Keeping up with the Barbarians
Summary Writing
Quiz Review
Happy Tuesday!
Keeping up with
the Barbarians
•
Originally from the
lands around the Black Sea
•
They were pushed west by the Huns in 376 CE (everyone was scared of the Huns)
•
Upon making it to the Danube, they petitioned Emperor Valens for peace.
•
The Romans grudgingly allowed members of the Visigoth tribe to cross south of the
Danube and into the safety of Roman territory, but they treated them with extreme cruelty.
•
Roman officials even forced the starving Visigoths to trade their children into slavery in
exchange for food (which turned out to be dog meat).
•
In brutalizing the Visigoths, the Romans created a dangerous enemy within their own
borders.
•
When the oppression became too much to bear, the Visigoths rose up in revolt and
eventually killed Emperor Valens during the Battle of Adrianople in A.D. 378.
•
The shocked Romans negotiated peace with the barbarians. As part of the deal, the
Visigoths were placed as governors and military leaders.
•
The truce unraveled in 410 when the Goth King Alaric led his troops west to look for food.
A traitor inside Rome opened the gates, allowing the army to enter and sack the city.
•
Eventually, the Visigoths left Rome and created a kingdom in Spain and Southern France.
Impact of the
Visigoths
•
The Visigoths’ invasion of Italy caused land taxes to
drop anywhere from one-fifth to one-ninth
•
The local funding of public buildings and monuments by
the upper classes ended in south-central Italy after the
sack and pillaging of those regions
•
The city of Rome's total population fell from 800,000 in
408 to 500,000 by 419.
•
This was the first time the city of Rome had been sacked
Vandals
• The Vandals were from present day Poland. Their name means “the wanderers” because they lacked a home for much of their history with Rome.
• In 330 CE, the Vandals were defeated by the Romans and were given permission to settle in the Roman province of Pannonia where they became farmers.
• They were famous for their skill in horsemanship. The Vandals are described by the ancient sources as tall, blonde, good-looking, and brutal in waging war.
• When the Huns began raiding Pannonia, the Vandals fled (everyone was afraid of the Huns), trying to take refuge in Roman lands but were turned away since they were not Roman
citizens.
• In 406 AD, the Rhine River froze during an especially cold winter. Bundled in furs, Vandal warriors and their families swarmed across the river ice. They met with practically no
resistance, so they kept moving westward through Gaul.
• Eventually, “the wanderers” ended up in Spain.
• When a conflict broke out between two competing emperors in 429 CE, one of the emperors asked the Vandals to join his side in Carthage.
• Upon arriving in Carthage with 80,000 people, the Vandal King Gaiseric turned on the Romans and conquered the city. He then took control of the grain supply in Northern Africa and used the Roman navy to attack Rome.
Impact of the
Vandals
•
The treasures taken were of little value compared
to the psychological damage done to the Western
Roman Empire.
•
From this point on, people living in the city of
Rome knew they could no longer defend
themselves.
•
Today, the term “vandalism” describes any
The Huns
•
The Huns were a nomadic tribe of people. Their origin is still a mystery, but they
are thought to be from
the area around the Caspian Sea
.
•
The people of ancient times believed they came from evil spirits.
•
They had no central leader initially, so they often fought with and against the
Romans.
•
This group had no interest in settling farm land and seemed only driven by
conquest.
•
The Huns became the most powerful, and most feared, military force
in Europe and brought death and devastation wherever they went.
•
A commentator at the time said there was “no hope of surviving in a ravaged land
that a new type of enemy could destroy at will, practically without advance
warning. No one knew how to defend against the Huns”.
•
They were expert horsemen, described as seeming to be one with their horses;
neither the Romans nor the barbarian tribes had ever encountered an army like the
Huns. The Huns seemed to have been bred for mounted warfare and used the bow
with great effect.
Jordi Beeler
•
Attila the Hun
Timeline
•
Attila was born in 400 CE, but some historians think it
was 406 CE
•
He was a child hostage to Rome from 416-422 CE
•
Murder his brother in 444 CE to become the King of the
Huns
Impact of Huns
•
Start the “Great Migration” (aka The Wandering of
Nations) as they pushed the Vandals, Goths, and other
groups into Roman territories in the mid 300’s.
•
Attila’s invasion of Italy was the founding event of Venice,
as the people fled the city to the swamps nearby.
•
The tribute of gold paid to the Huns helped to weaken an
already frail economy and government of Rome. This left
it vulnerable to attack.
•
The building of Walls of Theodosius provided security to
Constantinople, which allowed it to thrive.
•
When Attila dies and the Huns are no longer the worst
The End in 5 Easy
Steps
1.
The Romans, unable to defend themselves, removed the last
emperor, 14-year-old Romulus Augustulus, and placed
Germanic general, Odoacer.
2.
Odoacer became the King of Italy and keeps to the Roman
laws and traditions.
3.
News arrives to the Eastern Empire of the “barbarian king” in
Rome.
4.
The Emperor in the East uses the Ostrogoths (The Ostrogoths
were the Goths who stayed in the East- their name means,
“Goths glorified by the rising sun”) to attack the Roman king.
5.
The Ostrogoths won, leaving Rome without a ruler and
SUMMARIZE THE CRISIS OF THE THIRD
CENTURY
Use the gold sheet provided to organize your
ideas before you start writing
Order of operations: Before you start writing a
(TA)DA sentence, list the main ideas
Rome Quiz #4
