Ethnic Groups and Regions in the Western European Roman Empire | Early European History And Religion

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EUROPEAN PROVINCES OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Portrait of a Barbarian bust, AD 3rd century

1) Western.
Spain (205-19 B.C.).
Gaul (France, Belgium, parts of Germany, 120-17 B.C.).
Britain (A.D. 43-84).

2) Central.
Rhaetia et Vindelicia (roughly Switzerland, northern Italy15 B.C.).
Noricum (Austria, Slovenia, 15 B.C.).
Pannonia (western Hungary, eastern Austria, northern Croatia, north-western Serbia, northern Slovenia, western Slovakia and northern Bosnia and Herzegovina. A.D. 10).

3) Eastern.
Illyricum (northern Albania, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina and coastal Croatia, 167-59 B.C.).
Macedonia (northern Greece, modern Macedonia, 146 B.C.).
Achaia (western Greece, 146 B.C.).
Moesia (Central Serbia, Kosovo, northern modern Macedonia, northern Bulgaria and Romanian Dobrudja 20 B.C.).
Thrace (northeast Greece, A.D. 40).
Dacia (Romania, A.D. 107). \~\

Websites on Ancient Rome: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Forum Romanum forumromanum.org ; “Outlines of Roman History” forumromanum.org; “The Private Life of the Romans” forumromanum.org|; BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history; Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; Lacus Curtius penelope.uchicago.edu; Gutenberg.org gutenberg.org The Roman Empire in the 1st Century pbs.org/empires/romans; The Internet Classics Archive classics.mit.edu ; Bryn Mawr Classical Review bmcr.brynmawr.edu; De Imperatoribus Romanis: An Online Encyclopedia of Roman Emperors roman-emperors.org; British Museum ancientgreece.co.uk; Oxford Classical Art Research Center: The Beazley Archive beazley.ox.ac.uk ; Metropolitan Museum of Art metmuseum.org/about-the-met/curatorial-departments/greek-and-roman-art; The Internet Classics Archive kchanson.com ; Cambridge Classics External Gateway to Humanities Resources web.archive.org/web; Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy iep.utm.edu; Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy plato.stanford.edu; Ancient Rome resources for students from the Courtenay Middle School Library web.archive.org ; History of ancient Rome OpenCourseWare from the University of Notre Dame /web.archive.org ; United Nations of Roma Victrix (UNRV) History unrv.com

Greeks Versus 'Barbarians'

Dr Neil Faulkner wrote for the BBC: “In the east, change was limited. Here, long before, urban civilisation had taken root and for some centuries this had been of a distinctively Greek (or 'Hellenistic' character). Though the Romans had once caricatured the Greeks as effete and decadent, this was changing by the late first century AD. The Romans increasingly admired and imitated Greek cultural achievement. [Source: Dr Neil Faulkner, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“The change is symbolised in imperial portraits. Unlike their clean-shaven predecessors, second century emperors, starting with Hadrian (117 - 138 AD) sported the Greek-style beards of 'philosopher-kings'. |In fact, so far from the east being Romanised, it was more a case of the west being Hellenised. A uniform elite culture that was both Roman and Greek was thereby forged. This became the developed language of rank, status and 'good taste' in the Roman empire's golden age. |::|

“In the western provinces, on the other hand, there was often a sharp contrast between traditional native culture and Roman innovations. |In Spain, France, Belgium and Britain, for example - all areas with a strongly Celtic culture - the archaeology of the Roman period looks very different from that of the preceding Iron Age: Rectangular houses instead of round ones; towns with regular street-grids instead of hilltop enclosures curling round the contours; mosaics, frescoes and naturalistic sculptures instead of wooden idols, golden torcs and enamelled bronzework. “

Gauls and Celts in Italy

Gauls

The Gauls lived in extreme northern Italy and the areas now occupied by France and Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Crossing the Alps from western Europe, they had pushed back the Etruscans and occupied the plains of the Po; hence this region received the name which it long held, Cisalpine Gaul. They held this territory against the Ligurians on the west and the Veneti on the east; and for a long time were the terror of the Italian people. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901), forumromanum.org ]

The Gauls were the native tribe of Gaul (France). They are regarded as a Celtic-Druidic people. They crossed the Alps and expanded into the Balkans, north Italy and France around the third century B.C. and later they reached the British isles. They occupied most of western Europe by 300 B.C.

Most of the great Barbarian tribes of the post-Roman period, many of who were involved in the fall of Rome, were either Germanic (Teutonic) or Celts. Druids and Gauls were Celts. Goths, Visigoths and Vandals were Germanic Tribes. The Iberians occupied Spain and intermingled with Celts. The Huns came from Central Asia.

Romans and Gauls

The name"Gauls" is basically the name the Romans gave the Celts. Julius Caesar is the main source of information on the Gauls. The distinction between Gauls (Celts) and Germanic tribes can be traced back to Julius Caesar who decided that Gaul region was worth conquering and the Germanic region to north wasn't.

The Romans described the Celts as bloodthirsty barbarians with incredible strength, appetites and aggressiveness. Roman art showed them fighting naked with mud-stiffened hairdos and oval shields and double-twisted neck torques. According to the Romans, the Celts practiced human sacrifices at the their religious festivals. They established places of worship at wells and fountains and made offerings at these places of the severed heads of their enemies. Severed heads are a common theme in Celtic art.

Gauls in Rome

Laura Geggel of LiveScience wrote: “Before the Romans invaded the south of France, in 125 B.C., a culture speaking the Celtic language lived there and practiced its own customs. These Celtic people lived in densely settled, fortified sites during the Iron Age (750 B.C. to 125 B.C.), trading with cultures near and far, the researchers said. But after the Roman invasion, the Celtic culture at this location changed socially and economically, Luley said. For instance, the new findings suggest that some people under the Romans stopped preparing their own meals and began eating at communal places, such as taverns. Rome had a big impact on southern France,” Benjamin Luley, a visiting assistant professor of anthropology and classics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania, told Live Science. “We don’t see taverns before the Romans arrive.” [Source: Laura Geggel, LiveScience, March 10, 2016]

Crupellarii, heavily armored Gauls, fought against the Roman legionaries. Tacitus wrote: “Completely encased in iron in the national fashion, these crupellarii, as they were called, were too clumsy for offensive purposes but impregnable in defence……the infantry made a frontal attack. The Gallic flanks were driven in. The iron-clad contingent caused some delay as their casing resisted javelins and swords. However the Romans used axes and mattocks and struck at their plating and its wearers like men demolishing a wall. Others knocked down the immobile gladiators with poles or pitchforks, and, lacking the power to rise, they were left for dead. [Source: Tacitus Annales III. 43]

Celts

The Celts were a group of related tribes, linked by language, religion and culture, that gave rise to the first civilization north of the Alps. They emerged as a distinct people around the 8th century B.C. and were known for their fearlessness in battle. Pronouncing Celts with a hard "C" or soft "C" are both okay. American archeologist Brad Bartel called the Celts "the most important and wide-ranging of all European Iron Age people." English speakers tend to say KELTS. The French say SELTS. The Italian say CHELTS. [Source: Merle Severy, National Geographic, May 1977] The origin of the Celts remains a mystery. Some scholars believe they originated in the steppes beyond the Caspian Sea. They first appeared in central Europe east of the Rhine in the seventh century B.C. and inhabited much of northeast France, southwest Germany by 500 B.C. They crossed the Alps and expanded into the Balkans, north Italy and France around the third century B.C. and later they reached the British isles. They occupied most of western Europe by 300 B.C.

The Celts were a mysterious, warlike and artistic people with a highly developed society. They used iron weapon and horses. Celts in Bulgaria were producing bronze from copper and imported iron 3,500 years ago, about same time that the Hittites in Asia Minor, one of the first producers or iron, began producing the metal. Individual Celtic tribes were fiercely independent. They never coalesced into a great empire like Rome or Greece. Celts in different regions shared a similar culture and spoke similar languages.

On Celtic customs, Strabo wrote in “Geographia” (A.D., c. 20): “In Gaul, the heads of enemies of high repute they used to embalm in cedar oil and exhibit to strangers, and they would not deign to give them back ever for a ransom of an equal weight of gold. But the Romans put a stop to these customs, as well as to all those connected with the sacrifices and divinations that are opposed to our usages. They used to strike a human being, whom they had devoted to death, in the back with a sword, and then divine from his death-struggle. But they would not sacrifice without the Druids. We are told of still other kinds of human sacrifices; for example, they would shoot victims to death with arrows, or impale them in the temples, or having devised a colossus of straw and wood, throw into the colossus cattle and wild animals of all sorts and human beings, and make a burnt-offering of the whole thing.” [Source: Strabo, The Geography of Strabo: Literally Translated, with Notes, translated by H. C. Hamilton & W. Falconer, (London: H. G. Bohn, 1854-1857)]

Books: “The Druids” by Peter Berresord Ellis; “The World of Druids” by Miranda Green; “The Celts” by Gerhard Herml: “Ancient Celts” by Barry Cunliffe.

Historical and Archeological Evidence of Celts

Celts

The Celts had a written language but they left behind very few written records. Most of what we know about the ancient Celts has been ascertained from descriptions of them by Roman and Greek writers and historians and artifacts unearthed at burial sites and archeological excavations. Most of what was written about the Celts by the Greeks and Romans had a negative spin because the Celts were traditional enemies of the Greeks and Romans. The Roman referred to the Celts as "barbarians" and a "scourge." Irish monks are no more reliable. They didn’t want to portray their ancestors as heathens.

The richest Celtic archeological site is a huge cemetery found near Hallstat in Salkammergut, Austria. It contained 2,000 Iron Age graves, filled with sophisticated heavy swords, daggers, axes, caldrons, pottery and jewelry with geometric and animal designs. The discovery became known as the Hallstat culture and was dated ro the eight to fifth centuries B.C.

