The Rise And Migrations Of The Goths

(300--412.)



Rise of the Goths. --German Invasions of Gaul. --Victories of Julian.

--The Ostrogoths and Visigoths. --Bishop Ulfila. --The Gothic

Language. --The Gothic King, Athanaric. --The Coming of the Huns.

--Death of Hermanric. --The Goths take refuge in Thrace. --Their

Revolt. --Defeat of Valens. --The Goths under Theodosius. --The

Franks and Goths meet in Battle. --Alaric, the Vi igoth. --He

invades Greece. --Battle with Stilicho. --Alaric besieges Rome.

--He enters Rome, A. D. 410. --His Death and Burial. --Succession

of Ataulf. --The Visigoths settle in Southern Gaul. --Beginning of

other Migrations.





[Sidenote: 325. RISE OF THE GOTHS.]



Rome, as the representative of the civilization of the world, and, after

the year 313, as the political power which left Christianity free to

overthrow the ancient religions, is still the central point of

historical interest during the greater part of the fourth century. Until

the death of the Emperor Valentinian, in 375, the ancient boundaries of

the Empire, though frequently broken down, were continually

re-established, and the laws and institutions of the Romans had

prevailed so long throughout the great extent of conquered territory

that the inhabitants now knew no other.



But beyond the Danube had arisen a new power, the independence of which,

after the time of Aurelian, was never disputed by the Roman Emperors.

The Goths were the first of the Germanic tribes to adopt a monarchical

form of government, and to acquire some degree of civilization. They

were numerous and well organized; and Constantine, who was more of a

diplomatist than a general, found it better to preserve peace with them

for forty years, by presents and payments, than to provoke them to war.

His best soldiers were enlisted among them, and it was principally the

valor of his Gothic troops which enabled him to defeat the rival

emperor, Licinius, in 325. From that time, 40,000 Goths formed the main

strength of his army.



[Sidenote: 350.]



The important part which these people played in the history of Europe

renders it necessary that we should now sketch their rise and growth as

a nation. First, however, let us turn to Western and Northern Germany,

where the development of the new nationalities was longer delayed, and

describe the last of their struggles with the power of Rome, during the

fourth century.



After the death of Constantine, in 337, the quarrels of his sons and

brothers for the Imperial throne gave the Germans a new opportunity to

repeat their invasions of Gaul. The Franks were the first to take

advantage of it: they got possession of Belgium, which was not

afterwards retaken. The Alemanni followed, and planted themselves on the

western bank of the Rhine, which they held, although Strasburg and other

fortified cities still belonged to the Romans. About the year 350, a

Frank or Saxon, of the name of Magnentius, was proclaimed Emperor by a

part of the Roman army. He was defeated by the true Emperor, Constantius

II., but the victory seems to have exhausted the military resources of

the latter, for immediately afterwards another German invasion occurred.



This time, the Franks took and pillaged Cologne, the Alemanni destroyed

Strasburg and Mayence, and the Saxons, who had now become a sea-faring

people, visited the northwestern coasts of Gaul. Constantius II. gave

the command to his nephew, Julian (afterwards, as Emperor, called the

Apostate), who first retook Cologne from the Franks, and then turned his

forces against the Alemanni. The king of the latter, Chnodomar, had

collected a large army, with which he encountered Julian on the banks of

the Rhine, near Strasburg. The battle which ensued was fiercely

contested; but Julian was completely victorious. Chnodomar was taken

prisoner, and only a few of his troops escaped, like those of

Ariovistus, 400 years before, by swimming across the Rhine. Although the

season was far advanced, Julian followed them, crossed their territory

to the Main, rebuilt the destroyed Roman fortresses, and finally

accepted an armistice of ten months which they offered to him.



