The Disintegration and Collapse of the Western Roman Empire

Germanic tribes that had settled along the Roman borders now began to play a greater role in the affairs of both the Eastern and Western Empires, which had begun to drift apart some time before Theodosius’ reign.

The first conflict between the East and the West came in 389, when a pagan Frankish general by the name of Arbogast was appointed by Emperors Theodosius and Valentinian as Comes (Governor) of Gaul. Three years later, however, when he was ordered by the Western Emperor Valentinian to resign he refused and shortly afterwards the young Valentinian was found dead in his lodgings. Theodosius’ response was to march into Italy at the head of his legions and some 20,000 Visigoths to confront Arbogast, who in the meantime had appointed a former head of the imperial chancellery as a token Emperor of the West. The conflictwas also beginning to assume a religious character. Although Theodosius himself was a follower of the Orthodox Nicean Creed both of his immediate subordinates were Arians and non-Roman citizens.

Theodosius would be the last ruler of a united empire. He died in 395 at age 50, and was hailed as the savior of the Roman Empire. Before his death, he divided the empire once again, his older son Arcadius becoming Emperor of the East and his brother Honorius the Emperor of the West. It was Stilicho and Alaric who would play the key roles in the conflict which fol­lowed. Both had risen to positions of authority and power under Emperor Theodosius, with Stilicho being appointed as the Western commander of the Roman forces and Alaric rewarded with the title “magister militum per Illyricum” or military com­mander oflllyria-Pannonia, which the Visigoths controlled any­way. Notbeing able to assume the title of Augustus (Emperor) Stilicho decided to become the power behind the throne. He already had married Theodosius’ niece (and adopted daughter) Serena, and he now claimed that Theodosius had made him guardian over both Arcadius and Honorius. Arcadius, who was of slow intellect, had fallen under the influence of Rufinus the Praetorian Prefect, an ambitious and corrupt individual. When Stilicho had him assassinated Arcadius in turn became influ­enced by a eunuch called Eutropius, who soon became Consul. The eunuch was evidently of some ability, for when the Huns invaded the Eastern Empire in 398 he led a successful campaign against them.

An increasingly significant feature of the period was the Germanic heretical Arian presence in the Roman Empire. Al­though they were tolerated for their military service the bar­barians were not given citizenship and were not constitutionally recognized as an integral part of Roman society. In 395 led by their king Alaric, the Visigoths went into open revolt and when Stilicho was sent to suppress them he failed to do so, claiming insufficient manpower. The motive for Alarics uprising was in part personal. He was angered by the symbolic (rather than a real) appointment which Theodoric had bestowed upon him especially in view of the heavy fighting which his Goths had borne in the battle of Frigidus. The real reason may have been he had entered into a conspiracy with Stilicho to control the Empire, and perhaps steer it in a different direction. The Eastern Romanian army was called to defend Constantinople, thus giv­ing Alaric a free hand to Ieadhis army into Greece. Unopposed they crossed the Peloponnese, sacked Sparta and the central plain and replenished their armaments by forcing the armorers of Epirus to provide them with new swords, pikes, helmets, and shields. In the meantime Stilicho had arrived by sea with the Western army, and with the army of the East bearing down on him from the north Alaric became trapped. At the point of vic­tory, however, Stilicho once again allowed the Goths to escape, and when he heard the news the enraged Arcadius promptly declares Stilicho “hostis publicus” or public enemy. Alaric, on the other hand, was granted the position of “magister militum” or commander in the Imperial army which he accepted.

Alaric and his Goths did not seek the destruction of the Empire, as is sometimes assumed, but Simplywanted to improve their lot within it. Not being a Roman citizen, he could not be­come part of the imperial government or be subject to its laws. Using his Goths, however, he began to exert a powerful influ­ence on events attempting to establish a Gothic kingdom within the imperial borders where they could practice Arian Christi­anity without the status of heretics, as they were considered by the Orthodox Imperial Church.

