allies of the empire since the accession of Theodosius. But, like the Germans of the days of Caesar, they wanted land for their own, and Alaric aspired to raise himself to the heights which had been reached before him by the Vandal Stilicho at Ravenna and the Goth Rufinus at Con stantinople. The jealousy which existed between the rulers of the western and eastern empires furthered his plans. In the name of Arcadius, the emperor of the East, or at least with the con nivance of Arcadius's minister Rufinus, he occupied the province of Illyricum, and from thence ravaged Greece, which, according to the existing division of provinces, belonged to the western empire. Thence in 396 he retreated before Stilicho to Illyricum, with the command of which he was now formally invested by Arcadius ; he thus gained a base of operations against Italy. In 400 he led his people, with their wives and families, their wagons and treasure, to seek lands for themselves south of the Alps. But in this first invasion he penetrated no farther than the plains of Lombardy, and after the desperate battle of Pollentia (402 or he slowly withdrew from Italy, his retreat being hastened by the promises of gold freely made to him by the imperial Gov ernment. Not until the autumn of 408 did Alaric again cross the Alps. Stilicho was dead; the barbarian troops in Honorius's service had been provoked into joining Alaric by the anti-Teu tonic policy of Honorius and his ministers, and Alaric marched unopposed to Rome. The payment of a heavy ransom, however, saved the city. Negotiations followed between Alaric and the court of Ravenna. Alaric's demands were moderate, but Honorius would grant neither lands for his people nor the honourable post in the imperial service which he asked for himself. Once more Alaric sat down before Rome, and the citizens were forced to agree to his terms. Attalus, a Greek, the prefect of the city, was declared Augustus, and Alaric accepted the post of commander-in chief. But after a few months Alaric formally deposed Attalus, on account of his incapacity, and renewed his offers to Honorius. Again they were declined, and Alaric marched to the siege and sack of Rome (410). His death followed hard on his capture of Rome. Two years later (412) his successor Ataulf led the Visi goths to find in Gaul the lands which Alaric had sought in Italy. It is characteristic of the anarchical condition of the West that Ataulf and his Goths should have fought for Honorius in Gaul against the tyrants and in Spain against the Vandals, Suebi and Alani ; and it was with the consent of Honorius that in 419 Wallia, who had followed Ataulf as king of the Visigoths, finally settled with his people in south-western Gaul and founded the Visigothic monarchy.