Decline and Fall of Roman Empire History - Essay Example

Student’s name Institution Course Lecturer Date Discuss the evidence for the continuity of Roman culture and political structure, and the introduction of barbarian practices and idea, in Merovingian Gaul. Culture and political structure of any society undergoes transformation from one generation to another. Modern political structures and culture are as a result of these transformations of ancient times. Significant transformations in Roman world were experienced especially between fourth and seventh centuries1. However, cultural stagnation or rather a decline occurred between the late fifth and mid eight century2. This period has been referred to Merovingian period by many historians. Decline was experienced especially in Christianity. At this period, various pagan customs were endemic. Hen (1995) underlines the fact that at this period, the society was termed as thinly Christianised. There are many reasons underlying this decline in Christianization. The main contributing factor was damnation memories to which the merovingians were subjected to by their successors3. Barbarians began their movement to Gaul at around 406 CE4. This movement is attributed to many cultural changes where barbarians were seen to be absorbed into the ancient roman culture. Gallo-Roman culture experienced fundamental alterations in politics, military organization and economic foundation. Barbarians were people who originated from outside the Roman Empire territory5. There were four main barbaric tribes involved in incursions. They comprised of Goths, Vandals, Huns and the Franks. A significant event that occurred at around 412 AD was the Barbarian and Roman unison after fighting. Barbarians were led by Athaulf. At this period Barbaric Goths and Romans enjoyed festivities together6. Their good relations had a lot of impacts. It was a suggestion of the possible shape of a future that could lead to the continuity of Roman traditions within the Gallic society occupied by the Barbarians7. According to Mathisen (2001), it is undeniable that the fourth-century Gaul was much different from sixth-century Gaul. In fact, during this transformation period of fourth century, Gaul went through a transformation from ‘Roman Gaul’ to ‘Barbarian Gaul’8. Barbarian Gaul was the northern part of Gaul while Roman Gaul was the southern part. This was as result of migration of Barbarians to Roman world. The northern Gaul was less Romanised and therefore less keen on preserving the Roman culture and tradition9. Franks arrival had far reaching impacts on the culture of the two. In the Barbaric Gaul, Roman culture was absorbed into that of Franks. Franks who settled in that region introduced their own cultural and social systems such as the cemeteries10. The southern part which was being ruled by Merovingian however retained their Roman cultural values because they were deeply romanised. The evidence of continuity of Roman culture and political structure in Merovingian Gaul can be discussed extensively on the basis of contracts, education and religion. The idea of fall and decline of Roman Empire and the incursion of Barbarism need not to be given a general assumption of disappearance of Roman customs. Clearly, the Merovingians were not only good in pretending to be Romans but also capable of understanding and maintaining a good deal of Roman infrastructure in Gaul11. One of the most outstanding evidence of retention of roman values in Merovingian Gaul is in educational tradition12. In the northern Gaul, the education culture vanished with Frankish incursion. The Franks introduced their educational structure. Nevertheless, this did not have an implication that the Roman educational culture was completely wiped out. Northern Gaul was initially romanized before the invasion of Franks. However, Merovingian culture developed owing to the invasion of Franks. Even though Frankish invasion led to complete disruption of Roman culture and education system in the northern Gaul, monasteries emerged. Monasteries were religious communities and they formed centres of learning and preservation of history of Greco-Roman civilizations13. Modern day Arabic numbering system is a good example of transformation of Roman culture to the current day. Romans had initially inherited most of their ideas on educational traditions from Greeks14. In the Roman Empire, education was emphasized to a greater extent. In the Roman Empire, literary evidence shows that there were plenty of teachers of mathematics, geometers and musicians15. There was a relationship between the state of literacy of Merovingian Gaul and that of ancient Rome. The state of literacy in Merovingian Gaul was a direct continuation to the Gallo-Roman tradition of the later Roman Empire16. Bible was the most read book during Merovingian period. The Bible had a lot of impact to the Merovingian society and it extended beyond the literary scope. In addition to this, there is some evidence showing that legal documents were published. Literary sources of the Merovingian period are written in Latin. This can be seen as a direct continuity of Roman literacy. People wrote on epitaphs while in the Merovingian period, books had come into existence. In the Merovingian period, letters were commonly used as a communication tool. Average men in the Roman world studied at the school of letters. Schools of letters were places where basic and functional literacy were taught. In addition to this, just like in the Roman world, these schools played a major social role in the society where learners interacted. Letters were also learnt in the Merovingian Gaul just like in Roman world period. In the Roman period, cultural attainment was also frequently celebrated in letters17. They give a glimpse of state of literacy in Merovingian Gaul18. Needless to say, evidence shows that Latin was the main language in Merovingian Gaul. Various groups of scholars have engaged in arguments about the probable language in Gaul. The idea of language has not been clear owing to the fact that these scholars give contradicting information. In addition to this, most of the available sources of Merovingian society are written texts. When studying the culture of a certain society, one needs to check the balance between oral traditions and written text19. In addition to this, the religious and political contexts should be considered. However, from the