He made use of this time to intimidate the Franks and Saxons. Starting

from Lutetia (now Paris) early in the summer of 358, he drove the Franks

beyond the Schelde, received their submission, and then marched a second

time against the Alemanni. He laid waste their well-settled and

cultivated land between the Rhine, the Main and the Neckar, crossed

their territory to the frontiers of the Burgundians (in what is now

Franconia, or Northern Bavaria), liberated 20,000 Roman captives, and

made the entire Alemannic people tributary to the Empire. His accession

to the imperial throne, in 360, delivered the Germans from the most

dangerous and dreaded enemy they had known since the time of Germanicus.



[Sidenote: 375. TERRITORY OF THE GOTHS.]



Not many years elapsed before the Franks and Alemanni again overran the

old boundaries, and the Saxons landed on the shores of England. The

Emperor Valentinian employed both diplomacy and force, and succeeded in

establishing a temporary peace; but after his death, in the year 375,

the Roman Empire, the capital of which had been removed to

Constantinople in 330, was never again in a condition to maintain its

supremacy in Gaul, or to prevent the Germans from crossing the Rhine.



We now return to the Goths, who already occupied the broad territory

included in Poland, Southern Russia, and Roumania. The river Dniester

may be taken as the probable boundary between the two kingdoms into

which they had separated. The Ostrogoths, under their aged king,

Hermanric, extended from that river eastward nearly to the Caspian Sea:

on the north they had no fixed boundary, but they must have reached to

the latitude of Moscow. The Visigoths stretched westward from the

Dniester to the Danube, and northward from Hungary to the Baltic Sea.

The Vandals were for some generations allied with the latter, but war

having arisen between them, the Emperor Constantine interposed. He

succeeded in effecting a separation of the two, and in settling the

Vandals in Hungary, where they remained for forty years under the

protection of the Roman Empire.



From the time of their first encounter with the Romans, in Dacia, during

the third century, the Goths appear to have made rapid advances in their

political organization and the arts of civilized life. They were the

first of the Germanic nations who accepted Christianity. On one of their

piratical expeditions to the shores of Asia Minor, they brought away as

captive a Christian boy. They named him Ulfila, and by that name he is

still known to the world. He devoted his life to the overthrow of their

pagan faith, and succeeded. He translated the Bible into their language,

and, it is supposed, even invented a Gothic alphabet, since it is

doubtful whether they already possessed one. A part of Ulfila's

translation of the New Testament escaped destruction, and is now

preserved in the library at Upsala, in Sweden. It is the only specimen,

in existence of the Gothic language at that early day. From it we learn

how rich and refined was that language, and how many of the elements of

the German and English tongues it contained. The following are the

opening words of the Lord's Prayer, as Ulfila wrote them between the

years 350 and 370 of our era:



GOTHIC. Atta unsara, thu in himinam, veihnai namo thein.

ENGLISH. Father our, thou in heaven, be hallowed name thine.

GERMAN. Vater unser, du im Himmel, geweiht werde Name dein.



GOTHIC. quimai Thiudinassus Theins, vairthai vilja theins,

ENGLISH. come Kingdom thine, be done will thine,

GERMAN. komme Herrschaft dein, werde Wille dein,



GOTHIC. sve in himina, jah ana airthai.

ENGLISH. as in heaven, also on earth.

GERMAN. wie im Himmel, auch auf Erden.



[Sidenote: 350.]



Ulfila was born in 318, became a bishop of the Christian Church, spent

his whole life in teaching the Goths, and died in Constantinople, in the

year 378. There is no evidence that he, or any other of the Christian

missionaries of his time, were persecuted, or even seriously hindered in

the good work, by the Goths: the latter seem to have adopted the new

faith readily, and the Arian creed which Ulfila taught, although

rejected by the Church of Rome, was stubbornly held by their descendants

for a period of nearly five hundred years.



Somewhere between 360 and 370, the long peace between the Romans and the

Goths was disturbed; but the Emperor Valens and the Gothic king,

Athanaric, had a conference on board a vessel on the Danube, and came to

an understanding. Athanaric refused to cross the river, on account of a

vow made on some former occasion. The Goths, it appears, were by this

time learning the art of statesmanship, and they might have continued on

good terms with the Romans, but for the sudden appearance on the scene

of an entirely new race, coming, as they themselves had come so many

centuries before, from the unknown regions of Central Asia.