In the meantime Stilicho strengthened his position even further when his daughter Maria married the Western Emperor Honorius. Stilicho, as most Vandals, was an Arian Christian but this did not seem to have stood in the way. In 399, however, Stilicho suffered a setback. His Germanic general Gainas, who had engineered Rufinusus’ assassination, now attempted to seize Constantinople and remove Arcadius’ eunuch mentor, Eutropius. The idea was for Stilicho to take control of the East­ern Empire with Arcadius as a puppet protege, which would have left him as the strong man of the entire Empire. Unable to hold the city, Gainas and his Goths began to withdraw but he was now faced with opposition by the loyal units, and a general popular uprising. Suffering heavy casualties the Goths attempted to cross into Asia Minor but were attacked and wiped out by loyal troops who ironically were under the command of another Goth.

Nothing was heard from Alaric for unknown reasons until in 401 he set out with all his people—men, women and chil­dren—towards Italy, intent on conquest. He was again met by Stilicho in the battle of Pollentia where Alarics Goths were taken by surprise on Easter Sunday during prayers. Suffering heavy casualties they retreated with many taken prisoner, in­cluding Alaric s wife and children. Followed by Stilichos army another inconclusive battle was fought near Verona where Alaric was allowed to withdraw on condition he leave Italy and return to the Balkans.

The Eastern EmperorArcadius died at the age of 31 and Stilicho s ambition to control the fate of the Empire came to an end. Honorius had become aware of Stilicho s plans and now ordered his arrest. After seeking refuge in a church in Ravenna, Stilicho gave himself up fully confident that he would not be harmed. Charged with treason he and his son were executed, and this was a signal for another massacre of barbarian auxiliary troops and their families. On hearing the news of Stilicho s death, Alaric marched on Rome where the Senate still presided in a legal capacity. The ranks of his army become swollen by the remnants of the Gothic, Hunnish and Vandal auxiliaries which had escaped the massacre, together with the prisoners of war who had fought against Stilicho. Left without an effective leader the main Roman army in Italybecame immobilized, and in September Alaric surrounded Rome. Hunger and disease broke out in December and a large ransom was agreed upon— 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver, 4,000 silk tunics, 3,000 scarlet hides and 3,000 pounds of pepper. Much of the precious metal came from stripping statues, churches and pagan temples of their ornaments, as well as the melting down of works of art.

By now the divided Empire was in deep conflict, particu­larly within its two main institutions—the military and the Christian Churches. The main fault line within the armed forces occurred between the regular citizen legions and the hired bar­barian auxiliaries.

The whole Empire lay in shambles, particularly in the West. Gaul, Britain and Spain were controlled by rebellious gen­erals, and the army in Italy was totally demoralized. The East was in turmoil as well following the death of Arcadius. Seeing his opportunity, Alaric now proposed to swear loyalty and to defend the Western Empire if in return Honorius would cede the Provinces of Venetia, Dalmatia and Noricum (roughly today s Austria and Slovenia) to the Visigoths. When Honorius refused Alaric counterproposed that the Visigoths would be content with Noricum alone, but Honorius would still hear nothing of the generous compromise. Employing Stilicho s strategy of using an emperor as a front for legitimate authority, Alaric decided to have a Roman nobleman by the name of Priscus Attalus declared Emperor by the Senate in December of 409. It soon became clear that Attalus was not content to serve as Alaric s puppet and he began to act on his own initiative which proved to be disastrous. Alaric had decided to march on Honorius^, capital in Ravena to pressure for a settlement and realizing the hopelessness of his situation Honorius proposed a system of dual emperorships for the West which Alaric ac­cepted. Attalus would hear nothing of it and the offer was soon withdrawn, when a relief force of 4,000 men from the East landed in Ravena to support Honorius. Unable to take the port by StormAlaric deposed Attalus in 410 and once again marched on Rome, after beating-off an attack by the pro-Honorius bar­barian general Sarus. For the third time Alaric drew up his men outside of walls of Rome, and on August 24 his men burst into the city and began a three-day sack but sparing churches and other Christian buildings. Meantime Heraclius the Governor of Africa who had declared his support for Honorius landed with troops in southern Italy, but marching to meet him Alaric contracted a violent fever, and in a few days at the age of 40, he was dead. Legend has it that his men buried him under the river Busento with much treasure, none of which has yet been found.

