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Theodoric,
King of the Visigoths |
Goths
Goths,
ancient Teutonic people, who in the 3rd to the 6th
century AD were an important power in the Roman world. The Goths were the
first Germanic peoples to become Christians. According to the 6th-century
Gothic historian Jordanes, the Goths came from Sweden across the Baltic Sea to
the basin of the Wis³a (Vistula) River. By the 3rd century AD they had
migrated as far south as the lower Danube, around the Black Sea. During that
century Gothic armies and fleets ravaged Thrace, Dacia, and cities in Asia
Minor and along the Aegean coast. They captured and plundered Athens in 267 to
268, and threatened Italy. For about a century, wars between the Roman
emperors and Gothic rulers devastated the Balkan territory and the
northeastern Mediterranean region. Other tribes joined the Goths, and under
the great king Ermanaric in the 4th century, a kingdom was established that
extended from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.
About 370 the Goths divided into
two separate groups. The Ostrogoths (Low Latin Ostrogothae,"the
eastern Goths") inhabited a large kingdom east of the Dniester River on
the shores of the Black Sea (part of modern Ukraine and Belarus). The
Visigoths (Low Latin Visigothi,"the good Goths" or "the
noble Goths") were the western Goths, with a domain extending from the
Dniester to the Danube rivers.
About 100 years after the birth of Christ an ancient Teutonic people began
moving out of northern Europe. In time they overran the Roman Empire. The
first of these barbarians to conquer Rome were the Visigoths, or West Goths.
Where the Goths first came
from is not definitely known. According to their folklore, their people had
once lived far to the north, on the shores and islands of what is now Sweden.
After long, slow wanderings through the forests of western Russia, the Goths
reached the shores of the Black Sea. In 100 years of contact with the Romans,
they learned many things, especially the Christian religion.
Christianity was spread among
them by a converted Goth, a saintly scholar named Ulfilas. For more than 40
years he labored, first making a Gothic alphabet so that he could translate
the Bible and then teaching his people the new faith. This Bible translated by
Ulfilas has great historical value because it is centuries older than the
earliest writing to survive in any other Teutonic language.
For a time the Goths ruled a
great kingdom north of the Danube River and the Black Sea. Then, in AD 375,
the Huns swept into Europe from Asia. They conquered the Ostrogoths, or East
Goths, and forced the Visigoths to seek refuge across the Danube within the
boundaries of the Roman Empire.
In a battle fought near the
city of Adrianople in 378, the Visigoths defeated and murdered Emperor Valens.
For a time they lived peaceably on Roman territory. On the death of Emperor
Theodosius in 395, they rose in rebellion under their ambitious young king
Alaric and overran a large part of the Eastern Empire. Rome itself fell into
the hands of the Visigoths in 410. Alaric led the attack.
Alaric's successors led their
people out of Italy and set up a powerful kingdom in southern Gaul and Spain.
In the year 507 the Visigoths in Gaul were defeated by the Franks and were
forced beyond the Pyrenees. For 200 years their kingdom in Spain flourished.
In 711, when the Moors crossed to Spain from Africa, the Visigothic kingdom
was destroyed.
The Ostrogoths for a time
formed part of the vast horde that followed the king of the Huns, Attila. They
settled in the lands south of Vienna when the Hunnish kingdom fell apart.
Their national hero was Theodoric the Great, a powerful and romantic figure
who became king in 474. As a boy he had been sent as a hostage to
Constantinople (now Istanbul) and had been educated there. In 488 he invaded
Italy with the permission of the emperor at Constantinople. After several
years of warfare, Theodoric captured and killed Odoacer. Odoacer was a
barbarian who had usurped the Roman power and had founded a powerful kingdom
that included all Italy together with lands north and east of the Adriatic
Sea. Theodoric's reign was one of the ablest and best in this period. He
failed, however, largely because no permanent union was effected between the
barbarians and the Christian-Roman population. All his wise plans for bringing
this about proved futile because the Ostrogoths, in common with most German
barbarians, had been converted to Arianism, a heretical form of Christianity,
and so were hated by the orthodox.
After Theodoric died in 526,
the generals of the Eastern Roman Empire reconquered Italy (see
Justinian I). After fighting a last battle near Mount Vesuvius in 553, the
Ostrogoths marched out of Italy. They merged with other barbarian hordes north
of the Alps and disappeared as a people from history.
