MMW 12 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Chalmers Johnson, Odoacer, Serfdom
22 Jun 2018
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Department
Course
Professor
****1/27/17 Lecture: Rome in Trouble
Thriving economy and culture
3-4th Centuries AD - increasing problems:
Waves of Barbarian invasionâ and migration from outside the empire
They migrated because:
search for better land and climate for food production
wars among barbarian tribes
pressure from Central Asian Invaders
NOT: desire access and control seaports
1st wave: Vandals, Celts, and Goths ďŹeeing Germans (3rd early 4th c)
Rome turn to the 1st wave as ally and buďŹer against that were
coming next.
You ďŹght for us and weâll give you special trade deals.
Germans are being pushed by the Huns
2nd wave: Germans and Goths ďŹeeing Huns (later 4th c)
In exchange for helping Rome ďŹght the Huns
Reaction for Goth entering Roman territory â>NOT what
happened: intermarrying and merging into populations
Stiletto the Vandal as Roman general
Many âbarbariansâ served in the Roman army
Alaric, whose troops sacked Rome, had been trained by the Roman
army
Drawing in foreigns into the army â> become Roman citizen
there is a lot of land available and not cash
Money troubles:
Military expense â> bankruptcy of govt â> disastrous $$ policies
3rd c: debasing the currency â> economic collapse
Silver coin. Diocletian needed money. His alternative was to raise
taxes.
4th c: raising taxes very high â> labor ďŹght â> serfdom
Serfdom: Landowners collect taxes from their tenants; tenants (people
who live in the land) cannot freely move. They must pay their taxes to the
landowners. Beginning of a system called serfdom.
Lasted in Europe for ~1,000 yrs. (4th c - 14th c)
Further decentralizes govât power
Making a system of tax collection
It actually undermine the govât
Local landowners are collecting as much as they could
Became very powerful
Farmers couldnât move to a better city
Document Summary
Waves of barbarian invasion and migration from outside the empire. They migrated because: search for better land and climate for food production wars among barbarian tribes pressure from central asian invaders. 1st wave: vandals, celts, and goths eeing germans (3rd early 4th c) Rome turn to the 1st wave as ally and bu er against that were coming next. You ght for us and we"ll give you special trade deals. 2nd wave: germans and goths eeing huns (later 4th c) In exchange for helping rome ght the huns. Reaction for goth entering roman territory >not what happened: intermarrying and merging into populations. Alaric, whose troops sacked rome, had been trained by the roman army. Drawing in foreigns into the army > become roman citizen there is a lot of land available and not cash. Military expense > bankruptcy of govt > disastrous 7681 policies. 3rd c: debasing the currency > economic collapse.
