ἀνθρώποισι πᾶσι μέτεστι γινώσκειν ἑωυτοὺς καὶ σωφρονεῖν.
Our earliest notice of the Germans is found in the “Commentaries” by Julius Caesar, who twice invaded their country. About a century and a half later the Roman historian, Tacitus, wrote a little book called “Germany”, which gives an account of the people as they were before coming under the influence of Rome and Christianity. Continue reading “The Germans to 476 A.D. – Battle of Adrianople – The Visigothic kingdom”
As one looks back over the German invasions it is natural to ask upon what terms the newcomers lived among the old inhabitants of the Empire, how far they adopted the customs of those among whom they settled, and how far they clung to their old habits? These questions cannot be answered very satisfactorily; so little is known of the confused period of which we have been speaking that it is impossible to follow closely the amalgamation of the two races. Continue reading “The post-Roman Europe”
None of the German peoples of whom we have so far spoken, except the Franks, ever succeeded in establishing a permanent kingdom. Their states were overthrown in turn by some other German nation, by the Eastern Empire, or, in the case of the West-Gothic kingdom in Spain, by the Mohammedans. The Franks, to whom we must now turn, were destined not only to conquer most of the other German tribes but even to extend their boundaries into districts inhabited by the Slavs. Continue reading “The Franks”
While Theodoric had been establishing his kingdom in Italy with such enlightenment and moderation, what is now France was coming under the control of the most powerful of the barbarian peoples, the Franks, who were to play a more important rôle in the formation of modern Europe than any of the other German races. Continue reading “The German invasions and the break-up of the Roman Empire – Extinction of Latin literature & Roman Culture in the West”
The Huns force the Goths into the Empire. Battle of Adrianople, 378
Previous to the year 375 the attempts of the Germans to penetrate into the Empire appear to have been due to their love of adventure, their hope of enjoying some of the advantages of their civilized neighbors, or the need of new lands for their increasing numbers. And the Romans, by means of their armies, their walls, and their guards, had up to this time succeeded in preventing the barbarians from violently occupying their
territory. Continue reading “The German invasions and the break-up of the Roman Empire – Alaric, Odoacer, Theodoric”
In the region of Nubia, the Romans penetrated between the first cataract of the Nile and Khartoum. Nubia, at large, is a purely geographical term of disputed origin, coined in medieval times. In so far as it has a political connotation, it is connected to the Christian Nubian kingdoms which were present in this region between the middle of the sixth and the first quarter of the fourteenth century. Continue reading “Roman Empire’s Foreign Relations in the African and Arabian Lands”
Novo Scriptorium 