Lecture 21: Expansion beyond the Boundaries of Empire
o The Visigoths located first in Thrace, then moved through
Greece and Italy, and ended in southern Gaul and Spain (c.
419), where they mixed with the local populations.o They remained Arian in their understanding of Christianity
until the 7th century, regarding Christ as not fully divine.• The Ostrogoths (eastern Goths), another German tribe, started in
Pannonia—an area encompassing modern Poland—and migrated to
Italy in 489, establishing an extensive and stable kingdom under
Theodoric the Great (471–526).
o The Ostrogothic kingdom lasted for some 60 years, until 553,
and included Italy, Sicily, Dalmatia, Pannonia, and Provence—
with ambitions to annex the Franks.o The Ostrogoths were also Arian and repressed Catholic
Christians, imprisoning the philosopher Boethius (in 524–525)
and Pope John I (526).• The tribe called the Lombards also started in Pannonia, leaving
there in 586 and conquering most of Italy, with the exception only
of Ravenna, Rome, and part of the south.
o The Lombards were mostly Arian and hostile to Catholics.o Eventually, they became Catholic, and the Lombard and
Roman populations merged.• The most aggressive tribe, the Vandals, started in Pannonia,
devastated Gaul in 409, settled in Spain for a time, then crossed
over to North Africa (429).
o Under King Genseric (428–477), Roman power in North Africa
was crushed, and a stable Vandal kingdom was established,
lasting almost a century, until the reconquest of North Africa
by the emperor Justinian in 524.o The Vandals also were Arian and intensely hostile to Catholics.