[Sidenote: 375. COMING OF THE HUNS.]



In 375, the year of Valentinian's death, a race of people up to that

time unknown, and whose name--the Huns--had never before been heard,

crossed the Volga and invaded the territory of the Ostrogoths. Later

researches render it probable that they came from the steppes of

Mongolia, and that they belonged to the Tartar family; but, in the

course of their wanderings, before reaching Europe, they had not only

lost all the traditions of their former history, but even their

religious faith. Their very appearance struck terror into the Goths, who

were so much further advanced in civilization. They were short, clumsy

figures, with broad and hideously ugly faces, flat noses, oblique eyes

and long black hair, and were clothed in skins which they wore until

they dropped in rags from their bodies. But they were marvellous

horsemen, and very skilful in using the bow and lance. The men were on

their horses' backs from morning till night, while the women and

children followed their march in rude carts. They came in such immense

numbers, and showed so much savage daring and bravery, that several

smaller tribes, allied with the Ostrogoths, or subject to them, went

over immediately to the Huns.



The kingdom of the Ostrogoths, almost without offering resistance, fell

to pieces. The king, Hermanric, now more than a hundred years old, threw

himself upon his sword, at their approach: his successor, Vitimer, gave

battle, but lost the victory and his life at the same time. The great

body of the people retreated westward before the Huns, who, following

them, reached the Dnieper. Here Athanaric, king of the Visigoths, was

posted with a large army, to dispute their passage; but the Huns

succeeded in finding a fording-place which was left unguarded, turned

his flank, and defeated him with great slaughter. Nothing now remained

but for both branches of the Gothic people, united in misfortune, to

retreat to the Danube.



Athanaric took refuge among the mountains of Transylvania, and the

Bishop Ulfila was dispatched to Constantinople to ask the assistance of

the Emperor Valens, who was entreated to permit that the Goths,

meanwhile, might cross the Danube and find a refuge on Roman territory.

Valens yielded to the entreaty, but attached very hard conditions to his

permission: the Goths were allowed to cross unarmed, after giving up

their wives and children as hostages. In their fear of the Huns, they

were obliged to accept these conditions, and hundreds of thousands

thronged across the Danube. They soon exhausted the supplies of the

region, and then began to suffer famine, of which the Roman officers and

traders took advantage, demanding their children as slaves in return for

the cats and dogs which they gave to the Goths as food.



[Sidenote: 376.]



This treatment brought about its own revenge. Driven to desperation by

hunger and the outrages inflicted upon them, the Goths secretly procured

arms, rose, and made themselves masters of the country. The Roman

governor marched against them, but their Chief, Fridigern, defeated him

and utterly destroyed his army. The news of this event induced large

numbers of Gothic soldiers to desert from the imperial army, and join

their countrymen. Fridigern, thus strengthened, commenced a war of

revenge: he crossed the Balkan, laid waste all Thrace, Macedonia and

Thessaly, and settled his own people in the most fertile parts of the

plundered provinces. The Ostrogoths had crossed the Danube at the first

report of his success, and had taken part in his conquests.



Towards the end of the year 377, the Emperor Valens raised a large army

and marched against Fridigern. A battle was fought at the foot of the

Balkan, and a second, the following year, before the walls of

Adrianople. In both the Goths were victorious: in the latter two-thirds

of the Roman troops fell, Valens himself, doubtless, among them,--for he

was never seen or heard of after that day. His nephew, Gratian,

succeeded to the throne, but associated with him Theodosius, a young

Spaniard of great ability, as Emperor of the East. While Gratian marched

to Gaul, to stay the increasing inroads of the Franks, Theodosius was

left to deal with the Goths, who were beginning to cultivate the fields

of Thrace, as if they meant to stay there.