In 1734 an ancient Celt was found in a salt mine by miners. It was believed the man died in an avalanche. The body was so well preserved it was thought to a devil and was disposed of. Nobody knows what happened to the body. The backpack he may have used for carrying salt and his pick, shovel, firebrand and leather cap can all be seen in the museum in Hallstatt Austria.

Le Téne on Lake Neuchâtel in Switzerland, was one of the most important Celtic settlements. Archeologists found iron weapons and jewelry there. Scholars referred to the people that lived there as the Le Téne culture. Le Téne objects have turned up in Italy, Spain, France, Hungary, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the Ukraine, giving archeologist their first indication of how widespread the Celts were.

Celts, Europe and Greeks

The Celts are regarded by some scholars as the "first true Europeans". They created the first civilization north of the Alps and are believed to have evolved from tribes that originally lived in Bohemia, Switzerland, Austria, southern Germany and northern France. They were contemporaries of the Mycenaeans in Greece who lived around the time of Trojan War (1200 B.C.) and may have evolved from the Corded Ware Battle Ax People of 2300 B.C. The Celts founded a kingdom of Galatia in Asia Minor that received an Epistle from St. Paul in the New Testament.

At their height in the 3rd century B.C. Celts confronted enemies as far east as Asia Minor and as far west as the British Isles. They ventured to the Iberian Peninsula, to the Baltic, to Poland and Hungary, Scholars believe that Celtic tribes migrated over such a large area for economic and social reasons. They suggest that many of the migrants were men who hoped to claim some land so they could claim a bride.

King Attalus I defeated the Celts in 230 B.C. in what is now western Turkey. To honor the victory, Attalus commissioned a series of sculptures including a sculpture that was copied by the Romans and later called The Dying Gaul.

The Celts were known as the "Caltha" or "Gelatins" to the Greeks and attacked the sacred shrine of Delphi in the 3rd century B.C. (Some sources give date of 279 B.C.). Greek warriors who encountered the Gauls said they "knew how to die, barbarians though they were." Alexander the Great once asked what the Celts feared more than anything else. They said "the sky falling down on their head." Alexander sacked a Celtic city on the Danube before heading off on his march of conquest across Asia.

Goths, Gauls and Franks

Goths

The Goths were one of the main groups that threatened Rome. Originally from Scandinavia, they were the first Teutonic people to be Christianized. They migrated from Sweden across the Baltic Sea, through what is now Russia and the Ukraine to the Black Sea. From there they migrated into the Balkans and divided into two groups the Ostrogoths (East Goths) and Visagoths (West Goths). Before their division the Goths were allowed by the Romans to settle within the borders of the Roman Empire. They rose against the Romans and killed the Roman emperor Valentinian in battle. His successor Theodosius sued for peace.

The Goths were different from the Gauls. The Gauls lived in extreme northern Italy and the areas now occupied by France and Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Many centuries earlier they crossed the Alps from western Europe and pushed back the Etruscans and occupied the plains of the Po; hence this region received the name which it long held, Cisalpine Gaul. They held this territory against the Ligurians on the west and the Veneti on the east; and for a long time were the terror of the Italian people when Rome was a village in the 7th century B.C. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901), forumromanum.org ]

The Franks, a federation Teutonic tribes, were another group that were around at the time Rome fell. They arrived from what is now Germany and settled as far as the Somme River around A.D. 250 during a westward drive by Germanic tribes. By the 5th century, the Merovingian Franks had thrown out the Romans, and swept over a large population of mostly Romanized Gauls, Burgundians and Gaohs. Childeric I became leader of the Merovingian Franks in A.D. 458. His son was Clovis, regarded by some as the foudner of France. Other Frank tribes spread as far as Greece.

An argument persists today on whether the French descended from the Germanic Franks from the north or the Romanticized Gauls from the south. The French right has traditionally linked themselves with the Franks while the left has traditionally claimed descent form the Gauls, who were regarded as libertarian and egalitarian without necessarily being Christian. The Franks are mostly closely linked with Christianity and Catholicism.

Caesar in Gaul

In 58 B.C., Julius Caesar became governor and military commander of the Roman province of Gaul, which included modern France, Belgium, and portions of Switzerland, Holland, and Germany west of the Rhine, as well as parts of northern Italy. During his eight years there he led military campaigns involving both the Roman legions and tribes in Gaul who were often competing among themselves. One of the best sources on the period is Caesar's account, “Commentaries on the Gallic Wars,” originally published in 50 B.C.

In 59 B.C., after serving a year as consul, Caesar had himself named the governor of Gaul, where he distinguished himself as a superb organizer and a motivator of soldiers with whom he worked with, fought with and suffered with. He inspired such respect and affection from the men who served under him it was said they would do anything for him. Caesar personally selected Gaul for his province to govern. At that time the most forbidding part of the Roman territory. It was the home of barbarians, with no wealth like that of Asia, and few relics of a former civilization like those of Spain and Africa.

Caesar meeting Ariovistus

Caesar governed Gaul from 58 to 49 B.C. David Silverman of Reed College wrote: Caesar “chose for his province Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum, but the Senate added to this Transalpine Gaul, which as it turned out was where Caesar would spend most of his time, returning to the Italian side of the Alps periodically to meet with his people from the city and to keep his finger on what was happening on the domestic scene.” [Source: David Silverman, Reed College, Classics 373 ~ History 393 Class ^*^]

Suetonius wrote: “During the nine years of his command this is in substance what he did. All that part of Gallia which is bounded by the Pyrenees, the Alps and the Cévennes, and by the Rhine and Rhone rivers, a circuit of some 3,200 miles [Roman measure, about 3,106 English miles], with the exception of some allied states which had rendered him good service, he reduced to the form of a province; and imposed upon it a yearly tribute of 40,000,000 sesterces. He was the first Roman to build a bridge and attack the Germans beyond the Rhine; and he inflicted heavy losses upon them. He invaded the Britons too, a people unknown before, vanquished them, and exacted moneys and hostages. Amid all these successes he met with adverse fortune but three times in all: in Britannia, where his fleet narrowly escaped destruction in a violent storm; in Gallia, when one of his legions was routed at Gergovia; and on the borders of Germania, when his lieutenants Titurius and Aurunculeius were ambushed and slain. [Source: Suetonius (c.69-after 122 A.D.): “De Vita Caesarum, Divus Iulius” (“The Lives of the Caesars, The Deified Julius”), written A.D. c. 110, Suetonius, 2 vols., translated by J. C. Rolfe, (Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, and London: William Henemann, 1920), Vol. I, pp. 3-119]

Gaul at the Time Caesar Arrived

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): 1 Gaul is a whole divided into three parts, one of which is inhabited by the Belgae, another by the Aquitani, and a third by a people called in their own tongue Celtae, in the Latin Galli. All these are different one from another in language, institutions, and laws. The Galli (Gauls) are separated from the Aquitani by the river Garonne, from the Belgae by the Marne and the Seine. Of all these peoples the Belgae are the most courageous, because they are farthest removed from the culture and civilization of the Province,1 and least often visited by merchants introducing the commodities that make for effeminacy; and also because they are nearest to the Germans dwelling beyond the Rhine, with whom they are continually at war. For this cause the Helvetii also excel the rest of the Gauls in valour, because they are struggling in almost daily fights with the Germans, either endeavouring to keep them out of Gallic territory or waging an aggressive warfare in German territory. The separate part of the country which, as has been said, is occupied by the Gauls, starts from the river Rhone, and is bounded by the river Garonne, the Ocean, and the territory of the Belgae; moreover, on the side of the Sequani and the Helvetii, it touches on the river Rhine; and its general trend is northward. The Belgae, beginning p5 from the edge of the Gallic territory, reach to the lower part of the river Rhine, bearing towards the north and east. Aquitania, starting from the Garonne, reaches to the Pyrenees and to that part of the Ocean which is by Spain: its bearing is between west and north. [Source: Gallic War by Julius Caesar, Book I, chapters 1, Loeb Classical Library, 1917, Bill Thayer, penelope.uchicago.edu]

pink area is area of Gaul conquered by Caesar as of 51 BC

“When Caesar arrived in Gaul the leaders of one party were the Aedui, of the other the Sequani. The latter, being by themselves inferior in strength — since the highest authority from ancient times rested with the Aedui, and their dependencies were extensive — had made Ariovistus and the Germans their friends, and with great sacrifices and promises had brought them to their side. Then, by several successful engagements and the slaughter of all the Aeduan nobility, they had so far established their predominance as to transfer a great part of the dependents from the Aedui to themselves, receiving from them as hostages the children of their chief men, compelling them as a state to swear that they would entertain no design against the Sequani, occupying a part of the neighbouring territory which they had seized by force, and securing the chieftaincy of all Gaul. This was the necessity which had compelled Diviciacus to set forth on a journey to the Senate at Rome for the purpose of seeking aid; but he had returned without achieving the object. [Source: Gallic War by Julius Caesar, Book VI (chapters 11 20). Loeb Classical Library, 1917, Bill Thayer, penelope.uchicago.edu]

“By the arrival of Caesar a change of affairs was brought about. Their hosts were restored to the Aedui, their old dependencies restored, and new ones secured through Caesar's efforts (as those who had joined in friendly relations with them found that they enjoyed a better condition and a fairer rule), and their influence and position were increased in all other respects: in result whereof the Sequani had lost the chieftaincy. To their place the Remi had succeeded; and as it was perceived that they had equal influence with Caesar, the tribes which, by reason of ancient animosities, could in no wise join the Aedui were delivering themselves as dependents to the Remi. These tribes the Remi carefully protected, and by this means they sought to maintain their new and suddenly acquired authority. The state of things then at the time in question was that the Aedui were regarded as by far the chief state, while the Remi held the second place in importance.

