Barbarian impact on migration in Europe

In this context, the term “barbarian” refers to German communities that primarily invaded the Roman Empire in the Middle Ages. The term “barbarian” usually refers to a person who is not civilized and occasionally as a foreigner. Among other Germanic, Iranian, and Salvic clans, these so-called Barbarians included groups like the Goth, Vandals, Alans, Suebis, and Franks. The Barbarians were compelled to migrate in order to make their lives easier because the invasion was brought about by natural forces of their own. To begin with, the availability of grazing territory was inversely correlated with the growth in the number of barbarians; as a result, they were compelled to seek out and settle in sparsely populated areas. Also, climate change also prompted the migration of these tribes in search of more suitable land to settle in.

Impact of Barbarian Migration in Europe

The middle Ages refer to the period of time in which the Roman Empire was in power for all of Europe and some part of Africa. It was a well-established culture and governance. History depicts Rome as one of the most firmly founded empires in the Early Ages. However, the migration of barbarians is it for fun or war or necessity affected their way of life in a major way. This invasion was carried out in two phases to full completion and this was happening from the two phases to full completion and this was happening from 400AD to 700AD.

The migration caused a ’lot of mayhem and change in the social, economic and political administration of the Roman Empire in the middle Ages. All throughout history, the barbarian migration caused the fall of the great Roman Empire and the rise of Europe and later Asia. The impacts of this human shift are expounded on by historians to help us understand the ushering of a new Age.

In a political sense, the Roman government was a centralized one but due to necessity, the government was changed to a feudal or manorial system. The roman emperor at the time, Emperor Diocletian, started to find it harder to maintain and his subjects whilst his empire is a single nation that answers to him alone. Being a critical thinker, he decided to split his kingdom in two, with two leaders, but should answer to one man, him. This was a very shrewd decision however, it was short-sighted. The division gave rise to the Eastern Roman Empire.

Division of the kingdom also led to the division, the make-up of the once mighty legion began to change. From being a single organism, the army was divided in two, Frontier (Limitaner) and Mobile (Comitatus) which was also broken down to Infantry and Calvaro which both had leaders that were called Masters of the soldiers. This split brought about a deficiency of soldiers in the battalions, which was a weakness in the defense of the Empire. Unable to recruit enough soldiers from the Roman citizenry, the emperors began hiring foreign mercenaries to prop up their armies.

Spread of Christianity also impacted the structure of the government such that the leadership positions after the split of the empire were given from the basis of Christian deity. The government was divided in two, the civil government and the military government. The civil governance was divided into prefectures lead by Praetorian prefects, then divided into diocese and these were led by Vicar and then into provinces led by a governor. This division into smaller manageable units led to fall of the Roman Empire as governance and keeping track was problematic.

Although initially the plan was that both empires share resourced and grow, the Eastern Empire was at an advantage in terms of wealth, prosperity and infrastructure while the West depended mainly on trade and taxation of the subjects and sharing of resources from the eastern empire. With the migration and external attacks on the kingdoms, the Eastern Empire fortified its walls and protected itself overlooking the Western Empire. Due to being abandoned, the western empire tried to survive but fell later, leaving the eastern kingdom to stand for another millennia.

Prosperity of the Eastern Empire leads to several changes in their governance and passage of power. Before the migration, the government was centralized. However, with the migration and the need to sustain the kingdom as long as possible, Emperor Constantine declared the governance as a monarch, fortified its walls and learnt how to survive on its own economy. Although at the start this move felt like slavery to the people, it’s the one reason that made the Eastern Empire to thrive for other millennia.

The migration of the barbarians also had a huge impact on the economy of the Roman Empire, especially the Western Empire. Problems such as infatuation of the economy and fund abuse led to internal problems that were advantageous to the Barbarians. Increase in the military legion led to overspending of tax money in an attempt to maintain the payment of soldiers and also provision of resources. The strain on the budget of the empire forced the leaders to induce oppressed taxation on the subjects, also leading to the gap between the poor and the rich to widen.

Slave trade was a very essential part of the Roman Empire economical standing. The slaves were depended upon to till fields, work as craftsmen and if well-built and able, sent to the military to fight for the Empire. Due to the split of the kingdom and also of resources, the supply of slaves to the western empire started drying up leading to strain in resource management. Rome’s overreliance on slaves made the migration easier on the Barbarians who exploited that weakness. This was further worsened by the invasion of the Vandals who claimed North Africa and began disrupting the empire’s trade by prowling the Mediterranean as pirates.

The migration of the Barbarians also led to several changes in social standings of the Roman Empire and its subjects. For instance, the Barbarians were initially let to migrate in to Rome and live as farmers or join the army so that they could assist in the protection of the empire. The farmers lived as gatherers where they domesticated vegetation since it wasn’t very safe to go out gathering for food. Also, they were hunters and hence their source of food and even money income. The locals, Romanians, started imitating their lifestyle and slowly incorporated it into their lifestyle.

The religious culture of the roman people was polytheistic where Emperor was both the leader and the divine entity. With the migration, there was spread of the Christianity where some may argue that the spread of this new faith assisted with the fall of the Roman Empire. Christianity replaced the polytheistic religion shifting focus away from the glory of the state and onto a sole deity. Also, the political affairs began getting infiltrated by popes and other church leaders further complicating the political structure governance and allocation of resources.

Before the migration, the social status of the empire was very simple were the king owned all the land and gave it out to nobles who had sworn to serve and protect the king. These nobles were the landlords to the king’s land. Next down the status quo were the knights whom the king granted land in exchange of fighting for him during war or just ensuring the protection of the emperor and lastly were the peasants who paid rent to the nobles in order to use the king’s land. However, with the split of the kingdom and the strained economical state of the empire, the status quo changed so drastically that the only definition one could make was that of the rich and of the poor.

In conclusion, the migration of the barbarians was a very important event in history. Not only did it lead to the ushering of a new era of political, economic and social advancements, it also tested the resilience of the remaining Roman Empire. The spread of Christianity was also another important historical event that was crucial such that at the moment, Christianity is one of the most wide-spread religions all over the globe. Also, the German communities that moved to the current Europe have still maintained their position there. For great change to happen, great sacrifices were made by the Roman Empire as well as great strength by Emperor Constantine whose governance led to his family holding power up to Constantine XI.

Bibliography

Geary, P., The Myth of Nations: The Medieval Origins of Europe. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2002.

Halsall, G., Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West, 376-568. Cambridge, 2007.

Heather, P. J. 2010. Empires and barbarians: the fall of Rome and the birth of Europe. New York: Oxford University Press.

James, E., Europe’s Barbarians, AD 200-600. London, 2009.