Alaric was replaced as King by his brother-in-law Athaulf who made peace with the Romans and married Honorius^, sister, Galla Placida. In 411 he suppressed an uprising in southern Gaul and by 413 the last of the revolts in the West were put down by Honorius^, commander Constantius. Soon after Athaulfwas as­sassinated, and succeeded by one Wallia who was sent by Con­stan tius to clear Spain of the Vandals, Alans and Suevi who had previously invaded the Iberian Peninsula following a looting rampage in Gaul. In 418 the Visigoths were finally granted a home in the Province of Aquitania Secunda in western Gaul and under King Theodoric began to settle the swampy area which today is known for its fine Bordeaux wines. Aprecedent had been established some half a Centurybefore by the Franks, who as Teodorati^w (allies) were allowed to settle on the Roman side of the lower Rhine River in return for military service. Also a few years before the Visigoths’ grant the Burgundians had been confirmed in possessions in Gaul, which today is also the home of fine French wines. By now foreign troops were re­placing the Western Empire s citizen-soldiers, many of whom had found ways to avoid conscription. The Western economy also no longer had a tax-base to support an army, and in 444 EmperorValentinian III announced that the treasury could no longer pay the troops. Many Roman soldiers deserted to join Attila on his raiding expeditions and others simply melted away into the countryside.³⁵

Constantinople and the Eastern Empire on the Otherhand were thriving. During the period 424-438 an educational in­stitution in Constantinople was transformed into a Christian university intended to compete against the largely pagan Uni­versity of Athens. Emperor Theodosius, who succeeded his fa­ther Arcadius, ordered the compilation of the Theodocian Codex, a streamlined collection of all laws enacted in the East and West. Accepted by both emperors on the 15 th of February 438 it did not achieve the desired unity of the Empire one of its main objectives since both parts simply continued to practice their own legislation. The West had remained Latin while the East was becoming Greek, although it was still referred to as the Roman Empire. In what follows the term “Byzantium” is therefore not used and we refer to the eastern part of the Empire by its proper (Greek) name as Romania which was ruled by the Emperor of the Romans.³⁶

Another reason for the lack of unity lay, ironically, in the introduction of Christianity as the official religion by Constan­tine to replace the myriad of pagan cults and worships which had become common. The first split occurred between the offi­cial OrthodoxNicean Creed and Arianism, the latter spreading to the Germanic tribes and contributing to their hostility to­wards the Roman Empire. Now a third variant of Christianity sprang up, which was also declared a heresy by the Imperial au­thorities. The Bishop (Patriarch) of Constantinople Nestorius had come to the conclusion that Christ was not part human and therefore tainted by imperfections. Rather than being a sin­gle person part human and part divine, He possessed two dis­tinct persons—human and divine. The view gained the adher­ence ofEmperor Theodosius who summoned a Council of the Church on 22 June, 431 at Ephesus to clear up the matter. Not waiting for the arrival of all the delegates, the Patriarch of Alexandria Cyril proposed that Nestorius was to answer to the charges of heresy. With the aid of bribery all 198 delegates pres­ent declared an anathema on Nestorius dismissing him as Pa­triarch. Theodosius, who by now had seen the error of his ways, banished him to the desert, first to Petra in Arabia and then to an oasis in Libya, where Nestorius soon died. His doctrine, however, did not die with him but would play an important role in the centuries to come.

Soon after Nestorius^, death, yet a third major heresy ap­peared, one which would split society even further—the so- called Monophysite heresy. Contrary to the other two inter­pretations of the nature of Jesus Christ, an archimandrit by the name ofEutyches began to preach that Jesus possessed only a single nature, which was totally divine. Also pronounced a heretic, Eutyches appealed to the monks of Constantinople, the Bishop of Rome and the Emperor himself, unleashing a storm of some consequence. In October 451 the Fourth Oec­umenical Council was held at Chalcedon and was attended by virtually all the bishops of the Empire. Again Eutyches was con­demned together with Nestorius, and a statement was drawn up reiterating the Nicean creed that Jesus Christ was one person, but possessing two perfect natures—one of God and one of man. Inadvertently, the Council also revived the rivalry between the bishops of Constantinople and Rome. A controversy had existed between Rome and the remaining five bishops per­taining to the claimed pre-eminence of the old Roman capital. The bishops of Rome had maintained that they were the suc­cessors of Peter, claiming that Jesus had pronounced him to be the rock on which the Church was to be built thus making him the senior apostle.³⁷ This was based on Matthew (16: 18-19), where it was claimed that Christ had founded his Church on Peter and had entrusted to him alone the “keys of the kingdom of heaven.” The claim was denied by the other bishops, who pointed out that there was no evidence that Peter had been ap­pointed to such a position.