Caesar on the Gauls’ Customs and Religion

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): “The Gallic people, in general, are remarkably addicted to religious observances; and for this reason persons suffering from serious maladies c s. and those whose lives are passed in battle and danger offer or vow to offer human sacrifices, and employ Druids to perform the sacrificial rites; for they believe that unless for man's life the life of man be duly offered, the divine spirit cannot be propitiated. They also hold regular state sacrifices of the same kind. They have, besides, colossal images, the limbs of which, made of wicker work, they fill with living men and set on fire; and the victims perish, encompassed by the flames. [Source: “Gallic War” Book VI, chapters 11-20, by Julius Caesar. Loeb Classical Library, 1917]

“They regard it as more acceptable to the gods to punish those who are caught in the commission of theft, robbery, or any other crime; but, in default of criminals, they actually resort to the sacrifice of the innocent. The god whom they most reverence is Mercury, whose images abound. He is regarded as the inventor of all arts and the pioneer and guide of travellers; and he is believed to be all-powerful in promoting commerce and the acquisition of wealth. Next to him they reverence Apollo, Mars, Jupiter, and Minerva. Their notions about these deities are much the same as those of other peoples: Apollo they regard as the dispeller of disease, Minerva as the originator of industries and handicrafts, Jupiter as the suzerain of the celestials, and Mars as the lord of war. To Mars, when they have resolved upon battle, they commonly dedicate the spoils: after victory they sacrifice the captured cattle, and collect the rest of the booty in one spot. In the territories of many tribes are to be seen heaps of such spoils reared on consecrated ground; and it has rarely happened that any one dared, despite religion, either to conceal what he had captured or to remove what had been consecrated. For such an offense the law prescribes the heaviest punishment with torture

Gaulic warrior

“The Gauls universally describe themselves as descendants of Dis Pater,2 affirming that this is the Druidical tradition. For this reason they measure all periods of time not by days but by nights, and reckon birthdays, the first of the month, and the first of the year on the principle that day comes after night. As regards the other customs of daily life, about the only point ispecul,ar in which they differ from the rest of mankind is this, they do not allow their children to come near them openly 1 until they are old enough for military service; and they regard it as unbecoming for a son, while he is still a boy, to appear in public where his father can see him.

“It is the custom for married men to take from their own property an amount equivalent, according to valuation, to the sum which they have received from their wives as dowry, and lump the two together. The whole property is jointly administered and the interest saved; and the joint shares of husband and wife, with the interest of past years, go to the survivor. Husbands have power of life and death over Status of their wives as well as their children: on the death of the head of a family of high birth, his relations assemble, and, if his death gives rise to suspicion, examine his wives under torture like slaves, and, if their guilt is proved, bum t em to death with all kinds of tortures I funerals, considering the Gallic standard of living are splendid and costly: everything, even including animals, which the departed are supposed to have cared for when they were alive, is consigned to the flames; and shortly before our time slaves and retainers who were known to have been beloved by their masters were burned along with them after the conclusion of the regular obsequies.

“The tribes which are regarded as comparatively well governed have a legal enactment to the effect that if any one hears any political rumour or intelligence from the neighbouring peoples, he is to inform the magistrate and not communicate it to any one else, as experience has proved that headstrong persons, who know nothing of affairs, are often alarmed by false reports and impelled to commit crimes and embark on momentous enterprises The magistrates suppress what appears to demand secrecy, and publish what they deem it expedient for the people to know. The discussion of politics, except in a formal assembly, is forbidden.”

Caesar on Druids and Knights in Gaul

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): “Throughout Gaul there are two classes of persons of definite account and dignity. As for the common folk, they are treated almost as slaves, venturing naught of themselves, never taken into counsel. The more part of them, oppressed as they are either by debt, or by the heavy weight of tribute, or by the wrongdoing of the more powerful men, commit themselves in slavery to the nobles, who have, in fact, the same rights over them as masters over slaves. Of the two classes above mentioned one consists of Druids, the other of knights. [Source: Gallic War by Julius Caesar, Book VI (chapters 11 20). Loeb Classical Library, 1917, Bill Thayer, penelope.uchicago.edu]

Romans murdering Druids and burning their groves

The former are concerned with divine worship, the due performance of sacrifices, public and private, and the interpretation of ritual questions: a great number of young men gather about them for the sake of instruction and hold them in great honour. In fact, it is they who decide in almost all disputes, public and private; and if any crime has been committed, or murder done, or there is any disposes about succession or boundaries, they also decide it, determining rewards and penalties: if any person or people does not abide by their decision, they ban such from sacrifice, which is their heaviest penalty. Those that are so banned are reckoned as impious and criminal; all men move out of their path and shun their approach and conversation, for fear they may get some harm from their contact, and no justice is done if they seek it, no distinction falls to their share. Of all these Druids one is chief, who has the highest authority among them. At his death, either any other that is preëminent in position succeeds, or, if there be several of equal standing, they strive for the primacy by the vote of the Druids, or sometimes even with armed force. These Druids, at a certain time of the year, meet within the borders of the Carnutes, whose territory is reckoned as the centre of all Gaul, and sit in conclave in a consecrated spot. Thither assemble from every side all that have disputes, and they obey the decisions and judgments of the Druids. It is believed that their rule of life was discovered in Britain and transferred thence to Gaul; and to day those who would study the subject more accurately journey, as a rule, to Britain to learn it.

“The Druids usually hold aloof from war, and do not pay war taxes with the rest; they are excused from military service and exempt from all liabilities. Tempted by these great rewards, many young men assemble of their own motion to receive their training; many are sent by parents and relatives. Report says that in the schools of the Druids they learn by heart a great number of verses, and therefore some persons remain twenty years under training. And they do not think it proper to commit these utterances to writing, although in almost all other matters, and in their public and private accounts, they make use of Greek letters. I believe that they have adopted the practice for two reasons — that they do not wish the rule to become common property, nor those who learn the rule to rely on writing and so neglect the cultivation of the memory; and, in fact, it does usually happen that the assistance of writing tends to relax the diligence of the student and the action of the memory. The cardinal doctrine which they seek to teach is that souls do not die, but after death pass from one to another; and this belief, as the fear of death is thereby cast aside, they hold to be the greatest incentive to valour. Besides this, they have many discussions as touching the stars and their movement, the size of the universe and of the earth, the order of nature, the strength and the powers of the immortal gods, and hand down their lore to the young men.

“The other class are the knights. These, when there is occasion, upon the incidence of a war — and before Caesar's coming this would happen well-nigh every year, in the sense that they would either be making wanton attacks themselves or repelling such — are all engaged therein; and according to the importance of each of them in birth and resources, so is the number of liegemen and dependents that he has about him. This is the one form of influence and power known to them.”

Country House Life in Gaul

(Caius) Sollius Apollinaris (Modestus)Sidonius, (A.D. c.431-c.489) was a Roman Aristocrat living in Gaul at the time of its transformation from a province of the Roman Empire to the property of Frankish Kings. His letters are among the prime documents of the period. The two letters here illustrate aspects of that experience. The first is an account of the possibility of an idyllic country life for the Gallo-Roman aristocracy of the fifth century: the Roman Empire ended, but not, immediately, the lifestyle. The second is a description of a Germanic King, in this case Theodoric II, King of the Visigoths 453-66 [note: not the same as the Ostrogothic Theodoric!]. We see here the ways in which the Gallo-Roman aristocracy began to accommodate itself to the new military powers.

Sidonius wrote in his friend Donidius (A.D. 461-7): “To your question why, having got as far as Nimes, I still leave your hospitality expectant, I reply by giving the reason for my delayed return. I will even dilate upon the causes of my dilatoriness, for I know that what I enjoy is your enjoyment too. The fact is, I have passed the most delightful time in the most beautiful country in the company of Tonantius Ferreolus and Apollinaris, the most charming hosts in the world. Their estates march together; their houses are not far apart; and the extent of intervening ground is just too far for a walk and just too short to make the ride worthwhile. The hills above the houses are under vines and olives; they might be Nysa and Aracynthus, famed in song. The view from one villa is over a wide flat country, that from the other over woodland; yet different though their situations are, the eye derives equal pleasure from both. But enough of sites ; I have now to unfold the order of my entertainment. [Source: Sidonius Apollinaris (c. A.D. 431-c.489), “The Letters of Sidonius,” Book II: Letter IX, translated by O.M. Dalton, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1915), two vols]

“Sharp scouts were posted to look out for our return ; and not only were the roads patrolled by men from each estate, but even winding short-cuts and sheep-tracks were under observation, to make it quite impossible for us to elude the friendly ambush. Into this of course we fell, no unwilling prisoners; and our captors instantly made us swear to dismiss every idea of continuing our journey until a whole week had elapsed. And so every morning began with a flattering rivalry between the two hosts, as to which of their kitchens should first smoke for the refreshment of their guest ; nor, though I am personally related to one, and connected through my relatives with the other, could I manage by alternation to give them quite equal measure since age and the dignity of prefectorian rank gave Ferreolus a prior right of invitation over and above his other claims. From the first moment we were hurried from one pleasure to another. Hardly had we entered the vestibule of either house when we saw two opposed pairs of partners in the ball-game repeating each other's movements as they turned in wheeling circles ; in another place one heard the rattle of dice boxes and the shouts of the contending players in yet another, were books in abundance ready to your hand; you might have imagined yourself among the shelves of some grammarian, or the tiers of the Athenaeum, or a bookseller's towering cases. They were so arranged that the devotional works were near the ladies' seats where the master sat were those ennobled by the great style of Roman eloquence. The arrangement had this defect, that it separated certain books by certain authors in manner as near to each other as in matter they are far apart. Thus Augustine writes like Varro, and Horace like Prudentius; but you had to consult them on different sides of the room. Turranius Rufinus' interpretation of Adamantius Origenl was eagerly examined by the readers of theology among us; according to our several points of view, we had different reasons to give for the censure of this Father by certain of the clergy as too trenchant a controversialist and best avoided by the prudent; but the translation is so literal and yet renders the spirit of the work so well, that neither Apuleius' version of Plato's Phaedo, nor Cicero's of the Ctesiphon of Demosthenes is more admirably adapted to the use and rule of our Latin tongue.

