18.3 Europe: a.d. 301 to 400  (Page 5/6)

France and netherlands and belgium

The Gauls of France now numbered about 20,000,000 and had reached a high level of civilization and scarcely rated the title of "barbarian" at this time, although many have labeled them as such. They, in turn, were now having pressure put upon them by new barbarians of the Teutonic variety. A competent general, Emperor Julian, had defeated the last Franco-Alemannic invasion of France, although he allowed some of the Franks to settle in Belgium, keeping their tribal organization while bowing to Rome (A.D. 358). The term "foederatii"(FOREIGN) was used to describe such tribes. By the end of the century the Salic Franks expanded out of Belgium, moving to the southwest and occupying the region between the Meuse, the ocean and the Somme. The origin of our word "enfranchised" is from this ancient tribal name of Frank, which meant "free". The Frisians, who were the main power on the North Sea, were friendly to the Romans through this period. (Ref. 137 ) Additional Notes

British isles

Of all western Europe only Ireland and Pictish Scotland remained completely free of the Roman yoke. The population of Romanized Britain was 1,000,000 or more, with little numerical change since the time of Cassivellaunus. The British lived better as Roman citizens, however, than ever again until about 1900. The wealthy had central heat and warm baths, both of which were nearly absent again in Britain from A.D. 400 to 1900. In this 4th century cities had begun to decline, but country villas still flourished, as did the Roman capital of London. There was no new science, no new thrust of power until A.D. 367 when Picts, Scots, Franks and Saxons, as the great "barbarian conspiracy" joined in a maritime raid on southern England, at about the same time as other Picts at- tacked and flanked Hadrian's wall in north England. Finally Count Theodosius defeated the raiders, using large detachments of Germanic mercenaries, as well as modifying both coastal and inland defenses. Archeological findings now indicate that as the Germanic mercenaries were brought in, there were already separate Saxon forces, perhaps living among the locals as a sort of peasant militia, and thus gradually the defense of Britain began to rely upon these foreigners. At the end of the century, Ninian, a British chieftain's son, went to Rome and was made a bishop, after 15 years of study. (Ref. 136 , 29 , 43 , 91 ) In Ireland, after 700 years of Belgic and other Brythonic Celtic migrations the Brythonic kingdom of Tara (Mide) was now supreme, but by the end of the century all the Irish had relapsed to the older Gaelic dialect. It was at this time, probably, that the Irish started to use the primitive Ogam alphabet of lines and dashes. Herm (Ref. 91 ) says that these Irish invented Ogam, but others seem to have demonstrated that it was in use in Spain and Portugal many centuries previously. (Ref. 119 , 122 )

Scandinavia

Archeologists have called the first four centuries of the Christian era in Scandinavia the "Roman Iron Age" even though no Romans appeared in the north. The people were chiefly agriculturalists or seamen, illiterate and pagan but they already had extensive trade with Romans and the Mediterranean, exchanging furs, skins, robes of seal-skin, dairy produce and cattle for silks, gold, wine, jewelry, glass bowls, etc. They lived in large halls or houses, raised summer wheat, barley and rye. Their boats were of all sizes up to 75 feet long and they were propelled by oars. The areas of Swedes, Norse, Danes, Jutes and Angles were already quite well delineated. (Ref. 237 , 136 )