VISIGOTHS
In 376 the Visigoths, threatened
by the Huns, sought the protection of the Roman emperor Valens, and they were
given permission to settle into the empire's province of Moesia, which was
south of the Danube. When Gothic soldiers were maltreated by Roman officers,
the Goths revolted, and the resulting war climaxed in a decisive battle in 378
near Adrianople (now Edirne, Turkey), in which Valens was killed. The
victorious Goths then threatened Constantinople (present-day Ýstanbul).
Theodosius I, who succeeded Valens as emperor in the East, made peace with the
Goths and incorporated their army into the Roman forces. From that time on,
the Visigoths were an important influence in the Roman Empire. Many who had
settled in Moesia became farmers and were known as Moeso-Goths. Ulfilas,
bishop of the Goths, translated the Bible into Gothic and was largely
responsible for the conversion of the Goths to a form of Christianity called
Arianism.
On the death of Theodosius in
395, the Visigoths renounced their allegiance to Rome and chose Alaric I as
their ruler. Alaric invaded Greece and then Italy, and in 410 he captured and
pillaged the city of Rome. In that same year he was succeeded by Ataulf, who
led the Visigoths across the Pyrenees mountain range into Spain.
From 415 to 418, under the next
ruler, Wallia, the Visigoths extended their realm over a great part of Spain
and southern Gaul, with Toulouse as their capital. Wallia was succeeded by the
reputed son of Alaric, Theodoric I, who died fighting as an ally of Rome
against the Huns at the Battle of Châlons. The most notable of the Spanish
Visigothic kings was Euric, who reigned from about 420 to 484. He was a son of
Theodoric I. Under Euric, who declared his rule to be independent of any
federation with Rome, the kingdom of Toulouse included almost all of Spain and
most of Gaul west of the Rhône River and south of the Loire River. Euric
introduced many aspects of Roman civilization and drew up a code of law
combining Roman and German elements. The kingdom was, however, continually
beset by both internal and external difficulties. The kingship was nominally
elective, and the powerful Visigothic nobles stood against attempts to found a
hereditary royal house. Externally, the Byzantine Empire and the Franks
menaced the Visigothic lands. In order to instill greater loyalty in his
rebellious Roman and Christian subjects, Alaric II in 506 introduced the
collection of laws known as the Breviary of Alaric. A year later, Clovis I,
king of the Franks, defeated the Visigoths at the Battle of Vouillé, in which
Alaric II was killed. Most of Provence was separated from the Gothic lands,
and the Visigothic kingdom was confined almost entirely to Spain. Despite the
attempts of a long line of Gothic kings to hold the kingdom together, the
power of the Visigoths steadily declined. The last king, Roderick, was
defeated and probably killed by the Muslims in the Battle of Río Barbate in
711. By 713 Spain was partially conquered by the Moors, and the Visigothic
power survived in the independent Christian kingdom of Asturias.
The Visigoths
The first Germanic people to penetrate the frontiers of the empire were the
West Goths , or Visigoths. The Goths had originally lived
in southern
Scandinavia and around the Baltic. But moving south in
the second century they had split into two groups, the East Goths, or
Ostrogoths, who had remained in southern Russia to live off the land as an army
of conquerors, and the West Goths, or Visigoths, who drove the Romans out of
Dacia (modern Rumania). The Goths were receptive to Roman ways of life,
developed a taste for Roman luxuries, and adopted the Arian form of
Christianity. Many were recruited into the Roman army, and even took offices of
state in
Constantinople itself. Thus, when the westward drive of a
Mongolian people called the Huns from the steppes of
Russia
overwhelmed the Ostrogoths, the emperor Valens of Constantinople was not
unwilling to permit the Visigoths to move into the empire in 376 to defend its
Danube frontier. Apparently outraged at the treatment
they had received from imperial officials, the Visigoths took up arms against
the emperor, who was defeated and killed at the battle of
Adrianople in 378. His successor Theodosius I placated
the Visigoths with gifts of land and payment of tribute, and they in return
furnished recruits to the imperial army. Relations with the Visigoths
deteriorated after the death of Theodosius I in 395, when the empire was divided
again between his two sons, Arcadius (reigned 395-408) who inherited the Eastern
Roman Empire and Honorius (reigned 395-423) who inherited the Western Roman
Empire. Furious at the conditions of military service imposed on his people,
Alaric, the leader of the Visigoths, led his troops against Constantinople in
395, but was persuaded to divert his army into Greece, capturing Athens. Alaric,
after declaring himself king of the Visigoths, led them north into
Illyricum (