Roman Empire in the East in 39 BC

While we were engaged in these discussions as fancy prompted each, appears an envoy from the cook to warn us that the moment of bodily refreshment is at hand. And in fact the fifth hour had just elapsed, proving that the man was punctual, had properly marked the advance of the hours upon the water-clock . The dinner was short, but abundant, served in the fashion affected in senatorial houses where inveterate usage prescribes numerous courses on very few dishes, though to afford variety, roast alternated with stew. Amusing and instructive anecdotes accompanied our potations; wit went with the one sort, and learning with the other. To be brief, we were entertained with decorum, refinement, and good cheer. After dinner, if we were at Vorocingus (the name of one estate) we walked over to our quarters and our own belongings. If at Prusianum, as the other is called, [the young] Tonantius and his brothers turned out of their beds for us because we could not be always dragging our gear about: I they are surely the elect among the nobles of our own age. The siesta over, we took a short ride to sharpen our jaded appetites for supper. Both of our hosts had baths in their houses, but in neither did they happen to be available; so I set my own servants to work in the rare sober interludes which the convivial bowl, too often filled, allowed their sodden brains. I made them dig a pit at their best speed either near a spring or by the river; into this a heap of red-hot stones was thrown, and the glowing cavity then covered over with an arched roof of wattled hazel. This still left interstices, and to exclude the light and keep in the steam given off when water was thrown on the hot stones, we laid coverings of Cilician goats' hair over all. In these vapour-baths we passed whole hours with lively talk and repartee; all the time the cloud of hissing steam enveloping us induced the healthiest perspiration.

“When we bad perspired enough, we were bathed in hot water; the treatment removed the feeling of repletion, but left us languid ; we therefore finished off with a bracing douche from fountain, well or river. For the river Gardon runs between the two properties except in time of flood, when the stream is swollen and clouded with melted snow, it looks red through its tawny gravels, and flows still and pellucid over its pebbly bed, io teeming none the less with the most delicate fish. I could tell you of suppers fit for a king ; it is not my sense of shame, but simply want of space which sets a limit to my revelations. You would have a great story if I turned the page and continued on the other side; but I am always ashamed to disfigure the back of a letter with an inky pen. Besides, I am on the point of leaving here, and hope, by Christ's grace, that we shall meet very shortly ; the story of our friends' banquets will be better told at my own table or yours-provided only that a good week's interval first elapses to restore me the healthy appetite I long for. There is nothing like thin living to give tone to a system disordered by excess. Farewell.

Roman Sites in France

Sometimes referred to as Little Rome on the Rhône Arles was a major city during the Roman occupation of Gaul. Remnants of this era include the Baths of Constantine, the Circus amphitheater and the Arles Arena which was used for gladiator contest during Roman times and today is used for bullfights. Among the interesting museums in Arles are the Museum of Christian Art and the Museum of Pagan art, both which contain lovely mosaics beautiful decorated stone sarcophagi from the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th centuries. Underneath the museum are the eery Cryptoportiques, subterranean galleries that were used for storing grain.

According to UNESCO: “Arles is a good example of the adaptation of an ancient city to medieval European civilization. It has some impressive Roman monuments, of which the earliest – the arena, the Roman theatre and the cryptoporticus (subterranean galleries) – date back to the 1st century B.C. During the 4th century Arles experienced a second golden age, as attested by the baths of Constantine and the necropolis of Alyscamps. In the 11th and 12th centuries, Arles once again became one of the most attractive cities in the Mediterranean. Within the city walls, Saint-Trophime, with its cloister, is one of Provence's major Romanesque monuments.” [Source: UNESCO World Heritage sites website =]

Robert Kunzig wrote in National Geographic: “Arles in the first century was the thriving gateway to Roman Gaul. Freight from all over the Mediterranean was transferred there to riverboats, then hauled up the Rhône by teams of men to supply the northern reaches of the empire, including the legions manning the German frontier. “It was a city at the intersection of all roads, which received products from everywhere,” says David Djaoui, an archaeologist at the local antiquities museum. Julius Caesar himself had conferred Roman citizenship on the people of Arles as a reward for their military support. In the city center today, on the left bank of the Rhône, you can still see the amphitheater that seated 20,000 spectators for gladiator fights. But of the port that financed all this, and that stretched half a mile or more along the right bank, not much remains—only a shadow in the riverbed, in the form of a thick stripe of Roman trash. [Source: Robert Kunzig, National Geographic, April 2014]

Glanum (near St. Rémy-de-Provence about 20 kilometers from Arles) is regarded as the most important Roman archeological site in France. Situated in a steep-sided valley along the ancient Via Aurelia at the foot of the fantastically-shaped limestone Apilles mountains, the ruins of the this Greco-Roman city include temples, baths, a forum, and a basilica. Covered by centuries of silt washed down by rains, the city wasn't discovered until 1929. The remarkable thing about Glanum is that it was a large city on a major commercial route but there is no mention of it in the historical record. Part of a farm has been reconstructed using Roman stone masonry methods. The mausoleum and the commemorative arch are considered the best-preserved Roman monuments in France. The base of the mausoleum features a bas-relief with images of Roam soldiers defeating Gallic warriors.

Pont du Gard aqueduct

Pont du Gard (40 kilometers northwest of Arles) is a 160 foot-high, double tired Roman aqueduct that towers over the Gard river. According to UNESCO: “The Pont du Gard was built shortly before the Christian era to allow the aqueduct of Nîmes (which is almost 50 kilometers long) to cross the Gard river. The Roman architects and hydraulic engineers who designed this bridge, which stands almost 50 meters high and is on three levels – the longest measuring 275 meters – created a technical as well as an artistic masterpiece.” Henry James wrote: "You are very near it before you see it: the ravine it spans suddenly opens and exhibits the picture.” The three tiers of the monumental bridge he said were "unspeakably imposing."

Orange is the home of a Roman theater and a "Triumphal Arch". According to UNESCO: “Situated in the Rhone valley, the ancient theatre of Orange, with its 103-m-long facade, is one of the best preserved of all the great Roman theatres. Built between A.D. 10 and 25, the Roman arch is one of the most beautiful and interesting surviving examples of a provincial triumphal arch from the reign of Augustus. It is decorated with low reliefs commemorating the establishment of the Pax Romana.” =

Roman-Era Tavern Found in France

In 2016, a Roman-ere tavern, still littered with animal bones and the bowls used by patrons, was discovered in Lattara, an important historical site in France,. The tavern was most likely used during 175–75 B.C., around the time the Roman army conquered the area. The tavern served drinks as well as flatbreads, fish, and choice cuts of meat from sheep and cows. In the kitchen, there were three large ovens on one end and millstones for making flour on the other. In the serving area was a large fireplace and reclining seats.

Laura Geggel wrote in LiveScience: “An excavation uncovered dozens of other artifacts, including plates and bowls, three ovens, and the base of a millstone that was likely used for grinding flour, the researchers said. The finding is a valuable one, said study co-researcher Benjamin Luley, a visiting assistant professor of anthropology and classics at Gettysburg College in Pennsylvania. Before the Romans invaded the south of France, in 125 B.C., a culture speaking the Celtic language lived there and practiced its own customs. The new findings suggest that some people under the Romans stopped preparing their own meals and began eating at communal places, such as taverns. “Rome had a big impact on southern France,” Luley told Live Science. “We don’t see taverns before the Romans arrive.”[Source: Laura Geggel, LiveScience, March 10, 2016]

“The excavated area includes a courtyard and two large rooms; one was dedicated to cooking and making flour, and the other was likely reserved for serving patrons, the researchers said. There are three large bread ovens on one end of the kitchen, which indicates that “this isn’t just for one family,” but likely an establishment for serving many people, Luley said. On the other side of the kitchen, the researchers found a row of three stone piles, likely bases for a millstone that helped people grind flour, Luley said. “One side, they’re making flour. On the other side, they’re making flatbread,” Luley said. “And they’re also probably using the ovens for other things as well.” For example, the archaeologists found lots of fish bones and scales that someone had cut off during food preparation, Luley added.

“The other room was likely a dining room, the researchers said. The archaeologists uncovered a large fireplace and a bench along three of the walls that would have accommodated Romans, who reclined when they ate, Luley said. Moreover, the researchers found different kinds of animal bones, such as wishbones and fish vertebra, which people simply threw on the floor. (At that time, people didn’t have the same level of cleanliness as some do now, Luley noted.)

“The dining room also had “an overrepresentation of drinking bowls,” used for serving wine — more than would typically be seen in a regular house, he said. Next to the two rooms was a courtyard filled with more animal bones and an offering: a buried stone millstone, a drinking bowl and a plate that likely held cuts of meat. “Based upon the evidence presented here, it appears that the courtyard complex … functioned as a space for feeding large numbers of people, well beyond the needs of a single domestic unit or nuclear family,” the researchers wrote in the study. “This is unusual, as large, ‘public’ communal spaces for preparing large amounts of food and eating together are essentially nonexistent in Iron Age Mediterranean France.” Perhaps some of the people of Lattara needed places like the tavern to provide meals for them after the Romans arrived, Luley said. “If they might be, say, working in the fields, they might not be growing their own food themselves,” he said. And though the researchers haven’t found any coins at the tavern yet, “We think that this is a beginning of the monetary economy” at Lattera, Luley said. “The study was published in the journal Antiquity.

