Western Civilization

followers of Arius, a priest from Alexandria in Egypt.

Arius believed that Jesus had been human and thus

not truly God. Arius was opposed by Athanasius (ath-

uh-NAY-shuss), a bishop of Alexandria, who argued that

Jesus was human but also truly God. Emperor Con-

stantine, disturbed by the controversy, called the first

ecumenical council of the church, a meeting composed

of representatives from the entire Christian commu-

nity. The Council of Nicaea (ny-SEE-uh), held in 325,

condemned Arianism and stated that Jesus was of “the

same substance” as God: “We believe in one God the

Father All-sovereign, maker of all things visible and

invisible; And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of

God, begotten of the Father, only-begotten, that is, of

the substance of the Father, God of God, Light of Light,

true God of true God, begotten not made, of one sub-

stance with the Father.”^1

The Council of Nicaea did not end the controversy,

however; not only did Arianism persist in some parts

of the Roman Empire for many years, but many of the

Germanic Goths who established states in the West

converted to Arian Christianity (see “The Germanic

Kingdoms” later in this chapter). As a result of these

fourth-century theological controversies, the Roman

emperor came to play an increasingly important role in

church affairs.

The End of the Western Empire

Constantine had reunited the Roman Empire and

restored a semblance of order. After his death, how-

ever, the empire continued to divide into Western and

Eastern parts, and by 395, they had become two virtu-

ally independent states. In the fifth century, the empire

in the East remained intact under the Roman emperor

in Constantinople (see “The Byzantine Empire” later in

this chapter), but the empire in the West collapsed and

was replaced by a series of Germanic kingdoms.

During the first and second centuries C.E., the

Romans had established the Rhine and Danube Rivers

as the empire’s northern boundary. The Romans called

all the peoples to the north of the rivers “Germans”

and regarded them as uncivilized barbarians. In fact,

the Germans consisted of different groups with their

own customs and identities, but these constantly

changed as tribes broke up and came together in new

configurations. At times, they formed larger confedera-

tions under strong warrior leaders. The Germans lived

by herding and farming and also traded with people

living along the northern frontiers of the empire.

Their proximity to the Romans also led to some

Romanization of the tribes. They were familiar with

the Roman use of coins rather than barter and also

gained some knowledge of both the Latin language and

Roman military matters.

Although the Romans had established a series of

political frontiers along the Rhine and Danube Rivers,

Romans and Germans often came into contact across

these boundaries. For some time, the Romans had hired

Germanic tribes to fight other Germanic tribes that

threatened Rome or enlisted groups of Germans to fight

for Rome. In any case, until the fourth century, the

empire had proved capable of absorbing these people

without harm to its political structure. As that century

wore on, however, the situation began to change.

In the late fourth century, the Germanic tribes came

under new pressure when the Huns, a fierce tribe of

nomads from the steppes of Asia (see the box on

p. 151), began moving into the Black Sea region. One

of the groups displaced by the Huns was the Visigoths

(VIZ-uh-gahths), who crossed the Danube into German

territory and settled down as Roman allies. Ill-treated

by Roman officials, the Visigoths soon revolted, and

the attempt to stop them at Adrianople in 378 led to a

crushing defeat for the Romans. Soon the Visigoths

were again on the move. Under their king Alaric (AL-

uh-rik), they moved into Italy and sacked Rome in 410.

Then, at the urging of the emperor, they moved into

Spain and southern Gaul as Roman allies.

The Romans’ experience with the Visigoths estab-

lished a precedent. The emperors in the first half of

the fifth century made alliances with whole groups of

Germanic peoples, who settled peacefully in the

Western part of the empire. The Burgundians settled

in much of eastern Gaul, just south of another

German tribe called the Alemanni. Only the Vandals

consistently remained hostile to the Romans. They

ravaged parts of Gaul and crossed the Pyrenees into

Spain. Defeated by incoming Visigoths, the Vandals

crossed the Strait of Gibraltar and conquered the

province of Africa. In 455, the Vandals even attacked

Rome, sacking it more ferociously than the Visigoths

had in 410.

Increasingly, German military leaders dominated the

imperial courts of the Western empire, treating the

Roman emperors as puppet rulers under their control.

One such German leader finally ended the charade of

Roman imperial rule. Odoacer (oh-doh-AY-sur)deposed

the Roman emperor, Romulus Augustulus (RAHM-yuh-

luss ow-GOOS-chuh-luss), in 476 and began to rule on

his own. Meanwhile, the Ostrogoths (AHSS-truh-gahths),

another branch of the Goths, under their king Theodoric

150 Chapter 7Late Antiquity and the Emergence of the Medieval World

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