Yugoslavia
). In
Italy
, Honorius sought seclusion and luxury in the city of
Ravenna
, which was well protected by broad marshes, leaving his regent, the Vandal
soldier Stilicho, to deal with Alaric's invasion of
Italy
after 403. Stilicho used strategic cunning as well as bribery to keep the
Visigoths away from Rome; but, after Stilicho was unjustly executed on charges
of treason, Alaric was able to besiege and finally in August 410 to capture and
sack Rome. It was eight hundred years since a foreign invader had broken through
the walls of
Rome
. "The world sinks into ruin," wrote
St. Jerome
. "Yes! but shameful to say our sins still live and flourish. The renowned city,
the capital of the Ro- man Empire, is swallowed up in one tremendous fire; and
there is no part of the earth where Romans are not in exile." Fortunately,
Jerome was exaggerating. Few people were killed; the houses of nobles were
plundered. The Forum was set ablaze, but all the churches were spared. Alaric
even organized a fine procession to Saint Peter's to present the treasures he
had saved for the pope. Alaric died shortly afterwards, and a river was
temporarily diverted to provide a secure grave for him in its bed. The Visigoths
then moved on to southern
France
and
Spain
, where they finally settled. Al- though they were tolerant of the Catholic
worship in the areas they con- trolled, they were isolated from the Latin
population for almost two centuries by their refusal to give up Arianism. They
were finally converted toward the end of the sixth century
OSTROGOTHS
When the Huns swept
into Europe about 370, many of the Ostrogoths were conquered and compelled to
aid their conquerors. They joined the king of the Huns, Attila, in his
expedition against Gaul in 451 and many Ostrogoths were killed by the
Visigoths at the Battle of Châlons. When the Huns were finally forced back,
the Ostrogoths again became independent. With the permission of Rome, they
settled in Pannonia, an area now including western Hungary, northern Croatia,
Slovenia, and eastern Austria. They were joined by other Ostrogoths who had
taken refuge within the Roman Empire at the coming of the Asians. In
474Theodoric, the greatest of the Ostrogothic kings, was elected to the
throne. After various periods of warfare and alliance with Zeno, the Byzantine
emperor, Theodoric invaded Italy in 488 (with the consent and advice of the
emperor), slew Odoacer, the first barbarian ruler of Italy, and became ruler
himself. He held the power although not the title of the Western Roman
emperors. A Roman consul was given nominal authority, and the two peoples
lived together amicably, with Roman culture greatly influencing the Teutons.
The
unity of Romans and Goths could be preserved only by a ruler of the stature of
Theodoric. After his death in 526, disruption in Italy became so violent that
in 535 the Byzantine emperor Justinian I sent his general Belisarius to
conquer the peninsula. The Byzantines broke the Gothic power in 555, and the
throne of Italy was filled by the exarchs (Byzantine governors) of Ravenna.
The
Ostrogoths themselves gradually became absorbed into other tribes, such as the
Alani, Vandals, Franks, and Burgundians, who had established themselves in the
dominions of the old Roman Empire.
The Ostrogoths
Once they had broken loose from Hun control, the Ostrogoths moved slowly toward
northern
Italy
. Their leader was Theodoric, one of the most talented leaders of all the
Germanic peoples. He had spent ten years in
Constantinople as a hostage, knew both Latin and Greek,
and had developed a profound admiration for the ancient civilization he had been
forcibly acquainted with. He had not, however, lost his tribal skills, for after
conquering most of northern
Italy
, he demonstrated his ability with the broad- sword by slicing in two his rival
for control of
Italy
and his ruthlessness by exterminating the rival's family. Theodoric then showed
more constructive statesmanship. From 493 till his death in 526, he governed
Italy
and large parts of the Balkans as the regent of the emperor in
Constantinople and as King of the Goths, establishing
both in title and in actuality a successful policy of racial coexistence. The
Goths took one-third of the land and houses and all military duties. The Romans
kept the rest, and devoted themselves to peaceful pursuits. Gothic law applied
to Goths, Roman law to Romans. Intermarriage was forbidden. Although Theodoric
was an Arian Christian, he tolerated the Catholic religion and even the Jewish
and other faiths. "Religion is not something we can command," he said. "No one
can be forced into a faith against his will." He showed great concern for Roman
culture. He restored monuments that had fallen into ruin, including the Coliseum
in
Rome
, where circuses were still presented. But it was at the capital of
Ravenna
that the Ostrogothic king showed the heights of civilization that could be
achieved with the fusion of Germanic and Roman skills.