Germanic Tribes and Celts

Germania

Some scholars believe that the Celts and Germanic tribes were two district groups that have separate histories and originated in different places. Others believe that the Germanic tribes were a subsidiary branch of a dominant Celtic society.

Germanic tribes are usually identified as a completely independent people from the Celts but in fact they are closely related.The distinction between Gauls (Celts) and Germanic tribes can be traced back to Julius Caesar who decided that Gaul region was worth conquering and the Germanic region to north wasn't.

The Romans invaded Britain but didn't invade Ireland or Scotland, which remained Celtic. The Celtic tribes in Gaul mixed with Romans and they in turn mixed with Teutonic tribes invaders that arrived in the A.D. 5th century after the Romans. The Franks and Burgundians which emerged after this period, who give their name to France and Burgundy, were a mixture of Roman, Celtic and Teutonic blood, but they were different enough to remain an ethnic group a apart form the Germanic ethnic groups to the north and east. The Saxons and Angles (Anglo-Saxons) were Germanic tribes that arrived in Britain in the A.D. 5th century and mixed with the Roman and Celtic groups there.

Julius Caesar on the Germans

Frederic Austin Ogg wrote: “This general account of the Germans is drawn from the middle of Book VI of De Bello Gallico. We are not to suppose that Caesar's knowledge of the Germans was in any sense thorough. At no time did he get far into their country, and the people whose manners and customs he had an opportunity to observe were only those who were pressing down upon, and occasionally across, the Rhine boundary — a mere fringe of the great race stretching back to the Baltic. We may be sure that many of the more remote German tribes lived after a fashion quite different from that which Caesar and his legions had an opportunity to observe on the Rhine-Danube frontier. Still, Caesar's account, vague and brief as it is, has an importance that can hardly be exaggerated. These early Germans had no written literature, and but for the descriptions of them left by a few Roman writers, such as Caesar, we should know almost nothing about them. [Source: Frederic Austin Ogg, ed., “A Source Book of Mediaeval History: Documents Illustrative of European Life and Institutions from the German Invasions to the Renaissance,” (New York, 1907, reprinted by Cooper Square Publishers (New York), 1972), pp.20-22]

Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.) wrote in “The Gallic Wars” (“De Bello Gallico” c. 51 B.C.): “The customs of the Germans differ widely from those of the Gauls; for neither have they Druids to preside over religious services, nor do they give much attention to sacrifices. They count in the number of their gods those only whom they can see, and by whose favors they are clearly aided; that is to say, the Sun, Vulcan, and the Moon. Of other deities they have never even heard. Their whole life is spent in hunting and in war. From childhood they are trained in labor and hardship.

chained Germanic

“They are not devoted to agriculture, and the greater portion of their food consists of milk, cheese, and flesh. No one owns a particular piece of land, with fixed limits, but each year the magistrates and the chiefs assign to the clans and the bands of kinsmen who have assembled together as much land as they think proper, and in whatever place they desire, and the next year compel them to move to some other place. They give many reasons for this custom---that the people may not lose their zeal for war through habits established by prolonged attention to the cultivation of the soil; that they may not be eager to acquire large possessions, and that the stronger may not drive the weaker from their property; that they may not build too carefully, in order to avoid cold and heat; that the love of money may not spring up, from which arise quarrels and dissensions; and, finally, that the common people may live in contentment, since each person sees that his wealth is kept equal to that of the most powerful.

“It is a matter of the greatest glory to the tribes to lay waste, as widely as possible, the lands bordering their territory, thus making them uninhabitable. They regard it as the best proof of their valor that their neighbors are forced to withdraw from those lands and hardly any one dares set foot there; at the same time they think that they will thus be more secure, since the fear of a sudden invasion is removed. When a tribe is either repelling an invasion or attacking an outside people, magistrates are chosen to lead in the war, and these are given the power of life and death. In times of peace there is no general magistrate, but the chiefs of the districts and cantons render justice among their own people and settle disputes. Robbery, if committed beyond the borders of the tribe, is not regarded as disgraceful, and they say that it is practiced for the sake of training the youth and preventing idleness. When any one of the chiefs has declared in an assembly that he is going to be the leader of an expedition, and that those who wish to follow him should give in their names, they who approve of the undertaking, and of the man, stand up and promise their assistance, and are applauded by the people. Such of these as do not then follow him are looked upon as deserters and traitors, and from that day no one has any faith in them. To mistreat a guest they consider to be a crime. They protect from injury those who have come among them for any purpose whatever, and regard them as sacred. To them the houses of all are open and food is freely supplied.”

Tacitus: Germania

Tacitus (b.56/57-after 117 A.D.) was an important Roman historian. He wrote the most detailed early description of the Germans at the end of the A.D. first century, but this description often says more about Rome and Roman perceptions of the German tribes than it does about Germany itself. Tacitus wrote in “Germania”: The Germans themselves I should regard as aboriginal, and not mixed at all with other races through immigration or intercourse. For, in former times it was not by land but on shipboard that those who sought to emigrate would arrive; and the boundless and, so to speak, hostile ocean beyond us, is seldom entered by a sail from our world. And, beside the perils of rough and unknown seas, who would leave Asia, or Africa for Italy for Germany, with its wild country, its inclement skies, its sullen manners and aspect, unless indeed it were his home?” [Source: Tacitus, The Agricola and Germania, A. J. Church and W. J. Brodribb,trans. London: Macmillan, 1877, pp. 87- 110]

Physical Characteristics. “For my own part, I agree with those who think that the tribes of Germany are free from all taint of intermarriages with foreign nations, and that they appear as a distinct, unmixed race, like none but themselves. Hence, too, the same physical peculiarities throughout so vast a population. All have fierce blue eyes, red hair, huge frames, fit only for a sudden exertion. They are less able to bear laborious work. Heat and thirst they cannot in the least endure; to cold and hunger their climate and their soil inure them.”

Government. Influence of Women. “They choose their kings by birth, their generals for merit. These kings have not unlimited or arbitrary power, and the generals do more by example than by authority. If they are energetic, if they are conspicuous, if they fight in the front, they lead because they are admired. But to reprimand, to imprison, even to flog, is permitted to the priests alone, and that not as a punishment, or at the general's bidding, but, as it were, by the mandate of the god whom they believe to inspire the warrior. They also carry with them into battle certain figures and images taken from their sacred groves. And what most stimulates their courage is, that their squadrons or battalions, instead of being formed by chance or by a fortuitous gathering, are composed of families and clans. Close by them, too, are those dearest to them, so that they hear the shrieks of women, the cries of infants. They are to every man the most sacred witnesses of his bravery-they are his most generous applauders. The soldier brings his wounds to mother and wife, who shrink not from counting or even demanding them and who administer food and encouragement to the combatants.

Suebian knot of some Germanic tribes

“Tradition says that armies already wavering and giving way have been rallied by women who, with earnest entreaties and bosoms laid bare, have vividly represented the horrors of captivity, which the Germans fear with such extreme dread on behalf of their women, that the strongest tie by which a state can be bound is the being required to give, among the number of hostages, maidens of noble birth. They even believe that the sex has a certain sanctity and prescience, and they do not despise their counsels, or make light of their answers. In Vespasian's days we saw Veleda, long regarded by many as a divinity. In former times, too, they venerated Aurinia, and many other women, but not with servile flatteries, or with sham deification.”

Punishments. Administration of Justice: “In their councils an accusation may be preferred or a capital crime prosecuted. Penalties are distinguished according to the offence. Traitors and deserters are hanged on trees; the coward, the unwarlike, the man stained with abominable vices, is plunged into the mire of the morass with a hurdle put over him. This distinction in punishment means that crime, they think, ought, in being punished, to be exposed, while infamy ought to be buried out of sight- Lighter offences, too, have penalties proportioned to them; he who is convicted, is fined in a certain number of horses or of cattle. Half of the fine is paid to the king or to the state, half to the person whose wrongs are avenged and to his relatives. In these same councils they also elect the chief magistrates, who administer law in the cantons and the towns. Each of these has a hundred associates chosen from the people, who support him with their advice and influence. Marriage Laws. Their marriage code, however, is strict, and indeed no part of their manners is more praiseworthy. Almost alone among barbarians they are content with one wife, except a very few among them, and these not from sensuality, but because their noble birth procures for them many offers of alliance. The wife does not bring a dower to the husband, but the husband to the wife. The parents and relatives are present, and pass judgment on the marriage-gifts, gifts not meant to suit a woman's taste, nor such as a bride would deck herself with, but oxen, a caparisoned steed, a shield, a lance, and a sword. With these presents the wife is espoused, and she herself in her turn brings her husband a gift of arms. This they count their strongest bond of union, these their sacred mysteries, these their gods of marriage. Lest the woman should think herself to stand apart from aspirations after noble deeds and from the perils of war, she is reminded by the ceremony which inaugurates marriage that she is her husband's partner in toil and danger, destined to suffer and to dare with him alike both in war. The yoked oxen, the harnessed steed, the gift of arms proclaim this fact. She must live and die with the feeling that she is receiving what she must hand down to her children neither tarnished nor depreciated, what future daughters-in-law may receive, and maybe so passed on to her grandchildren.

“Thus with their virtue protected they live uncorrupted by the allurements of public shows or the stimulant of feastings. Clandestine correspondence is equally unknown to men and women. Very rare for so numerous a population is adultery, the punishment for which is prompt, and in the husband's power. Having cut off the hair of the adulteress and stripped her naked, he expels her from the house in the presence of her kinsfolk, and then flogs her through the whole village. The loss of chastity meets with no indulgence; neither beauty, youth, nor wealth will procure the culprit a husband. No one in Germany laughs at vice, nor do they call it the fashion to corrupt and to be corrupted. Still better is the condition of those states in which only maidens arc given in marriage, and where the hopes and expectations of a bride are then finally terminated. They receive one husband, as having one body and one life, that they may have no thoughts beyond, no further-reaching desires, that they may love not so much the husband as the married state. To limit the number of children or to destroy any of their subsequent offspring is accounted infamous, and good habits are here more effectual than good laws elsewhere.”