He was obliged to confirm them in the possession of the greater part of

the country. They were called allies of the Empire, were obliged to

furnish a certain number of soldiers, but retained their own kings, and

were governed by their own laws. After the death of Fridigern,

Theodosius invited Athanaric to visit him. The latter, considering

himself now absolved from his vow not to cross the Danube, accepted the

invitation, and was received in Constantinople on the footing of an

equal by Theodosius. He died a few weeks after his arrival, and the

Emperor walked behind his bier, in the funeral procession. For several

years the relations between the two powers continued peaceful and

friendly. Both branches of the Goths were settled together, south of the

Danube, their relinquished territory north of that river being occupied

by the Huns, who were still pressing westward.



[Sidenote: 400. ALARIC INVADES GREECE.]



In Italy, Valentinian II. succeeded his brother Gratian. His chief

minister was a Frank, named Arbogast, who, learning that he was to be

dismissed from his place, had the young Valentinian assassinated, and

set up a new Emperor, Eugene, in his stead. This act brought him into

direct conflict with Theodosius. Arbogast called upon his countrymen,

the Franks, who sent a large body of troops to his assistance, while

Theodosius strengthened his army with 20,000 Gothic soldiers. Then, for

the first time, Frank and Goth--West-German and East-German--faced each

other as enemies. The Gothic auxiliaries of Theodosius were commanded by

two leaders, Alaric and Stilicho, already distinguished among their

people, and destined to play a remarkable part in the history of Europe.

The battle between the two armies was fought near Aquileia, in the year

394. The sham Emperor, Eugene, was captured and beheaded, Arbogast threw

himself upon his sword, and Theodosius was master of the West.



The Emperor, however, lived but a few months to enjoy his single rule.

He died at Milan, in 395, after having divided the government of the

Empire between his two sons. Honorius, the elder, was sent to Rome, with

the Gothic chieftain, Stilicho, as his minister and guardian; while the

boy Arcadius, at Constantinople, was intrusted to the care of a Gaul,

named Rufinus. Alaric, perhaps a personal enemy of the latter, perhaps

jealous of the elevation of Stilicho to such an important place, refused

to submit to the new government. He collected a large body of his

countrymen, and set out on a campaign of plunder through Greece. Every

ancient city, except Thebes, fell into his hands, and only Athens was

allowed to buy her exemption from pillage.



The Gaul, Rufinus, took no steps to arrest this devastation; wherefore,

it is said, he was murdered at the instigation of Stilicho, who then

sent a fleet against Alaric. This undertaking was not entirely

successful, and the government of Constantinople finally purchased peace

by making Alaric the Imperial Legate in Illyria. In the year 403, he was

sent to Italy, as the representative of the Emperor Arcadius, to

overthrow the power of his former fellow-chieftain, Stilicho, who ruled

in the name of Honorius. His approach, with a large army, threw the

whole country into terror. Honorius shut himself up within the walls of

Ravenna, while Stilicho called the legions from Gaul, and even from

Britain, to his support. A great battle was fought near the Po, but

without deciding the struggle; and Alaric had already begun to march

towards Rome, when a treaty was made by which he and his army were

allowed to return to Illyria with all the booty they had gathered in

Italy.



[Sidenote: 408.]



Five years afterwards, when Stilicho was busy in endeavoring to keep the

Franks and Alemanni out of Gaul, and to drive back the incursions of

mixed German and Celtic bands which began to descend from the Alps,

Alaric again made his appearance, demanding the payment of certain sums,

which he claimed were due to him. Stilicho, having need of his military

strength elsewhere, satisfied Alaric's claim by the payment of 4,000

pounds of gold; but the Romans felt themselves bitterly humiliated, and

Honorius, listening to the rivals of Stilicho, gave his consent to the

assassination of the latter and his whole family including the Emperor's

own sister, Serena, whom Stilicho had married.