In the early days of the Church all important decisions were made by a council in Jerusalem, where Peter participated but did not preside, and Peter himself had never made the claim nor had Paul made any reference to Peter as the supreme head. Moreover, Rome had never held a special position in Christi­anity as Paul preached mainly in the East in Greek and not Latin with Greekbecoming the language of the Church. The claim of the Popes Supremacywas rejected by the Council of Chalse- don which declared the Bishop of Constantinople as the chief Patriarch, and placed all eastern provinces exclusively under his administration. His influence also began to extend into the world of politics. With the death of Marcian the last Emperor of the Theodosian dynasty, the chief of the Eastern army Aspar—an Alan and an Arian—placed the Imperial household s steward Leo on the throne. After being duly acclaimed by the legions, a second Ceremonywas performed on the 7th of Feb­ruary 457 when for the first time an Emperor was crowned by a Patriarch, in the Cathedral of the HolyWisdom. Henceforth, the Eastern Emperors would have to acknowledge a greater role of the Church in the affairs of state.

The Bishop of Rome would assume even greater powers. When in 476 the Western Roman Empire came to a final end with the abdication of the Western Emperor, Romulus Augus- tulus, Pope Simplicius was invested with temporal powers in addition to his ecclesiastical authority, matching those reserved for emperors. Then with Pope Simplicius’ successor Felix III, a 35-year long schism followed between the East and the West­ern Churches. The background to Church and state divisions lay in the continuing disintegration of Roman military power in the West. Rome had been sacked three times in a relatively short period of time by the Goths and their allies, and now a new threat appeared, that of the Vandals. After being defeated in northern Spain by the Visigoths (who were serving Emperor Honorius) the Vandals and the Alans had settled in the south in what is today Andalusia (Vandalusia). The Roman general Boniface had been appointed as military commander of Africa by Valentinian III, Honorius’ successor, but for some reason Boniface was ordered to return to Rome, and when he refused in 427 Valentinian sent an army against him, which was promptly defeated. A second army was more successful, cap­turing the main North African cities of Carthage and Hippo Regius.

Boniface was in a difficult situation and he decided to ap­proach the Vandal leader Gaiseric for help, in return for half of North Africa. Gaiseric agreed, and on May 429 began to cross the Straits of Gibraltarwith 80,000 men, women and children. Once in Africa, Gaiseric realized that there was no real oppo­sition and he could do as he pleased. Pillaging his way through western NorthAfrica he turned on Boniface in 431 and defeated his forces.³⁸ A reinforcing army sent by Valentinian was also de­feated in the following year. The Vandals already had a reputa­tion as looters and pillagers, their name surviving to this day in the English language.³⁹

Booty, however, does not seem to have been their sole ob­jective. As many of the Germanic tribes the Vandals had been converted to Arian Christianitywhich they proceeded to prac­tice with intense fervor. Unlike other Germanic tribes, the Van­dals rejected much of Roman culture which they considered to be depraved and un-Christian. When Carthage was captured for example Gaiseric ordered the closing of all brothels and the liberation of slaves. Reportedlyborn a slave himself, he carried a great dislike for the Roman aristocracy.

EmperorValentinian IIIwas assassinated in 455 and Gais- eric who had built a fleet and had mastered the western Mediter­ranean, decided to invade Italy. Capturing Sicily and landing his force on the mainland he proceeded to march on to Rome launching a persecution of the Orthodox Christians and all oth­ers who did not conform to the Arian creed. Now, for a fourth time in the century, a foreign barbarian army stood at the gates of Rome. Gaiseric was met by Leo the Bishop of Rome, who came out to meet him and extracted a promise that the popu­lation would be spared if no resistance was offered. For the next 14 days Rome was methodically stripped of whatever of value still remained, and the Vandals returned to Carthage loaded with booty. The Eastern Empire did not fare better than its Western counterpart. In 468 Emperor Leo decided to launch an expedition against Carthage to reclaim the lost territory. He arrived with a large fleet and seeing he was badly outnumbered Gaiseric asked for, and received, a 5-day period of grace in which he was to prepare the surrender of his forces. He used the time to prepare a line of fire ships which were launched unexpectedly against the Romanian vessels. Most of the Imperial fleet was destroyed, and the survivors limped back to Constantinople in disarray. Sixyears Iaterwhenpeace finally came, Leo’s successor Emperor Zeno signed an agreement with Gaeseric confirming the Vandal possessions in North Africa.