Food: “A liquor for drinking is made of barley or other grain, and fermented into a certain resemblance to wine. The dwellers on the river-bank also buy wine. Their food is of a simple kind, consisting of wild fruit, fresh game, and curdled milk. They satisfy their hunger without elaborate preparation and without delicacies. In quenching their thirst they are equally moderate. If you indulge their love of drinking by supplying them with as much as they desire, they will be overcome by their own vices as easily as by the arms of an enemy.”

Pressures on the Northern Frontiers

Pat Southern wrote for the BBC: “Relations with the northern tribesmen had never been stable, nor were they continually hostile. Rome maintained the upper hand by a combination of diplomacy and warfare, promoting the elite groups among the various tribes and supporting them by means of gifts and subsidies. Sometimes food supplies and even military aid were offered. “Various emperors had settled migrating groups of peoples within the empire and had often recruited tribesmen into the Roman army, where they rendered good service. The very fact of the empire's existence influenced the way in which native society developed on the periphery. When all kinds of dangers threatened the tribes beyond the empire, it probably seemed safer and more lucrative to be on the other side of the Roman frontiers. [Source: Pat Southern, BBC, February 17, 2011 |::|]

“The ultimate aim of many of the tribes was not necessarily total conquest, but a wish for lands to farm and for protection. This became more necessary to some peoples in the first decades of the third century. Climate changes and a rise in sea levels ruined the agriculture of what is now the Low Countries, forcing tribes to relocate simply to find food. At about the same time, archaeological evidence shows that vigorous, warlike tribesmen moved into the more peaceful lands to the north-west of the empire, precipitating the abandonment of a wide area that was previously settled and agriculturally wealthy. |::|

“The northern world outside the Roman Empire was restless. Raids across the frontiers became more severe, especially in the 230s, when Roman forts and some civilian settlements were partially destroyed. As the power of the tribal federations grew, the Romans began to feel nervous and to think of defensive walls for their unprotected cities. |::|

Germanic Lines

The Germanic Lines, a network of walls and fortifications, extended for 550 kilometers (342 miles) in in Germany. According to UNESCO: “The Upper German-Raetian Limes runs between Rheinbrohl on the Rhine and Eining on the Danube, built in stages during the 2nd century. With its forts, fortlets, physical barriers, linked infrastructure and civilian architecture it exhibits an important interchange of human values through the development of Roman military architecture in previously largely undeveloped areas thereby giving an authentic insight into the world of antiquity of the late 1st to the mid-3rd century AD. It was not solely a military bulwark, but also defined economic and cultural limits. Although cultural influences extended across the frontier, it did represent a cultural divide between the Romanised world and the non-Romanised Germanic peoples. In large parts it was an arbitrary straight line, which did not take account of the topographical circumstances. Therefore, it is an excellent demonstration of the Roman precision in surveying. [Source: UNESCO World Heritage sites website]

Andrew Curry wrote in National Geographic: “Nearly 2,000 years ago this was the line that divided the Roman Empire from the rest of the world. Here in Germany the low mound is all that’s left of a wall that once stood some ten feet tall, running hundreds of miles under the wary eyes of Roman soldiers in watchtowers. [Source: Andrew Curry, National Geographic, September 2012 ]

“It would have been a shocking sight in the desolate wilderness, 630 miles north of Rome itself. Claus-Michael Hüssen, a researcher with the German Archaeological Institute, told National Geographic, ““The wall here was plastered and painted, “Everything was square and precise. The Romans had a definite idea of how things should be.” Engineering students measuring another stretch of wall found one 31-mile section that curved just 36 inches.

“While Rome looked the other way, barbarian tribes grew bigger and more aggressive and coordinated. When troops were pulled from across the empire to beat back the Persians, weak points in Germany and Romania came under attack almost immediately. Michael Meyer, an archaeologist at Berlin’s Free University.” “The tragic point of their strategy is that the Romans concentrated military force at the frontier. When the Germans attacked the frontier and got in behind the Roman troops, the whole Roman territory was open.” Think of the empire as a cell, and barbarian armies as viruses: Once the empire’s thin outer membrane was breached, invaders had free rein to pillage the interior. [Source: Andrew Curry, National Geographic, September 2012]

Pacification of Spain

Vandals

“Condition of Spain: While the Romans were thus engaged in creating the new provinces of Macedonia and Africa, they were called upon to maintain their authority in the old provinces of Spain and Sicily. We remember that, after the second Punic war, Spain was divided into two provinces, each under a Roman governor. But the Roman authority was not well established in Spain, except upon the eastern coast. The tribes in the interior and on the western coast were nearly always in a state of revolt. The most rebellious of these tribes were the Lusitanians in the west, in what is now Portugal; and the Celtiberians in the interior, south of the Iberus River. In their efforts to subdue these barbarous peoples, the Romans were themselves too often led to adopt the barbarous methods of deceit and treachery. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901), forumromanum.org \~]

War with the Lusitanians: How perfidious a Roman general could be, we may learn from the way in which Sulpicius Galba waged war with the Lusitanians (an Indo-European people living in the west of the Iberian Peninsula prior to its conquest by the Roman Republic).. After one Roman army had been defeated, Galba persuaded this tribe to submit and promised to settle them upon fertile lands. When the Lusitanians came to him unarmed to receive their expected reward, they were surrounded and murdered by the troops of Galba. But it is to the credit of Rome that Galba was denounced for this treacherous act. Among the few men who escaped from the massacre of Galba was a young shepherd by the name of Viriathus. Under his brave leadership, the Lusitanians continued the war for nine years. Finally, Viriathus was murdered by his own soldiers, who were bribed to do this treacherous act by the Roman general. With their leader lost, the Lusitanians were obliged to submit (138 B.C.). \~\

The Numantine War: The other troublesome tribe in Spain was the Celtiberians, who were even more warlike than the Lusitanians. At one time the Roman general was defeated and obliged to sign a treaty of peace, acknowledging the independence of the Spanish tribe. But the senate—repeating what it had done many years before, after the battle of the Caudine Forks—refused to ratify this treaty, and surrendered the Roman commander to the enemy. The “fiery war,” as it was called, still continued and became at last centered about Numantia, the chief town of the Celtiberians. The defense of Numantia, like that of Carthage, was heroic and desperate. Its fate was also like that of Carthage. It was compelled to surrender (133 B.C.) to the same Scipio Aemilianus. Its people were sold into slavery, and the town itself was blotted from the earth. \~\

Vandals and Visagoths

The Vandals were a group of German pirates who were originally from the Baltic area. They ravaged Gaul and Spain and settled along both the northern and southern Mediterranean coast in Spain and North Africa. They were known for looting churches and trashing art objects. They were so notorious they gave birth to the term “vandals.

Visigoth King Alaric I entering Athens

The Roman provinces in North Africa was taken between A.D. 429-39 by local tribes and Vandals who had migrated there from Europe. The Vandals established their capital in Carthage, built a fleet of ships and attacked the Roman territory and harassed Roman shipping in the Mediterranean between 439-534 from positions in northern Africa.

The Vandals who had fought under Radagaisus had, upon the death of that leader, retreated into Spain, and had finally crossed over into Africa, where they had erected a kingdom under their chief Genseric. They captured the Roman city of Carthage and made it their capital; and they soon obtained control of the western Mediterranean. On the pretext of settling a quarrel at Rome, Genseric landed his army at the port of Ostia, took possession of the city of Rome, and for fourteen days made it the subject of pillage (A.D. 455). By this act of Genseric, the city lost its treasures and many of its works of art, and the word “vandalism” came to be a term of odious meaning. [Source: “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901), forumromanum.org \~]

In the A.D. 5th century, Spain was invaded by the Vandal, Suevi and Alan tribes, who carved up the Iberian peninsula with the Vandals claiming the largest chunk. Later the Vandals were displaced by a Visagoth a branch of the Goths, the first Teutonic people to be Christianized. Originally from Scandinavia, the Goths migrated from Sweden across the Baltic Sea, through what is now Russia and the Ukraine to the Black Sea. From there they migrated into the Balkans and divided into two groups the Otsrogoths (East Goths) and Visagoths (West Goths).

Before their division the Goths were allowed by the Romans to settle within the borders of the Roman Empire. They rose against the Romans and killed the Roman emperor Valentinian in battle. His successor was Theodosius, a Spaniard and the last ruler of undivided Rome. He sued for peace and allowed the Visagoths to move into Spain and drive out the Vandals. The Germanic Visagoths, many of them perhaps with blonde hair and blue eyes, established an empire in Spain that lasted for around 300 years.

Visigothic King

Sidonius wrote to his brother-in-law Agricola (A.D. 454?): “You have often begged a description of Theodoric the Gothic king, whose gentle breeding fame commends to every nation; you want him in his quantity and quality, in his person, and the manner of his existence. I gladly accede, as far as the limits of my page allow, and highly approve so fine and ingenuous a curiosity. [Source: Sidonius Apollinaris (c. A.D. 431-c.489), “The Letters of Sidonius,” Book I, Letter II, translated by O.M. Dalton, (Oxford: Clarendon, 1915), two vols]

Visigoth king Gesaleic

“Well, he is a man worth knowing, even by those who cannot enjoy his close acquaintance, so happily have Providence and Nature joined to endow him with the perfect gifts of fortune; his way of life is such that not even the envy which lies in wait for kings can rob him of his proper praise. And first as to his person. He is well set up, in height above the average man, but below the giant. His head is round, with curled hair retreating somewhat from brow to crown. His nervous neck is free from disfiguring knots. The eyebrows are bushy and arched; when the lids droop, the lashes reach almost half-way down the cheeks. The upper ears are buried under overlying locks, after the fashion of his race. The nose is finely aquiline; the lips are thin and not enlarged by undue distension of the mouth. Every day the hair springing from his nostrils is cut back; that on the face springs thick from the hollow of the temples, but the razor has not yet come upon his cheek, and his barber is assiduous in eradicating the rich growth on the lower part of the face.2 Chin, throat, and neck are full, but not fat, and all of fair complexion ; seen close, their colour is fresh as that of youth; they often flush, but from modesty, and not from anger. His shoulders are smooth, the upper- and forearms strong and hard ; hands broad, breast prominent; waist receding. The spine dividing the broad expanse of back does not project, and you can see the springing of the ribs ; the sides swell with salient muscle, the well-girt flanks are full of vigour. His thighs are like hard horn ; the knee-joints firm and masculine; the knees themselves the comeliest and least wrinkled in the world. A full ankle supports the leg, and the foot is small to bear such mighty limbs.

