5. INTO THE "DARK AGES"

THE COLLAPSE OF ROME IN THE WEST

The Valentinian dynasty (364-392) Valentinian and Valens (364-378).  With Julian the "Apostate" dying childless, the military took the initiative once again to choose their emperor, a Pannonian officer named Valentinian.  But they also demanded a co-regent so as to assure a more secure political succession.  Consequently, Valentinian was elected to be western Augustus – and named his younger brother Valens as Eastern Augustus.   But these would be very troubled times for Rome.    By the early 370s, the Germanic tribes were starting to act very nervous along the Roman borders.  A group of fierce central Asian nomads – called "Huns"1 by the Romans – had pushed westward into Germanic lands, driving the Germanic tribes up against Rome's Rhineland border … which the tribes then attempted to cross.  So angry was Valentinian during a meeting with a delegation of Germanic tribesmen that he suffered a stroke and died (375). Meanwhile in the East, Valens finally agreed to allow Germanic tribes to settle in Roman lands along the Danube as foederati – groups who by treaty or foedus agreed to serve as soldiers in exchange for land rights within the Roman Empire.  But these soldiers and their families were actually treated rather contemptuously … forced to pay high taxes and unable to afford the food they needed. The Battle of Adrianople (378) Thus in 378, the Visigothic tribesmen under their leader Fritigern rose up in revolt.  Then when Valens went out to put down their revolt, he and most of his troops were killed in the battle … and the rest completely routed. And this defeat would result in the loss of Rome of most of its capable officers and veteran soldiers – and would now find it impossible to rebuild the ranks with Romans.  The Romans would instead have to resort to the use of Germanic mercenaries to man their legions – a difficult (and expensive) situation considering the fact that Germanic tribes were also their natural enemies.  This would mark an important turning point in the relations between the Roman Empire and their Germanic neighbors. Theodosius (379-395) Theodosius I  from the Missorium of Theodosius With Valentinian's death in 375, the Western emperorship had gone to his cousin Gratian.  And upon Valens' death in 378, Gratian then chose Theodosius (of a Roman family of former military leaders) as Augustus for the East.  For a while this arrangement worked fairly well.  But soon Gratian began to lose effectiveness as a Western Augustus.  His friendship with the tribesmen and his allowing Bishop Ambrose of Milan and the Frankish (another Germanic tribal group) general Merobaudes to actually run the Empire in the West all acted to alienate his troops.  Gratian was finally challenged by his own troops and defeated and killed in battle. Theodosius now co-ruled the Empire, first with one then another individual, until 392 when his young co-ruler Valentinian II was found hanged in his home (possibly a suicide; more probably as a result of a fight with Arbogast, the Germanic Frankish leader who was at this point the effective military governor in the West).  Theodosius was now the sole ruler of all the Empire, both East and West … but only for three more years.   Rome is now officially "Trinitarian."  One of the critical developments under Theodosius's rule was the establishment of Trinitarian Christianity as the official religion of Rome.  Up to this point, Christianity had been strongly favored but not yet Rome's official religion.  But now, under Theodosius's orders, Trinitarian or Catholic/Orthodox Christianity became the sole religion supported by the state.  All pagan worship was to be shut down, the Temples closed, pagan holidays ended2 … and the Vestal Virgins – the most ancient and most revered of the pagan religious icons – disbanded. However … Theodosius's relationship with Ambrose, bishop of Milan, is indicative of the new dynamics emerging within Christendom at that time.  In 390 Ambrose excommunicated (cut off from the privilege of receiving the Christian sacraments) Theodosius for his massacre of 7,000 inhabitants of Thessalonica after his military governor stationed there had been assassinated.  As directed by Ambrose, Theodosius underwent several months of public penance for this deed.  Theodosius was of course no wimp.  But neither was Ambrose.  The church was in fact coming to be led increasingly by such figures of power and authority. Meanwhile in the East, the Germanic tribesmen continued to give Theodosius considerable trouble. Religious troubles brewed, as there was an attempt by Eugenius, a military usurper who seized control in the West and then – though a Christian himself – sought to build popular support for himself there by restoring some of Rome's pagan practices.  Theodosius and Eugenius met in battle at the Frigid River in 394, and with the help of a "divine wind" (which turned a near defeat of Theodosius into a grand victory) Eugenius was defeated and executed.  Thus again, the entire Empire found itself under the sole rule of Theodosius … at least briefly.  Early the next year Theodosius died of natural causes.  Honorius (nominal Western Emperor 395-423) and Arcadius (Eastern Emperor 395-408) The Empire now passed to his two sons, Honorius ruling in the West (with his capital at Milan, and then later Ravenna)3 and Arcadius ruling in the East (from Constantinople).  