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CRUCIAL EVENTS OF THE LATER
ROMAN EMPIRE
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Top: Al aric the
Visigoth sacks Rome, A. D. 4 1
O.
Visi–
goths soon depart. Left: Leo 1, b ishop
of Rome, persuades Attila the Hun not
to invade Rome - evidence of the
leading role assumed
by
the bishop of
Rome in ltalian affairs. Far left, bottom:
Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus
surrenders to Odovacer, A.D.
476,
the traditional date for the fall of the
Roman Empire. Far left center: Odovacer,
who had conquered Rome, is assassi–
nated
by
Theodoric, A.D.
493.
C
v/ver
Photo•
PlAIN TRUTH October 1973
life comes to a standstill. Immense
areas of fertile land are left to
weeds. Rome's population drops to
40,000. Even under Theodoric
it
had severa! hundred thousand
people - still a far cry from its few
mi!Uon during the heyday of the
empire.
" l t is ironic," historian J. F.
Bernard will write, "that Justinian,
whose sole purpose was to reunite
Italy to the Empire, not only
destroyed the count ry by the
reconquest and the reimposition of
imperial taxes, but also lost it for–
ever." When Justinian dies in
565,
the "restoration" is ready to
crumble.
Year 568: Tbe Lombards Invade
Italy. In
568,
the Arian Lombards
march into Italy under their king
Albion. The Lombards, accom–
panied by Saxons and other Teuto–
nic tribesmen, soon conquer the
northern part of Italy. Ten years
later Rome is surrounded. The city
begs the eastern emperor Tiberius
for aid. Tiberius offers little or no
help. He simply advises Rome to
ei ther bribe the Lombards or pay
the FranJes to drive them out.
The Lombard domination in ltaly
will last for over two hundred years
(568-774).
Half the peninsula will be
in Lombard hands; the other half in
the possession of the eastern em–
peror. Though Rome is to withstand
the Lombard assaults, Italy will re–
main divided politically. Even the
Lombards quarrel among thernselves.
The benefactress of all this con–
fusion is the Roman church. Had
the Lombards united, they might
have overrun Italy. The Pope would
have become an appointee of the
Lombards, and probably Arian.
Had Italy been a well-organized
province of the eastern emperor,
the Pope would have become a
mere provincial metropolitan uoder
the jurisdiction of Constantinople.
But in the absence of strong civil
authority, the Pope finds political
ftexibi lity.
Meanwhile, theological and cul–
tural differences emphasize the
growing gap between Rome aod the
Eastern Roman Empire. In fact,
once the Lombards are cooverted to
Catholicism, the gap between Lom–
bards and Catholics is more easily
spanned.
The bishop at Rome and the
Catholic church are the only ones
who can give the kind of leadership
necessary to preserve the cultural
and religious traditions spawned by
the Roman Empi re. "With a struc–
ture and an organization modeled
on the imperial paradigm," one his–
torian will write, "she [the Catholic
church) slowly assumed
in
men's
minds an imperial image. Rome,
though now but a provincial city,
once again began to inspire men
with a strange confidence in a new
imperial power."
However, there is yet one hurdle
to overcome. The Church may be
the
image
of imperial power; but
she is not quite its reality. Though
the See of Rome has incredible land
holdings, immense income and a
prívate army, the Church cannot
fight entire nations by herself.
A new temporal power will have
to be found, a power willing to offer
military protection to the Church,
yet docile to the point of coopera–
tion. Only one such power exists:
the Frankish kingdom in the heart
of Western Europe.
How this new empire revives the
heartland of Europe and creates an
unprecedented unity will. be dis–
cussed in the next installment.
o
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