“Now for the routine of his public life. Before daybreak he goes with a very small suite to attend the service of his priests. He prays with assiduity, but, if I may speak in confidence, one may suspect more of habit than conviction in this piety. Administrative duties of the kingdom take up the rest of the morning. Armed nobles stand about the royal seat; the mass of guards in their garb of skins are admitted that they may be within call, but kept at the threshold for quiet's sake; only a murmur of them comes in from their post at the doors, between the curtain and the outer barrier.1 And now the foreign envoys are introduced. The king hears them out, and says little ; if a thing needs more discussion he puts it off, but accelerates matters ripe for dispatch. The second hour arrives ; he rises from the throne to inspect his treasure-chamber or stable. If the chase is the order of the day, he joins it, but never carries his bow at his side, considering this derogatory to royal state. When a bird or beast is marked for him, or happens to cross his path, he puts his hand behind his back and takes the bow from a page with the string all hanging loose; for as he deems it a boy's trick to bear it in a quiver, so he holds it effeminate to receive the weapon ready strung. When it is given him, he sometimes holds it in both hands and bends the extremities towards each other ; at others he sets it, knot-end downward, against his lifted heel, and runs his finger up the slack and wavering string. After that, he takes his arrows, adjusts, and lets fly. He will ask you beforehand what you would like him to transfix ; you choose, and be hits. If there is a miss through either's error, your vision will mostly be at fault, and not the archer's skill. On ordinary days, his table resembles that of a private person. The board does not groan beneath a mass of dull and unpolished silver set on by panting servitors; the weight lies rather in the conversation than in the plate ; there is either sensible talk or none. The hangings and draperies used on these occasions are sometimes of purple silk, sometimes only of linen; art, not costliness, commends the fare, as spotlessness rather than bulk the silver. Toasts are few, and you will oftener see a thirsty guest impatient, than a full one refusing cup or bowl. In short, you will find elegance of Greece, good cheer of Gaul, Italian nimbleness, the state of public banquets with the attentive service of a private table, and everywhere the discipline of a king's house. What need for me to describe the pomp of his feast days ? No man is so unknown as not to know of them. But to my theme again.

The siesta after dinner is always slight, and sometimes intermitted. When inclined for the board-game, he is quick to gather up the dice, examines them with care, shakes the box with expert hand, throws rapidly, humorously apostrophizes them, and patiently waits the issue. Silent at a good throw, he makes merry over a bad, annoyed by neither fortune, and always the philosopher. He is too proud to ask or to refuse a revenge; he disdains to avail himself of one if offered; and if it is opposed will quietly go on playing. You effect recovery of your men without obstruction on his side; he recovers his without collusion upon yours. You see the strategist when be moves the pieces ; his one thought is victory. Yet at play he puts off a little of his kingly rigour, inciting all to good fellowship and the freedom of the game: I think he is afraid of being feared. Vexation in the man whom he beats delights him; he will never believe that his opponents have not let him win unless their annoyance proves him really victor. You would be surprised how often the pleasure born of these little happenings may favour the march of great affairs. Petitions that some wrecked influence had left derelict come unexpectedly to port; I myself am gladly beaten by him when I have a favour to ask, since the loss of my game may mean the gaining of my cause. About the ninth hour, the burden of government begins again. Back come the importunates, back the ushers to remove them ; on all sides buzz the voices of petitioners, a sound which lasts till evening, and does not diminish till interrupted by the royal repast ; even then they only disperse to attend their various patrons among the courtiers, and are astir till bedtime.

“Sometimes, though this is rare, supper is enlivened by sallies of mimes, but no guest is ever exposed to the wound of a biting tongue. Withal there is no noise of hydraulic organ, or choir with its conductor intoning a set piece ; you will hear no players of lyre or flute, no master of the music, no girls with cithara or tabor; the king cares for no strains but those which no less charm the mind with virtue than the ear with melody. When he rises to withdraw, the treasury watch begins its vigil; armed sentries stand on guard during the first hours of slumber. But I am wandering from my subject. I never promised awhole chapter on the kingdom, but a few words about the king. I must stay my pen ; you asked for nothing more than one or two facts about the person and the tastes of Theodoric; and my own aim was to write a letter, not a history. Farewell.”

Visigoth kings

Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), A.D. 400

The Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries, c. A.D. 400) is an official listing of all civil and military posts in the Roman Empire, East and West. It survives as a 1551 copy of the now-missing original and is the major source of information on the administrative organization of the late Roman Empire. William Fairley wrote: “The Notitia Dignitatum is an official register of all the offices, other than municipal, which existed in the Roman Empire.... Gibbon gave to this document a date between 395 and 407 when the Vandals disturbed the Roman regime in Gaul. [Source: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), William Fairley, in Translations and Reprints from Original Sources of European History, Vol. VI:4 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 1899].

“The Notitia Dignitatum has preserved for us, as no other document has done, a complete outline view of the Roman administrative system in early fifth century. The hierarchic arrangement is displayed perfectly. The division of prefectures, dioceses and provinces, and the rank of their respective governors is set forth at length. The military origin of the whole system appears in the titles of the staff officers, even in those departments whose heads had, since the time of Constantine, been deprived of all military command.”

Register of Dignitaries in the West

Register of the Dignitaries Both Civil and Military, in the Districts of the West:
The pretorian prefect of Italy.
The pretorian prefect of the Gauls.
The prefect of the city of Rome.
The master of foot in the presence.
The master of horse in the presence.
The master of horse in the Gauls.
The provost of the sacred bedchamber.
The master of the offices.
The quaestor.
The count of the sacred bounties.
The count of the private domains.
The count of the household horse.
The count of the household foot.
The superintendent of the sacred bedchamber,
The chief of the notaries.
The castellan of the sacred palace.
The masters of bureaus:
of memorials; of correspondence; of requests.
The proconsul of Africa.
[Source: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), William Fairley, in Translations and Reprints from Original Sources of European History, Vol. VI:4 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 1899].

Six vicars: of the city of Rome; of Italy; of Africa; of the Spains; of the Seven Provinces; of the Britains.
Six military counts: of Italy; of Africa; of Tingitania; of the tractus Argentoratensis; of the Britains; of the Saxon shore of Britain.
Thirteen dukes: of the frontier of Mauritania Caesariensis; of the Tripolitan frontier; of Pannonia prima and ripuarian Noricum; of Pannonia secunda; of ripuarian Valeria; of Raetia prima and secunda; of Sequanica; of the Armorican and Nervican tract; of Belgica secunda; of Germania prima; of Britannia; of Mogontiacensis.
Twenty-two consulars: of Pannonia;
in Italy eight: of Venetia and Histria; of Emilia; of Liguria; of Flaminia and Picenum annonarium; of Tuscia and Umbria; of Picenum suburbicarium; of Campania;of Sicilia.
in Africa two: of Byzacium; of Numidia.
in the Spains three: of Beatica; of Lusitania; of Callaecia.
in the Gauls six: of Viennensis; of Lugdunensis prima; of Germania prima; of Germania secunda; of Belgica prima; of Belgica secunda.
in the Britains two: of Maxima Caesariensis, of Valentia.
Three correctors:
in Italy two: of Apulia and Calabria; of Lucania and Brittii.
in Pannonia one: of Savia.

Thirty-one presidents:
in Illyricum four: of Dalmatia; of Pannonia prima; of Mediterranean Noricum; of ripuarian Noricum,
in Italy seven: of the Cottiau Alps; of Reetia prima; of Raetia secundum, of Samnium; of Valeria; of Sardinia; of Corsica.
in Africa two of Mauritania Sitifensis; of Tripolitana.
in the Spains four: of Tarraconensis; of Carthaginensis; of Tintgjtania; or the Balearic Isles.
in the Gauls eleven: of the maritime Alps; of the Pennine and Graian Alps of Maxima Sequanortim; of Aquitanica prima; Aquitanica secunda; of Novempopulana; of Narbonensis prima; of Narbonensis secunda; of Lugdunensis secunda; of Lugduneasis tertia; of Lugunensis Senonica.
in the Britains three: of Britannia prima; of Ezitannia secunda; of Flavia Caesariensis.

Prefect of Gaul

Pretorian Prefect of the Gauls
Under the control of the illustrious pretorian prefect of the Gauls are the dioceses mentioned below: The Spains; the Seven Provinces; the Britains.
Provinces: of the Spains seven: Baetica; Lusitania;, Callaecia; Tarraconensis; Carthaginensis; Tingitania; the Balearic Isles.
of the Seven Provinces seventeen: Viennensis; Lugdumensis prima; Germania prima, Germania secunda; Belgica prima; Belgica secunda; the Maritime Alps; the Pennine and Graian Alps; Maxima Sequanorum; Aquitania prima; Aquitania secunda; Novempopuli; Narbonensis prima; Narbonensis secunda; Lugdunensis Secunda; Lugdugnensis tertia; Lugduneusis Senonia.
( for the anomaly of seventeen provinces ranged under the title. The Seven Provinces. Subdivision and addition had caused what was originally the diocese of The Five Provinces to include the seventeen here named. of the Britains five: Maxima Caesariensis; Valentia; Britannia prima; Britannia secunda; Flauia Caesariensis. [Source: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), William Fairley, in Translations and Reprints from Original Sources of European History, Vol. VI:4 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 1899].

