Homework 3.31.10

*When an economy falls apart, it is the baptismal font and the sacrament that bring it back together* In other words, the only hope for a fallen nation, is the church or ideas based upon the church. I think this is key to keep in mind, especially given the way our economy is headed.

Politics are everything. They work themselves into every area of life. I am not advocating this, nor desiring it, but it does despite this. A true conservatist would try to diminish the State when they get into Senate/Congress.

Basilica: the Romans center point. It was a meeting place/courthouse. They used the finest resources to build it.

Absorbing the Barbarians

Then next time period that we will talk about is about the 6th or 7th century. The word barbarians is used to describe anyone not their own kind or tribe. And outsider or foreigner. The Germanic tribes were considered barbarians by the Romans.

In the middle of the 2nd century AD, the Romans heard that the Hun (part of the Germanics) tribe was sweeping through the land coming their way. Panic set in since the end of the Roman empire was prophesied. The Pax Romana empire as Augustus Caesar knew was slowly slipping away due to this panic. Everybody began to loose control. There was labor shortage due to intense military training. Those who did work were watched closely. This was because the majority of people there were slaves. The slaves joined the army, and the rest worked and were watched. This eventually proved to be fatal. The empire was built upon slave labor...unwilling hands that didn't shared the end results. Because of this, there was limited freedom, strictly enforced class divisions, a large slave class and the resources were *very* limited. This was due to a quick collapse of the empire. People grew increasingly more and more unhappy. They were completely dependent upon the slave class who would gladly accept an invasion; it would mean freedom for them. It was now not a royal empire...but a statist culture. The agriculture realm dwindled to nothing. People began to turn into pirates or robbers. The crime rate shot up. It wasn't safe to go anywhere. People began to move away from the central city, which was where the most crime was, and into smaller cities or the country. This made the great city of Rome break up even more. There became distinctive language grooves that emerged from the common Latin base.

Soon, there became an exclusive "club" of conservatism. They became reactive to all that was going on. They kept all the old classical literature and the legal system. And it was at this point that they were looked at as foreigners.

The Germans were the minority in Rome, and this is what got them asked if they would be enlisted into the Roman army. These are 2nd or 3rd generations of Germans who were raised in Rome. This way, the army flourished and grew. It grew so large that it became a culture of war. That's what happens when you cram so many different races, cultures, and worldviews together in one empire. And that is also what is happening now in this current time. The problem is that when we try to fix this by separating the cultures and the races, we are called racist.

The Celts were ethnically related to the Germans.

In 600 BC, the Celts swept down from the north across Europe. They were known as the Germans or the Gauls. They were a highly developed culture. They loved music and art. They also loved body markings and tribal scarring. This began as a pagan tradition. Sports was another favorite of theirs. The phrase "clash of arms" fit them well. They loved pitched war.

When they went out to battle, they wore war paint in bright colors such as blue and purple. They also did weird things to their hair. They are the original punk-rockers/emo. They wore all black. They believed that nothing should detract from the body. Nothing must detract from tattoos, piercings, and funky hair. They went into battle naked and totally freaked out their opponents. Apart from all this, they had very well-developed and melodic music. They were also a people who were attached to land and their home-land.

The Romans weren't so afraid of the Celts as everyone else was. They didn't feel like they were a threat.

At the end of the 2nd century AD, the Celts were completely pushed out of the Roman empire.

Gaelic is what remains from the Celts language. Kilts are also derived from the war blankets of the Celts.

At about the time of Julius Caesar's campaign in 56-51 BC, the supremacy of the Celts came to an end. They had rich land and so were wiped out.

The term German for the Romans meant the Celts.

Visigoths were a Germanic tribe in the 3rd century AD. The were the western goths, and were the closest to the west. When the Huns swept through from the north, it sent the Visigoths to the south. Alaric was the Visigoths greatest warlord. He led a series of conquests in modern Austria. The refuges that they swept in front of them were a threat to the Roman frontiers.

402 AD - the Visigoths joined with the western Roman emperor, Honorius, to hold back the Huns. The way it came about was this. The Romans couldn't handle the refugees that came because of the Huns (or basically the Visigoths). They found that most of the refugees were intelligent and were ready to make an alliance with them. Unfortunately, the Romans began to treat the Visigoths like scum...and like barbarians. The Romans did not honor their alliance commitments. Alaric was very bright however. This combined with the fact that he was known for his short temper and the Visigoths greatest virtue was honor did not bode well for Honorius. Alaric lost his temper when Rome did not honor their treaty.

410 AD - The Visigoths sacked Rome. In less than 35 years the Visigoths were able to overwhelm the Roman armies. The Roman capital was moved to Revenna.

The Ostrogoths infiltrated into Rome. Ostrogoths were the eastern goths and were not as barbaric as the Huns. In the Middle of the 3rd century, nearly half of the Roman army was made of Ostrogoths. Odacer who was an Ostrogoth, came out at this point in the story.

In 476 AD, Odacer got tired of the weak Roman king, so he overthrew him.

489 AD - Theodoric, another Ostrogoth, ruled after Odacer. They moved southward into southern Italy. Because he was a goth, even today, northern and southern Italy have vast differences.