The Roman Empire was again divided ... never to be united again.  Actually from this point on the Western Empire fell increasingly under the control of the Bishops of Rome and various semi Roman / semi German or even fully German military strongmen or "patricians" (such as Arbogast – and subsequently Stilicho).  The Western emperors would rule in name only. Honorius (W. Emperor 395-423) and Arcadius (E. Emperor 395-408) Honorius - Western Emperor (395-423) Arcadius  - Eastern Emperor   (395-408) Silver siliqua coin glorifying Honorius Stilicho the "Patrician" versus Alaric the Visigoth As the 11-year-old Honorius became officially emperor of the Western Empire, Flavius Stilicho became de facto governor of the West. Stilicho was born a Roman mother, but a Germanic Vandal father.  In his upbringing he was treated entirely as "Roman."  He rose quickly within Theodosius's army and ultimately was given the task by the emperor of defending the Empire against the Visigoths.  In the battle between Theodosius and Eugenius in 394, Stilicho was one of the generals who – along with a major storm (the "divine wind") – helped turn the battle in favor of Theodosius.  Theodosius was so impressed by Stilicho's performance that he appointed him guardian of his son Honorius just prior to his death in 395 German-Roman general Stilicho Copy of an ivory carving. The original diptych, carved circa 395, is in Monza (Italy) Römisch-Germanisches Zentralmuseum, Mainz, Germany Holding off Alaric and his Visigoths As Honorius became officially emperor of the Western Empire, Stilicho became de facto governor of the West.  His main task would be to stop the rise of his former colleague, the Visigothic foederati commander Alaric, who had replaced Fritigern as leader of the Goths.  With Alaric threatening the Eastern Empire in Thrace in 395, and the Eastern Roman army fully occupied further east in battle against the Huns, this left Stilicho the full responsibility of stopping Alaric.   Alaric Alaric was a Visigoth chieftain principally interested in becoming recognized within the Roman Empire as a military "protector" over the imperial household.  He was rebuffed in his effort to do this through a normal rise up the ranks of the military – and thus Alaric took to conquering.  Recognition, not plunder, seemed consistently to remain his aim in life. Alaric was born around 370 to a noble Gothic (Western Gothic or Visigoth) family, who had just fled south to the mouth of the Danube River at the Black Sea to escape the invasion of Eastern Europe by the Asian Huns.  As a young man Alaric served in the army of the Gothic foederati – becoming a general in 394 and serving under the Emperor Theodosius.  At this point he began to take note of the weakness of the Roman hold over northeastern Italy.   When he was later bypassed by Theodosius's sons, Arcadius and Honorius, in their distribution of imperial offices, Alaric made the decision to act on his own political behalf.  Gathering disgruntled foederati (for whom tribute payments from Rome had been slacking off) he had himself proclaimed Gothic king. He then moved his troops on Constantinople itself.  But unable to take this well defended city (stopped by Stilicho), he turned his troops towards Greece proper.  The battle between Alaric and Stilicho intensifies Then he found himself trapped in Greece by Stilicho.  But just as Stilicho was in a position to destroy Alaric and his army, Arcadius (the eastern emperor) strangely ordered Stilicho back to the west.  This allowed Alaric to pillage the lands of Thrace and Greece for almost two years (395 396) – though he spared Athens.   In 397 Stilicho again moved against Alaric – crushing his army (although Alaric himself escaped into the mountains) – but managed to escape to the north along the eastern Adriatic Sea (Illyricum), where he was welcomed as a liberator, king of the lands that reach even up to the middle Danube River. Then Stilicho was sent that same year to put down rebellion in Africa.  His reputation now was so great that in 400 the Senate named him "consul." In the meantime, Alaric conducted a devious diplomacy with the Eastern and Western branches of the Roman Empire – swearing fealty to one or another as he felt it opportune to do so.  At the same time he began to equip his troops with the finest of Imperial weapons.   The next year (401) Alaric broke a treaty with Stilicho and arranged an alliance with Radagaisus, chief of a number of German tribes, with the intention of raiding and pillaging Italy.  He spread terror through northern Italy – until in 402 he and the German coalition were met and defeated by Stilicho along the Danube (Radagaisus) and at Polentia (Alaric) – which Alaric had laid siege to.  Again, Alaric escaped.  They met again in 403 and again Alaric was defeated – but escaped. 1The precise origins of the Central Asian Huns remain a mystery … though the Huns certainly came to Europe by way of the steppes of Southern Russia – possibly fleeing an extensive drought that hit central Asia about this time. 2The ones anyway that had not yet turned themselves into Christian holidays … such as the year's end celebration of Saturnalia – which turned itself into Christmas! 3Honorius had ultimately moved the Western capital from the besieged city of Rome … to the well protected town of Ravenna – well-protected because of the surrounding swamps which made siege by any enemy almost impossible.  