Ravenna
had been made the capital of the western part of the
Roman Empire because of its excellent harbor and because
it was protected by wide marshes. It was a city of islands, canals, bridges, and
causeways, looking across lagoons to the
Adriatic Sea . Here Theodoric found that the Roman
artists had brought to perfection one of the most demanding and un- compromising
of all artistic forms, the art of mosaic; and it was for this achievement that
his Ravenna would be principally remembered. In mosaic the artist must set
enormous numbers of tiny bits of marble, enamel, glass, and colored stone into
damp cement. He cannot produce those subtleties of expression possible in an oil
painting, but must seek an overall effect usually visible only from a distance.
But in return he is able to use the play of light not only upon the many
different angles of the tiny mosaic stones but within the mosaic itself. In
Ravenna
, the artists were developing new materials for this art, applying gold leaf to
glass cubes and covering them again with a thin film of glass, using metallic
oxides to produce variations of color, or employing mother of pearl to produce
just the right effect of creamy perfection. In the windows, they often used
thick sheets of alabaster, so that the entering light already had a soft opacity
before playing upon the planes of yellow marble and the complexity of the mosaic
surface. In Ravenna, they constructed buildings as though they were galleries
meant to display mosaics, with bare wafls designed to permit the artist to
create the largest, most complex compositions yet attempted in that exacting
form of art. One last advantage is still evident today; the process is almost
permanent. Unlike frescoes, which fade fairly rapidly, many of the mosaics in
Ravenna
have required no restoration, and shine as brightly today as in the sixth
century.
The building that turned Theodoric to the use of mosaic for his churches and
palaces was the tiny mausoleum of Gaila Placidia, probably the tomb of an
emperor's daughter who had been married to a Visigothic prince. The architecture
was simple, a cross of unadorned brick with very small windows. Its mosaics
however are the loveliest possible introduction to the art that was the glory of
Ravenna
and later of
Constantinople itself. The mosaic over the entrance to
the mausoleum represents the good shepherd, a kindly protector, not feeding his
sheep but patting them benevolently on the nose. He is dressed in a stunning
robe with red piping and deep blue stripes that could appear unchanged at a
present-day fashion show. In the center of the tiny chapel, one turns to look
upward to the dome, the Dome of Heaven, lit up by almost eight hundred golden
stars; these become smaller as the dome rises, increasing the sensation of the
swirling distance wherein a gold cross symbolizes Redemption.
Theodoric called on the skilled mosaic artisans to decorate one of the most
beautiful basilicas in
Europe , Sant' Apollinare Nuovo. The church consists of a
central aisle, with a narrow nave on each side separated by a line of columns,
with a small semicircular apse at the east end. As one steps inside the central
nave one at once feels the rushing, forward motion built up by the long line of
columns surmounted by the figures in the mosaics above. On each side are twelve
columns of Greek marble, topped by delicately carved capitals. The mosaic
carries on the forward motion of the pillars. On the north side is a procession
of twenty-two virgin martyrs, pre- ceded by a very lifelike group of the three
Wise Men bringing gifts to the Madonna and the child Jesus. Again the clothes
are amazingly modem. The three kings seem to be wearing stretch pants decorated
with the most imaginative designs in orange and deep vermilion. Indeed, King
Caspar seems to be wearing a pair of leopard-skin tights. We are a long way from
the impersonality of Greek sculpture, and the three men, one brown-bearded, one
white-bearded, and one clean-shaven, are hardly idealized pictures of piety. On
the opposite side of the church, above a line of twenty-two male martyrs, there
is a whole panoply of scenes, each one worth looking at in detail. Perhaps most
moving of all is the scene of the paralytic being lowered on ropes from a
roofless building to be healed by Christ below.
Theodoric died in 526. His successors lacked his skills, and in less than
forty years, the Ostrogoths were driven from
Italy
by the army of the Eastern Roman emperor; they moved north of the
Alps , and rather surprisingly disappeared from history.
Thus, the Visigoths, the Ostrogoths, and the Vandals, who were largely
responsible for the disappearance of the
Roman Empire in the West, left little lasting trace. The
Franks and the Anglo- Saxons, however, were to become the principal creators of
medieval civilization.
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