When the news of this atrocious act reached Alaric, he turned and

marched back to Italy. There was now no skilful commander to oppose him:

the cowardly Honorius took refuge in Ravenna, and the Goths advanced,

without resistance, to the gates of Rome. The walls, built by Aurelian,

were too strong to be taken by assault, but all supplies were cut off,

and the final surrender of the city became only a question of time. When

a deputation of Romans represented to Alaric that the people still

numbered half a million, he answered: "The thicker the grass, the better

the mowing!" They were finally obliged to yield to his demands, and pay

a ransom consisting of 5,000 pounds of gold, 30,000 pounds of silver,

many thousands of silk robes, and a large quantity of spices,--a total

value of something more than three millions of dollars. In addition to

this, 40,000 slaves, mostly of Germanic blood, escaped to his camp and

became free.



Alaric only withdrew into Northern Italy, where he soon found a new

cause of dispute with the government of Honorius, in Ravenna. He seems

to have been a man of great military genius, but little capacity for

civil rule; of much energy and ambition, but little judgment. The result

of his quarrel with Honorius was, that he marched again to Rome,

proclaimed Attalus, the governor of the city, Emperor, and then demanded

entrance for himself and his troops, as an ally. The demand could not be

refused: Rome was opened to the Goths, who participated in the festivals

which accompanied the coronation of Attalus. It was nothing but a farce,

and seems to have been partly intended as such by Alaric, who publicly

deposed the new Emperor shortly afterwards, on his march to Ravenna.



[Sidenote: 410. ALARIC IN ROME.]



There were further negotiations with Honorius, which came to nothing;

then Alaric advanced upon Rome the third time, not now as an ally, but

as an avowed enemy. The city could make no resistance, and on the 24th

of August, 410, the Goths entered it as conquerors. This event, so

famous in history, has been greatly misrepresented. Later researches

show that, although the citizens were despoiled of their wealth, the

buildings and monuments were spared. The people were subjected to

violence and outrage for the space of six days, after which Alaric

marched out of Rome with his army, leaving the city, in its external

appearance, very much as he found it.



He directed his course towards Southern Italy, with the intention, it

was generally believed, of conquering Sicily and then crossing into

Africa. The plan was defeated by his death, in 411, at Cosenza, a town

on the banks of the Busento, in Calabria. His soldiers turned the river

from its course, dug a grave in its bed, and there laid the body of

Alaric, with all the gems and gold he had gathered. Then the Busento was

restored to its channel, and the slaves who had performed the work were

slain, in order that Alaric's place of burial might never be known.



His brother-in-law, Ataulf (Adolph), was his successor. He was also the

brother-in-law of Honorius, having married the latter's sister,

Placidia, after she was taken captive by Alaric. He was therefore

strengthened by the conquests of the one and by his family connection

with the other. The Visigoths, who had gradually gathered together under

Alaric, seem to have had enough of marching to and fro, and they

acquiesced in an arrangement made between Ataulf and Honorius, according

to which the former led them out of Italy in 412, and established them

in Southern Gaul. They took possession of all the region lying between

the Loire and the Pyrenees, with Toulouse as their capital.



[Sidenote: 412.]



Thus, in the space of forty years, the Visigoths left their home on the

Black Sea, between the Danube and the Dniester, passed through the whole

breadth of the Roman Empire, from Constantinople to the Bay of Biscay,

after having traversed both the Grecian and Italian peninsulas, and

settled themselves again in what seemed to be a permanent home. During

this extraordinary migration, they maintained their independence as a

people, they preserved their laws, customs, and their own rulers; and,

although frequently at enmity with the Empire, they were never made to

yield it allegiance. Under Athanaric, as we have seen, they were united

for a time with the Ostrogoths, and it was probably the renown and

success of Alaric which brought about a second separation.



Of course the impetus given to this branch of the Germanic race by the

invasion of the Huns did not affect it alone. Before the Visigoths

reached the shores of the Atlantic, all Central Europe was in movement.

Leaving them there for the present, and also leaving the great body of

the Ostrogoths in Thrace and Illyria, we will now return to the nations

whom we left maintaining their existence on German soil.