Ravenna – not the declining city of Rome – would serve as the capital of the Western half of the Roman Empire for quite some time. THE GERMANIC FLOOD BEGINS But at the end of 406 Stilicho was unable to stop a massive raid of German tribesmen across the frozen Rhine – and the subsequent widespread pillaging of Gaul.  Stilicho's army had become depleted by its several battles with Alaric and he could offer no serious resistance to the raiding parties which were running wild across Gaul. Also, though defeated, Alaric was not considered out of the political picture.  Indeed, in the mounting tensions between the Eastern and Western Imperial governments, he was called in for support by even Stilicho ... a development that Stilicho's enemies would soon use to bring him down. Also Alaric, who had moved his armies into Greece, seeing mounting weakness in Rome's (Stilicho's) defensive forces became so bold as to demand a huge tribute payment as the price of peace.  Stilicho recommended payment ... and the Senators refused to go along with the idea ... although they had no alternative plan to deal with the mounting German problem. Stilicho's fall (408) Instead Stilicho's political opponents (which now included Honorius), who had become very jealous of Stilicho's popularity and fearful of his support among the Roman troops began to spread wild rumors about his complicity with Alaric – which successfully alienated sections of Stilicho's army which rose up in revolt against Stilicho.  Stilicho's enemies now felt that they had good ground to have Stilicho arrested ... and executed (408).  Stilicho's son was soon executed after him. Confusion now reigned as Roman troops went on a rampage ...with Roman soldiers turning on the German foederati soldiers and their families in Roman cities.  The slaughter was extensive, and the German survivors fled the Empire ... added enormously to the ranks of Alaric's army. Alaric's first attack on Rome (408) Now Alaric struck back ... and laid siege to Rome.  Finally, with hundreds of thousands of Romans trapped inside the city ... and slowly starving, and no signs of help coming from the Eastern Empire – or even the Western imperial authorities in Ravenna  – Alaric was bought off by the citizens of Rome themselves with an impossibly high ransom, which stripped the city of most of its wealth ... and certainly its honor. But Alaric still pressed for Roman recognition of some kind of official position within the Empire:  rule over the lands between the Northern Adriatic and the Middle Danube and the command of the Imperial army.  Failing satisfaction in this, he besieged Rome a second time (409) – and gained the position from the Senate as unofficial overlord of an imperial usurper, Attalus. But Attalus proved not to be a compliant vassal – and not greatly competent.  He brought Rome to defeat in Northern Africa where Rome depended heavily for its grain imports.  The Romans began to complain bitterly about this new regime of Alaric and Attalus. Alaric consequently dumped Attalus (who nonetheless years later would reappear as an imperial claimant and thus greatly trouble Roman politics) and attempted to negotiate a deal with Honorius – but was out trumped diplomatically with the intervention of a Gothic rival, Sarus. Alaric sacks Rome (410) But the Roman authorities in Ravenna still could not or would not meet Alaric's political demands ... which included the removal from power of Honorius.  Failed negotiations and treachery on all sides finally determined Alaric to once again move on Rome.  Alaric's troops broke through one of the gates ... and for the next three days plundered Rome ... sending Roman citizens scattering around the rest of the Empire as refugees, where often an even worse fate (slavery, prostitution, etc.) awaited many of them. Having taken what he wanted in wealth from the city of Rome, Alaric then headed south through the rest of Italy, with the intention of taking by force the grain lands of North Africa – thus bringing some contentment to his Roman subjects.  But storms destroyed his navy – and Alaric himself was struck by fever and died in the effort (also 410), bringing to an end the life of this amazing self defined adventurer. Overall – despite his ultimate failure at establishing some kind of Gothic regime of his own, Alaric left an huge mark on his age.  Principally, he had exhausted the Roman resistance in the West, and opened the way for the various German tribes to invade Gaul and Spain.  It was his marauding of Rome that also caused the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain in 410 (to protect the Italian homeland from Alaric) – leaving Britain vulnerable to the invading Picts and Scots to the North and the Saxons to the East. Passing around the blame Paganism had by no means been eradicated in Rome with its embrace of Christianity ... and immediately the two religious groups laid blame for the city's humiliation at the feet of their opponents,  each claiming that it was the failure of the other's God or gods that had brought this curse on Rome ... with the stronger argument seeming to lie with the pagans (though Augustine would offer a very effective answer of his own with his work, The City of God, written at this time.) Whatever was the "divine cause," the net effect was a sense of curse that had fallen on Rome.  Its centuries-old image as the power center of Western Civilization was shattered ... and in its place Rome now appeared to be a poor, broken city, a mere shadow of its former greatness.   