Following the Vandal rampage a greater threat would soon be unleashed against what remained of the Roman Empire. The main part of the Huns and their Alan allies had followed the Goths westward and settled in what is today the Hungarian plain. With their army of virtually invincible mounted archers, they quickly brought the Germanic Gepids and Slavic Veneti under their control, forming a multiethnic federation. The pres­ence of Slavs, for example, is revealed by Slavic terms in the Hun language. Priscus of Panium, a member of an embassy sent from Constantinople to the Huns in 448-49, mentions a people who recognized Hunnish overlordship but were “neither Huns or Goths.” The Imperial guests were offered a honey brew called “medos,” from the Slavic “med” denoting both honey and the alcoholic beverage derived from it. Also, the ChroniclerJordanes mentions that the feast which was held at Attila’s grave in 453 was referred to as a “strava,” in Slavic meaning “food” or a “meal.” Millet was called “proso” by the Huns, another Slavic term.

By Attila’s time most of the Huns who settled in Hungary had adopted a sedentary lifestyle, their economy being fueled by booty and tribute from Constantinople. In return they were obligated to provide military service and protection. As the Goths and Sarmatians before them, they had become Roman “federati” or paid allied mercenaries but fighting under their own commanders.⁴⁰ Theyhad proven their military capability by defeating a Gothic chieftain by the name of Gainas, who was also a Roman commander but had turned against EmperorAr- cadius. As proof of their victory, the Huns sent Gainas’ head as a present to Arcadius. Also in 425 they hired themselves out to fight in Italy under Flavius Actius but their first spectacular vic­tory over the Germanic tribes would occur in Gaul. Shortly after Gaiseric s Vandal invasion of Italy, the Burgundians led by their king Gundahar had invaded Gaul through the Ardenne Mountains. Led by Flavius Actius, the Huns attacked and com­pletely destroyed the Burgundian forces with only a remnant managing to make their way to southern France.⁴¹

The relationship between the Huns and the Empire, how­ever, began to change. By 440 they had developed two main grievances against Constantinople; the annual tribute had not been paid, and the Bishop of Margus had not been handed over for punishment. The charge was that the good bishop had sent men north into Hun territory to plunder royal Sarmatian tombs, and absconding with some precious (and sacred) artifacts. The Eastern Imperial armies at this time were fighting on two fronts, in the west against the Vandals and in the Caucasus Mountains to halt a Persian invasion of Armenia. Seeing their opportunity, in 440 Attila and his brother Bleda invaded the Balkans and in 447 following Bledas death Attila turned against Constanti­nople itself. The defenses of the capital had been built to with­stand any siege and no army had breached the walls of the city.⁴² The impregnable Theodosian walls and towers, however, had been severely damaged by a massive earthquake and Attila sought to take advantage of the destruction to attack the wealthy city. Before his forces could reach their destination the damage was repaired by a sustained 24-hour effort and the frustrated Hun forces turned their attention elsewhere.

As head of the Hun political system, Attila now controlled some five million square kilometers—territory greater than anything seen since the height of the unified Roman Empire. Priscus reports that Attilas empire stretched from the Baltic Sea to the Balkans and “all of Scythia” to the east, something which is confirmed by archaeological excavations. After a brief campaign in Gaul in 451, as the 4th Ecumenical Council of the Church was sitting in Chalsedon, he was confronted by a com­bined force of Visigoths, Franks, Burgundians and Western Roman legions, some 25 kilometers south of Chalons. The en­suing battle ended in a draw with both sides suffering heavy losses and Attila decided to withdraw to his home base in Hun­gary. The following year he renewed his campaign by attacking Italy and, sweeping all before him, began to advance on Rome. Due to disease and a shortage of food Attila halted on the banks of the river Mincio where he was met by Pope Leo “The Great.” The Pope reminded Attila that he could suffer the same fate as Alaric if he raised his hand against the Holy City, and once more the superstitious Attila withdrew to the plains of Hungary, where a year later he died during the night from a blood hem­orrhage following his marriage to the Germanic princess Ildico. The booty and the tribute dried up, and supported by Roma­nian forces the Slavic and Germanic tribes turned against the Huns and inflicted a crushing defeat on them. The bulk of the Hun cavalry retreated to the east with others accepting Roman service, where they were absorbed by the local populations.

