We must now consider that state which, while an agent in bringing about the downfall of Holland, at the same time made an effort to gain the ocean power of the world—France.
We have seen how the Roman Empire extended over all West Europe, Iberia, Gaul and South Britain. Under the Roman Empire these lands began to be of account in history. We have seen also how the Roman power was overthrown by tribes outside the Empire. Eventually there grew up among the Germanic tribes to the north, who had never acknowledged Roman rule, a power which was recognized by the Pope at Rome, and, because recognized by him as representing the past in history, was called the Empire. This Empire included what is now France and Germany. It did not include Iberia, which, as we have already seen, was at this time Mohammedan or Moorish. This Empire split up quite naturally at first into three parts : that on the west which had been Roman, that on the east which had not been Roman, and the debateable land between. The two first were naturally more important than the third, and the debateable land became absorbed to a greater or less extent in one or other. France, then, gradually emerged from the western portion, but it must be noticed that there was no France in Roman times ; there was no France under the Early Empire of Charlemagne. Under the Roman Empire and under the Teutonic Empire the land called France was civilized, but there was no France. Now it is necessary to notice what are the natural units of this land called France. We have already seen the importance of the Marseilles or Rhone Valley entry in Roman times. Here the Romans ruled a land before they had conquered the plain of Lombardy : this was their first province. Here there is a lowland made up of the coast plain, the Rhone Saone Valley and the gap between the Pyrenees and the southern highland. This highland is set in the gap between the Alps and the Pyrenees. It has upland economic conditions, and is thus contrasted with the lowland on either side. The Cevennes form merely the steep south-eastern edge of the highland. From the highest central part of the Cevennes runs a high water-parting in the direction of Brittany. On this
the Auvergne heights are set. On either side of this water-parting are plains, Aquitaine, and the plain of Northern France, having soils composed of the well mixed debris of different rocks and therefore fertile. The strata which fill the valleys of the Loire and Garonne just go through the gate of Poitiers, produce a fertile soil, and allow of easy means of communication between the plains.
There were no roads in the Middle Ages, as the Roman roads had fallen into disrepair and disuse. Traffic was then mostly along rivers, even along rivers such as we should not use now. In the northern plain the influence of the waterways is supreme. The Seine and its tribu taries are navigable almost from their sources ; the Oise from the north-east joins the Seine just below Paris ; the Marne from the east just above ; the Yonne comes from the south. There is thus a convergence of waterways directed on Paris. But this is not all : the two stretches of the Loire which meet at Orleans are also two ways directed on Paris, one up-river and the other down. The up-river stretch leads from the direction of Aquitaine ; the down-river stretch leads from the heights of the south valleys in the southern highlands. Further, the long Rhone-Saone Valley, giving access to the southern plain of Languedoc, is also approached by an easy climb over the COte-d'Or, so that even this area may be brought into touch with Paris.
Thus, just in the same way as the Roman Empire grew round the city of Rome, so did France grow round Paris. Rome became important when the south of Italy was assailed by landmen from the North; Paris first became important when the Norsemen, sailing along the coasts of Europe, entered the river Seine and passed upwards till they came to a small island in the midst of the stream. Here, because it formed a convenient crossing-place, a bridge had been erected; but a bridge prevents the passage of boats, and here the seamen from the North found a limit placed to their invasions.