And such an image of weakness would become simply an invitation for other rising powers beyond the Empire to see the Roman Empire – at least in the West – as an easy target.  For the German tribes of north central Europe (Goths, Franks, Alemanni, Burgundians, Angles, Saxons, Frisians, Thuringians, Vandals, etc.), the rush to move into the western half of the Roman Empire now began in earnest. Alaric sacking Rome - by Andre Durenceau The Empire exhausts itself in foolish in-house power struggles These were times of tremendous turmoil for the Empire.  Various claimants to imperial power (Constantine III, Sebastianus, another Maximus, – and, again, Attalus) drained away Roman power as they fought each – at a time when Rome needed all the resources it could muster just to control the influx of Germans.  Honorius kept himself in power with the help of some able generals – and a lot of negotiating.  Finally he died in 423, leaving no heir.  The eastern emperor Theodosius III named his six year old cousin Valentinian III as Western emperor. Flavius Aëtius:  the last great Roman leader in the West (433-454) In its continuing struggle for survival, the Western Empire was well served for twenty years by the Roman general Aëtius, born of an aristocratic Italian mother and a Roman general of German ancestry.  Aëtius began his career as a general commanding Hun troops and supporting an unsuccessful contender to the imperial throne.  But his arrival before Rome with his Hun army was so impressive that Valentinian's mother, Galla Placidia, the effective ruler of Western Rome (or whatever was left of it) agreed to name him head of the Roman army in Gaul if he sent his Huns back outside Rome's borders.  This he did. He then turned his attentions to the Visigoths, forcing them to retreat to southwestern Gaul, and the Franks, retaking some of the land along the Rhine which they had seized.  One by one he faced other German tribes – forcing them also into submission. Meanwhile he had battles of his own within the Roman political circles – principally against Boniface, his primary military commander.  He eventually defeated Boniface, and was declared supreme military commander (patrician) in the West.  The he turned his attentions again to the Germans: the Burgundians (whom he decimated), the Suebi, the Visigoths, the Alans – settling each of them in more or less stable situations around the Western Empire under some form of treaty arrangement. Attila and the Huns Meanwhile another problem presented itself ... this time in the form of the Huns, and their leader Attila. Attila was born near Budapest in Central Europe to the royal family of Huns.  In 433 he became king of the Huns and began the process of turning his tribesmen into a powerful fighting instrument.  With his new army he brought the German tribes (Ostrogoths) around the Huns under their sway. Then in 448 452 Attila, having reorganized the Huns of Central Europe into a new fighting machine, marched into the very heart of the Roman Empire.  Claiming to defend the honor of Honoria, granddaughter of the Eastern Emperor Theodosius II, he pressed her cause all the way up to the gates of Constantinople.  He attacked Constantinople in 448 and was bought off with ransom money. Then he turned westward in 451 with his huge Hunnic Germanic army against the Emperor of the West, Valentinian III – again claiming to defend Honoria's honor.  He ravaged Gaul (France) and was about to lay waste to Orleans along the Loire River when a huge coalition of Romans, Visigoths, Franks and Alemanni led by Aëtius gathered to fend off Attila at the Battle of Châlons.  The devastation was vast on all sides of the conflict.  Theodoric, king of the Visigoths, was killed.  But Attila was also forced to retreat back behind the Rhine.   But the next year (452) Attila slipped past Aëtius in the Alps and descended down upon northern Italy – to burn and pillage city after city.  Aëtius, with a greatly depleted army, did what he could to slow up Attila's advance.  Attila stopped at the Po River and received a Roman delegation (including Pope Leo I) – which convinced him to return north of the Alps (hunger among his troops and an attack on his homebase in the north by other Roman legions also contributing factors).  Then before the waiting world could see what he would do next, he died suddenly at the feast celebrating his marriage to Ildico. Valentinian III brings the Roman Empire to its death in the West (454-455) Meanwhile Valentinian was growing paranoid about Aëtius's popularity and power and was easily convinced by ambition conspirators (Maximus and Heraclius) of the need to assassinate Aëtius, which in 454 Valentinian did by his own sword – thus eliminating the one source of strength Rome possessed during his emperorship.  But then when Maximus found that Valentinian did not name him as Aëtius's replacement, he turned against Valentinian and his co-conspirator Heraclius and had them both murdered … while soldiers who had come to love Aëtius, though standing close at hand, did nothing to stop the murders.    Valentinian would be followed by a rapid succession of Roman emperors, each reigning for only a few years, some only for months or even days.  Finally, only two decades later, the fiction of a Roman ruling as Western Emperor was brought to an end.  The Western Empire was gone.   Go on to the next section:  Germanic Western Europe   Miles H. Hodges