During half a century of plunder and tribute, the Huns and their allied tribes acquired much wealth, most of which was not found after Attilas death. Personal wealth, however, was not Attilas motive for the looting expeditions and the reign of terror. As observed by Priscus during an invitation to a Hun feast:

While for us there were lavishly prepared dishes served on silver platters, for Attila there was only meat on a wooden plate.... Gold and silver goblets were handed to the men at the feast whereas his cup was of wood. His clothing was plain and differed not at all from that of the rest, except it was clean. Neither the sword that hung at his side, nor the fastening of his barbarian boots nor his horse s bridle were adorned like those of the Scythians (sic) with gold or precious stones or anything of value.

It also seems that Attila avoided agricultural products such as bread, preferring traditional nomad fare of meat and milk.

DuringAttilas campaigns, Germanic and Sarmatian forces had become a substantial part of the Western defenses and many “Roman” commanders were in fact barbarians. The position of Emperor had by now no meaning in the West, and in a dramatic move in 476 a barbarian Roman general by the name of Odoacer marched into Rome and deposed the boy Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Emperor of the Romans. The event is often taken as the nominal “Fall of the Roman Empire,” but the steady decline of the West which had begun some two centuries before was not yet over.

In the east the Empire also had to turn to Germanic tribes for assistance. A revolt had broken out in Syria and Emperor Zeno approached Theodoric, the leader of the Ostrogoths, for help. The Gothic army defeated the rebels and Theodorics stature began to rise. He was no stranger to Graeco-Roman ways. Born around 454 he had spent ten years of his boyhood as a hostage in Constantinople, although as most good Ger­manic Arians he scorned Greeklearning and remained illiterate all his life.⁴³ In 481 Theodoric was proclaimed King of the Os­trogoths and almost immediately entered into a conflict with Emperor Zeno. As other Germanic tribes, the Ostrogoths were trying to develop a sovereign status for themselves within the Empire, where they could practice their customs and form of Christianity without persecution. Their opportunity came when Emperor Zeno decided to kill two birds with one stone; send the troublesome Ostrogoths against Odoacer, who had assumed all the power in Italy while paying lip-service to Im­perial authority. In early 488 the entire Ostrogoth nation packed their belongings and began the long trek across central Europe. Arriving in Italythe Goths were confronted by Odoacer s army which in 489 suffered a defeat in the battle of Sontius, followed by a second defeat at Verona. Odoacer managed to recover, however, and following in the battle of Adda it was Theodoric who suffered defeat.

The two armies were now in a stalemate and Theodoric proposed to Odoacer that both should rule Italy jointly from a common palace in the imperial capital at Ravenna. The trusting Odoacer accepted, but the offer was a treacherous ruse. On 5 March 493, Theodoric entered Ravenna, and several days after installing himself he invited Odoacer, together with his son, brother, and all the chief officers to a banquet in his part of the palace. Once the guests were seated Theodoric approached Odoacer, drew his long sword and Struckhim on the shoulder, severing him in half. This was the signal for Theodorics guards to turn on Odoacer’s party, which in the ensuing battle was wiped out to a man, leaving Theodoric to rule in Italy as a vassal of the Eastern Emperor.

Theodoric s Goths were now the sole power in northern Italy, and he turned to the task of finding arable land for his peo­ple. All good land was already occupied, mainly by large landowners who began to fear a massive expropriation of their holdings. Theodoric, however, hit on a plan which gained the support of the Roman nobility and also gave his people land. According to Roman law the cities and the landowners had to contribute one-third of their resources for billeting troops, the “illatio tertiorum” land tax. Instead the Italian landowners were made to pay the tax into Theodorics treasury, which in turn was used to purchase the land from the landowners. No land was confiscated, and the landowners suffered no loss since the tax had to be paid in any case. As the Bishop of Paria Ennodius wrote to Theodoric: “You have enriched the countless Goths with generous grants of land, and yet the Romans have hardly felt it. The victors desire nothing more, and the conquered have felt no less.”