four groups of scholars, a supposition can be arrived at because languages do not change drastically but slowly. In addition language change is a long process. Out of the four groups of scholars, only one of them talks about this process being gradual and their arguments are backed up by the linguistic evidence and the cultural setting20. From these arguments, it is quite clear that Latin was the Merovingian Gaul inhabitant’s spoken language. This was an adoption of the Roman official language which was Latin that was imposed by the Roman administration. The Roman administration imposed Latin as the official language in the cities it founded in the west ignoring all the languages21. In relation to Roman Empire, historical surviving documents have proved that Latin was the spoken language of Romans. Before the invasion by Franks, there was an existence of close relations between the Franks who had inhabited the northern Gaul and Roman Empire. Communication was therefore important for this case. Some of the Franks provided military support to the Roman Empire. They had to learn Latin first. In order to deal with the Romans and to develop such close relations with the Roman imperial government, the Franks would have needed to know Latin22. Their long time relationship with Romans could have in one way or another resulted to shift in their thinking and character. Probably, they are more likely to have adopted the Roman values and customs leading to continuity of Roman culture. Additionally, for them to communicate extensively with Gallo-Romans and other Barbarians, they had to learn Latin. The fact that most of the literary sources for the Merovingian period were all written in Latin depicts the continuity of Latin language to the Merovingian period23. Initially in ancient Rome, many cults including Yahweh from Palestine, Mithra from Persia and Baal from Syria existed. Judaic sect is what came to become Christianity and it prevailed in ancient Rome24. Mithraism persisted for long in the Roman Empire and had the same characteristics to Christianity. Christianity came into existence at the start of first century AD. In the Roman Gaul, many religious practices existed before Christianity and they were characterized by a combination of different beliefs including cult. Christianity took over after its emergence and gained prominence soon after. Much of the Merovingian society was a Christian society. The Franks were still pagans when they began settling in Gaul. They continued with Christianity on their arrival. Hen (1995) brings to light the fact that Christianity did not break down as a result of Frank and Barbarian invasion. Like the ancient Roman Empire, Merovingian Gaul was bureaucratic in nature. It was a society needing and demanding documents25. Being a bureaucratic society, this has an implication of existence of administrative system and legal system put in place. In the same context, late Roman state was a bureaucratic society. Marrou & Lamb (1956) Points out the fact that late Roman state had been a bureaucratic monarchy run on the same lines as the old oriental monarchies. Education was an important factor in the administrative system. The schools in the Roman age were endowed with the task of training a competent body of administrators and civil servants26. In addition to this, the Roman educational system was responsible for instilling mental agility and ability. On the other hand, in the Merovingian society the administrative body were supposed to be educated people. Education was therefore a matter of concern among the Merovingians. Hen (1995) highlights the idea of leading officials and other members of royal administrative body being well equipped with reading and writing ability. Mathews (1975) also points out the fact that by early fifth century, most provinces were still strongly set within the Roman administrative system where governors were still appointed from an Italian court. In addition to this, at this period, the educated enjoyed political office. In conclusion, the long time spent by the Franks along boundaries of Roman Empire had a lot of impacts on them. There is a high possibility that it affected their cultural values in one way or another. There are good reasons to believe that Franks adopted various Roman customs including language27. In addition to this, the military elite of Goths who had conquered the Gaul tried to retain the Roman structures and life-style which so impressed them, while excluding the Romans from real power and wealth28. This idea of language transitions is bolstered by Hen (1995) who argues that the Latin was adopted by Merovingians as a way of communication. Latin was a basic language in the Roman world. Frankish kingdom was the most powerful kingdom at the time of Clovi’s death. The king of this Kingdom had established a good relationship with Anastasius who was by then the Roman Emperor. This relationship between the two led to political influences in the Merovingian Gaul. Most of the political life of the Roman Empire was adopted together with other cultural values. Bibliography Bachrach, Benard. Military Organization in the Aquitaine under the Early Carolingians: Speculum 1, 1974. Boeree, George. The History of Psychology: The Ancients. 2006. Breye, Michelle. Ancient Rome. Westminster, CA: Teacher Created Resources, 2004. Brown, Thomas. The transformation of the Roman Mediterranean 400-900. New York: Oxford University Press, 1988. Garnsey, Peter & Saller, Richard. The Roman Empire: Economy, Society, and Culture. California: University of California Press, 1987. Hen, Y. Culture and Religion in Merovingian Gaul: A.D. 481-751. New York: E.J. BRILL, 1995. Libanius. (358 AD). Academic Life in the Roman Empire: Libanius to Aristaenetus. Marrou, Henri Irénée & Lamb, George . Education in Antiquity. Edition2. Madison: Univ of Wisconsin Press, 1956. Mathews, John. Western Aristocracies and Imperial Court A.D. 364-425. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975. Mathisen, Ralph W. & Shanzer, Danuta. Romans, Barbarians, and the Transformation of the Roman World: Cultural Interaction and the Creation of Identity in Late Antiquity. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Ltd., 2011. Mathisen, Ralph. Society and Culture in the Late Antique Gaul. Burlington USA: Ashgate Publishing LTD., 2001. Noble, Thoas F. From Roman Provinces To Medieval Kingdoms. New York: Routledge, 2006. Read More