The staff of the illustrious pretorian prefect of the Gauls:
A chief of staff,
A chief deputy,
A chief assistant,
A custodian,
A keeper of the records, Receivers of taxes,
Assistants,
A curator of correspondence,
A registrar,
Secretaries,
Aids,
Notaries.

Roman Empire in AD 460

Count of the Sacred Bounties

Under the control of the illustrious cou n t of the sacred bounties.
The count of the bounties in Illyricum,
The count of the wardrobe,
The count of gold,
The count of the Italian bounties,
Accountants:
The accountant of the general tax of Pannonia secunda, Dalmatia and Savia,
The accountant of the general tax of Pannonia prima, Valeria, Mediterranean and ripuarian Noricum.
The accountant of the general tax of Italy,
The accountant of the general tax of the city of Rome,
The accountant of the general tax of the Three Provinces, that is, of Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica,
The accountant of the general tax of Africa,
The accountant of the general tax of Numidia,
The accountant of the general tax of Spain,
The accountant of the general tax of the Five Provinces,
The accountant of the general tax of the Gauls,
The accountant of the general tax of the Britains. [Source: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), William Fairley, in Translations and Reprints from Original Sources of European History, Vol. VI:4 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 1899].

Provosts of the storehouses:
In Illyricum:
The provost of the storehouses at Salona in Dalmatia,
The provost of the storehouses at Siscia in Savia
The provost of the storehouses at Savaria in Pannonia prima,
In Italy:
The provost of the storehouses at Aquileia in Venetia,
The provost of the storehouses at Milan in Liguria,
The provost of the storehouses of the city of Rome,
The provost of the storehouses at Augsburg in Raetia secunda.
In the Gauls:
The provost of the storehouses at Lyons,
The provost of the storehouses at Arles,
The provost of the storehouses at Rheims,
The provost of the storehouses at Trier.
In the Britains:
The provost of the storehouses at London.

Procurators of the mints:
The procurator of the mint at Siscia,
The procurator of the mint at Aquileia,
The procurator of the mint in the city of Rome,
The procurator of the mint at Lyons,
The procurator of the mint at Arles,
The procurator of the mint at Trier.

Procurators of the weaving-houses:
The procurator of the weaving-house at Bassiana, in Pannonia secunda -removed from Salona,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Sirmium. in Pannonia secunda,
The procurator of the Jovian weaving-house at Spalato in Dalmatia,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Aquileia in Venetia inferior,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Milan in Liguria,
The procurator of the weaving-house in the city of Rome,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Canosa and Venosa in Apulia,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Carthage in Africa,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Arles in the province of Vienne,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Lyons,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Rheims in Belgica secunda,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Tourney Belgica Secunda,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Trier in Belgica secunda,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Autun- removed from Metz,
The procurator of the weaving-house at Winchester Britain.
Procurators of the linen-weaving houses:
The procurator of the linen-weaving house at Vienne in the Gauls,
The procurator of the linen-weaving house at Ravenna in Italy.

Procurators of the dye-houses:
The procurator of the dye-house at Tarentum in Calabria,
The procurator of the dye-house at Salona in Dalmatia
The procurator of the dye-house at Cissa in Venetia and Istria,
The procurator of the dye-house at Syracuse in Sicily,
The procurator of the dye-houses in Africa,
The procurator of the dyeihouse at Girba, in the Province of Tripolis,
The procurator of the dye-house in the Balearic Isles in Spain,
The procurator of the dye-house at Toulon in the Gauls.
The procurator of the dye-house at Narbonne.

Procurators of the embroiderers in gold and silver:
The procurator of the embroiderers in gold and silver at Arles,
The procurator of the embroiderers in gold silver and at Rheims,
The procurator of the embroiderers in gold and silver at Trier,

Procurators of the goods despatch:
For the Eastern traffic:
The provost of the first Eastern despatch, and the fourth [return],
The provost of the second Eastern despatch, and the third [return],
The provost of the second [return] despatch, and the third from the East,
The provost of the first (return] despatch, and the fourth from the East.
For the traffic with the Gauls:
The provost of the first Gallic despatch, and the fourth [return].
The counts of the markets in Illyricum.

The staff of the aforesaid illustrious count of the sacred bounties includes:
A chief clerk of the whole staff,
A chief clerk of the bureau of fixed taxes,
A chief clerk of the bureau of records,
A chief clerk of the bureau of accounts,
A chief clerk of the bureau of gold bullion,
A chief clerk of the bureau of gold for shipment,
A chief clerk of the bureau of the sacred wardrobe,
A chief clerk of the bureau of silver,
A chief clerk of the bureau of miliarensia,
A chief clerk of the bureau of coinage, and other clerks,
A deputy chief clerk of the staff, who is chief clerk of the secretaries,
A sub-deputy chief clerk who has charge of the goods despatch.

Administrative Positions in Europe

Vicar of the Seven Provinces
Under the control of the worshipful vicar of the Seven Provinces:
Consulars:
of Vienne,
of Lyons,
of Germania prima,
of Germania secunda,
of Belgica, prima,
of Belgica secunda.
Presidents:
of the Maritime Alps,
of the Pennine and Graiam Alps,
of Maxima Sequanorum,
of Aquitanica prima,
of Aquitanica secunda,
of Novem populi,
of Narbonensis prima,
of Narbonensis secunda,
of Lugdunensis secunda,
of Lugdunensis tertia,
of Lugdunensis Senonia.
The staff of the aforesaid worshipful vicar of the Seven. Provinces:
[The same as in No. XIX.] [Source: Notitia Dignitatum (Register of Dignitaries), William Fairley, in Translations and Reprints from Original Sources of European History, Vol. VI:4 (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press), 1899].

Vicar of the Britains
Under the control of the worshipful vicar of the Britains:
Consulars:
of Maxima Caesariensis,
of Valentia.
Presidents:
of Britannia prima,
of Britannia secunda,
of Flavia Caesariensis.
The staff of the same worshipful vicar is as follows:
[The same as in No. XIX]

Count of Tingitania
Under the control of the worshipful count of Tingitania:
Borderers:
[One prefect of a squadron, and seven tribunes of cohorts.]
The staff of the same worshipful count is as follows:
A chief of staff from the staffs of the masters of the soldiery in the presence; one year from that of the master of the foot, the other from that of the master of horse.
A custodian as above,
Two accountants, in alternate years from the aforesaid staffs.
A chief deputy,
A chief assistant,
An assistant,
A registrar,
Secretaries,
Notaries and other officials. Duke of the Armorican Tract
Under the control of the worshipful duke of the Armorican and Nervican tract:
[One tribune of a cohort and nine military prefects.] *enumeration omitted
The Armorican and Nervican tract is extended to include the Five Provinces:
Aquitanica prima and secunda, Lugdunensis secunda and tertia.
The staff of the same worshipful duke includes:
A chief of staff from the staffs of the masters of soldiery in the presence in alternate years,
An accountant from the staff of the master of foot for one year,
A custodian from the aforesaid staffs in alternate years
A chief assistant;
An assistant,
A registrar,
Secretaries,
Notaries and other officials.

Consular of Campania
Under the control of the right honorable consular of Campania:
The province of Campania.
His staff is as follows:
A chief of staff from the staff of the pretorian prefect of Italy,
A chief deputy,
Two accountants,
A chief assistant,
A custodian,
A keeper of the records,
An assistant,
Secretaries and other cohartalini, who are not allowed to pass to another service without the permission of the imperial clemency.
All the other consulars have a staff like that of the consular of Campania.

Corrector of Apulia and Calabria.
Under the jurisdiction of the right honorable corrector of Apulia and Calabria:
The province of Apulia and Calabria.
His staff is as follows:
A chief of the same staff,
A chief deputy,
Two accouutants,
A custodian,
A chief assistant,
A keeper of the records,
An assistant,
Secretaries and other cohortalini, who are not allowed to pass to another service without the permission of the imperial clemency.
The other correctors have a staff like that of the corrector of Apulia and Calabria.

President of Dalmatia.
Under the jurisdiction of the honorable president of Dalmatia.
The province of Dalmatia.
His staff is as follows.
[The same as in others]
The other presidents have a staff like that of the president Dalmatia

Image Sources: Wikimedia Commons

Text Sources: Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Rome sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Internet Ancient History Sourcebook: Late Antiquity sourcebooks.fordham.edu ; Forum Romanum forumromanum.org ; “Outlines of Roman History” by William C. Morey, Ph.D., D.C.L. New York, American Book Company (1901), forumromanum.org \~\; “The Private Life of the Romans” by Harold Whetstone Johnston, Revised by Mary Johnston, Scott, Foresman and Company (1903, 1932) forumromanum.org |+|; BBC Ancient Rome bbc.co.uk/history/ ; Perseus Project - Tufts University; perseus.tufts.edu ; MIT, Online Library of Liberty, oll.libertyfund.org ; Gutenberg.org gutenberg.org Metropolitan Museum of Art, National Geographic, Smithsonian magazine, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Live Science, Discover magazine, Times of London, Natural History magazine, Archaeology magazine, The New Yorker, Encyclopædia Britannica, "The Discoverers" [∞] and "The Creators" [μ]" by Daniel Boorstin. "Greek and Roman Life" by Ian Jenkins from the British Museum.Time, Newsweek, Wikipedia, Reuters, Associated Press, The Guardian, AFP, BBC and various books and other publications.

Last updated October 2018