Theodoric continued to rule Italywith an easy hand. The official Orthodox Church was not persecuted, the Popes au­thority was not threatened, and the inhabitants were allowed to live as before with all estates intact. According to Procopius, the main historian of the Empire at this time, Theodoric “was exceedingly careful to observe justice, he preserved the laws on a sure basis, he protected the land and kept it safe from barbar­ians dwelling around, and attained the highest possible degree of wisdom and manliness.”

A glowing tribute indeed, if perhaps a bit exaggerated. Theodoric died in August 526 after a 33-year peaceful and pros­perous reign. He left a black mark behind him—the garroting of his Master of Offices and Roman philosopher Boethius two years before his own death. Apossible reason could have been that Boethius was in favor of reconciling the schism in the official Church, something which the Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian was working towards. Theodoric on the other hand benefited from the split, since the hostility of the Italian upper classes to Greek Constantinople tended to make them his allies. Boethius’ tracts served to propagate Imperial unity and hence anti-Gothicsentiments arousingTheodorics suspicions as to Boethius’ true intentions. Boethius’ life ambition to translate Greekworks into Latin was left unfulfilled, contributing to the rise of the DarkAges which would soon envelope Western Eu­rope.

With the forced abdication of the Western Emperor Ro­mulus Augustus and the establishment ofTheodorics virtually independent Gothic kingdom in Italy whatever had remained of the Western Roman Empire came to an end. Or so it is at times considered by West-centric historians who refer to the events as “The Fall of the Roman Empire.” Nothing, however, can be further from the truth. The decline of the West was in fact a slow disintegration of the state into its demoralized and conquered parts, a process which has been explained by histo­rians in moral, economic, political and sociological terms.⁴⁴ The collapse is most discernible in the gradual decline of mili­tary might, the collapse of the small farmer and the disappear­ance of the peasant-soldier, caused by a slow disintegration of the socio-economic fabric. Certainly the far-flung boundaries of the Empire such as the Rhine and Danube rivers were diffi­cult to defend, but this had always been the case. Nor were the barbarian invasions and the sackings of Rome by themselves the final straw. Italyhad been invaded in the past by the Cartha­ginians under Hannibal and by the Gauls before him, who even managed to enter and sack Rome. Each time the Romans rose to adversity by defeating the enemy, occupying his territory and expanding Roman rule and power. By the 4th century the Empire had also adopted an effective defense strategy by forming first-line fortified garrisons which were backed by field armies stationed in the interior and able to respond to an in­cursion of the frontier in a timely fashion. The idea was for the garrison to stall the enemy and exhaust as much of his supplies as possible until a field army could launch a counter-offensive.

The Strategyworked at first against relatively unsophisti­cated barbarian tribes who had difficulties standing against dis­ciplined Roman legions drilled in military maneuvers. As the Empire grew in wealth and social stratification the morale of the Roman citizen legions began to decline. The officers of the army became politicized and ambitious for government office. Exemptions began to be introduced to conscription, from bakers to Senators, and recruits often had to be locked up at night to prevent desertions. Veterans also found themselves re­ceiving inferior land grants and smaller pension payments. As patriotism and personal commitment decreased and bribery and corruption increased, conscription became more difficult. Men were Onlyprepared to fight for land and good pay, and the West was running out of both. The solution hit upon was to depend more and more on barbarian “feodorati” who were pre­pared to fight for the Romans as allies, supplementing their pay with loot and booty. By the 2nd half of the 4th century the prac­tice became wide-spread, with barbarian chiefs acquiring ex­perience in Roman strategies and tactics as “magister militia” commanders. Then with the Visigoth sack of Rome in 410 what­ever was left of the Western Roman administrative structure collapsed. With unpaid salaries desertions became common, the men’s wages at times being stolen by their own officers. In 444 EmperorValentinian III admitted that there was no public money to pay the troops and many of them joined Attila s forces for a share of the loot. The last Western Romanian armies Simplywithered away and as Odoacer was deposing the last Western Emperor in 476 messages were coming from those ^aIimitani^w or border guards who were still loyal, pleading for their back pay.⁴⁵