Barbarian Invasion

Throughout the ages there have been many important events, times crucial to the outcome of the future with regards to a very large portion of the population or a continent. The results of the Greco-Persian wars were so important that the defeat of Greece could easily have meant the loss of western civilization to the Orient. The fact that Alexander’s army refused to cross into India meant the prevention of harmful religions such as Hinduism entering into a knowledge-rich Asia Minor, or a philosophy-defined Eastern Europe. In like manner, the barbarian invasions into the Western Roman Empire defined the history of Europe for centuries to come. And it was not one barbaric nation; several tribes appeared. The mixing of these barbaric tribes with advanced Roman thought resulted in military, cultural, socio-economic, and political changes, marking the very beginning of the Middle Ages. Of first note is to what extent the “mixing” occurred. The famous Roman legions were spread over the empire’s extensive borders, and the almost simultaneous intrusions of the many surrounding nations ended in a complete implosion of the Roman Empire. But, contrary to popular thinking, the invaders were not a huge mass of armies overpowering everywhere; the barbarian armies counted in the tens of thousands at most (Webster 360). Also, the advance was more of a gradual overflow rather than a dam-burst. The invasions began around 235 and continued through the official dissolution of the western empire in 476, till the barbarians had permanently settled in the conquered lands (Lodge 107). After this time, the ratio of barbarians to pre-existing inhabitants was commonly around one to three (Webster 376). But the difference is that this one third took the reigns of power, and that the conquered peoples had no spirit or desire to resist. For them, a bunch of tribes ruling was not much different to the far-away emperor of Rome, who taxed so heavily that “Roman citizens came to dread the visits

Cited: Henry G. Bohn, 1861. Progress. New York: Benziger Brothers, Inc., 1935. Vol. 4. New York: P.F. Collier and Son Corp., 1939. Vol. 14. New York: D. Appleton and Co., 1862. Vol. 1. Boston: The Boston Book Co., 1917. Heath and Co., 1940.