The Invasion of Europe by the Barbarians
J. B. Bury
- THE
- present
- series
- of
- lectures
- is
- designed
- to
- give
- a
- broad
- and
- general
- view
- of
- the
- long
- sequence
- of
- the
- migratory
- movements
- of
- the
- northern
- barbarians
- which
- began
- in
- the
- third
- and
- fourth
- centuries
- A.
- D.
- and
- cannot
- be
- said
- to
- have
- terminated
- till
- the
- ninth.
- This
- long
- process
- shaped
- Europe
- into
- its
- present
- form,
- and
- it
- must
- be
- grasped
- in
- its
- broad
- outlines
- in
- order
- to
- understand
- the
- framework
- of
- modern
- Europe.
- There
- are
- two
- ways
- in
- which
- the
- subject
- may
- be
- treated,
- two
- points
- of
- view
- from
- which
- the
- sequence
- of
- changes
- which
- broke
- up
- the
- Roman
- Empire
- may
- be
- regarded.
- We
- may
- look
- at
- the
- process,
- in
- the
- earliest
- and
- most
- important
- stage,
- from
- the
- point
- of
- view
- of
- the
- Empire
- which
- was
- being
- dismembered
- or
- from
- that
- of
- the
- barbarians
- who
- were
- dismembering
- it.
- We
- may
- stand
- in
- Rome
- and
- watch
- the
- strangers
- sweeping
- over
- her
- provinces;
- or
- we
- may
- stand
- east
- of
- the
- Rhine
- and
- north
- of
- the
- Danube,
- amid
- the
- forests
- of
- Germany,
- and
- follow
- the
- fortunes
- of
- the
- men
- who
- issued
- thence,
- winning
- new
- habitations
- and
- entering
- on
- a
- new
- life.
- Both
- methods
- have
- been
- followed
- by
- modern
- writers.
- Gibbon
- and
- many
- others
- have
- told
- the
- story
- from
- the
- side
- of
- the
- Roman
- Empire,
- but
- all
- the
- principal
- barbarian
- peoples
- -
- not
- only
- those
- who
- founded
- permanent
- states,
- but
- even
- those
- who
- formed
- only
- transient
- kingdoms
- -
- have
- had
- each
- its
- special
- historian.
- One
- naturally
- falls
- into
- the
- habit
- of
- contemplating
- these
- events
- from
- the
- Roman
- side
- because
- the
- early
- part
- of
- the
- story
- has
- come
- down
- to
- us
- in
- records
- which
- were
- written
- from
- the
- Roman
- side.
- We
- must,
- however,
- try
- to
- see
- things
- from
- both
- points
- of view...
