Monod Medieval Europe 395-1270 AD

1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5378-0644-0
Verlag: Jovian Press
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 627 Seiten

At the end of the fourth century the Roman Empire still comprised the entire basin of the Mediterranean. In Europe its continental limits were the Rhine and the Danube; in Asia, an undefined frontier, modified constantly by wars with the Armenians and Persians, followed the eastern slope of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) to the foot of the Caucasus Mountains and extended into Armenia around Lake Van, thence in an almost straight line to the Red Sea, crossing the Tigris below Tigranocerta, and the Euphrates at its junction with the Chaboras at Circesium. On the south, Egypt up to and beyond the first cataract, and the northern slope of Africa, with Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Mauritania, belonged to Rome, which possessed in the valley of the Nile and in the modern Tunis the wheat granaries that supplied the hungry people of the two capitals. On the west the Atlantic Ocean formed the horizon of the ancients, who imagined beyond it the mysterious land of the blessed ones. On the north the island of Britannia belonged to the Empire, with the exception of the mountainous region of Caledonia, which retained its independence, as did Hibernia, or Ireland...

Autoren/Hrsg.

Monod, Gabriel

Leseproben

THE ROMAN EMPIRE AT THE END OF THE FOURTH CENTURY.

~

1. EXTENT OF THE EMPIRE. – At the end of the fourth century the Roman Empire still comprised the entire basin of the Mediterranean. In Europe its continental limits were the Rhine and the Danube; in Asia, an undefined frontier, modified constantly by wars with the Armenians and Persians, followed the eastern slope of the Pontus Euxinus (Black Sea) to the foot of the Caucasus Mountains and extended into Armenia around Lake Van, thence in an almost straight line to the Red Sea, crossing the Tigris below Tigranocerta, and the Euphrates at its junction with the Chaboras at Circesium. On the south, Egypt up to and beyond the first cataract, and the northern slope of Africa, with Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, and Mauritania, belonged to Rome, which possessed in the valley of the Nile and in the modern Tunis the wheat granaries that supplied the hungry people of the two capitals. On the west the Atlantic Ocean formed the horizon of the ancients, who imagined beyond it the mysterious land of the blessed ones. On the north the island of Britannia belonged to the Empire, with the exception of the mountainous region of Caledonia, which retained its independence, as did Hibernia, or Ireland.

2. The Emperor. The Worship of the Emperors. – Within these limits Rome held sway over the most diverse peoples. The imperial régime, organised little by little, reached its definite form under Diocletian (285-305) and Constantine the Great (312-337). The emperor, considered a divine personage, was the head of both Church and state. He lived like an Oriental prince in the midst of imposing splendour, surrounded by a world of courtiers and servants, all proud of their domestic functions. He governed, aided by a Council of State, the high dignitaries of his palace, and the ministers, who controlled a hierarchy of officials. In spite of the wretchedness of the third and fourth centuries, and the manifest incapacity or unworthiness of so many of the emperors, the prestige of the Roman name still exerted great influence over the minds of the enlightened citizens of the Empire and the simple imagination of the barbarian peoples. From the time of Augustus the imperial majesty and Rome, the capital of the world, were adored. This official cult was not an evidence of abject servility; it was an expression, emphatic though doubtless sincere, of gratitude for Roman civilisation. Outside of the Empire there was nothing, in the eyes of the Romans, except barbarism.

3. Administrative Divisions of the Empire. – At the death of Theodosius the Great (395) the Empire was governed by two emperors – Arcadius in the Orient and Honorius in the Occident. It was considered, however, a single empire. It was divided into four prefectures – or six, if the prefectures of Rome and Constantinople are included; each prefecture was divided into dioceses, fourteen in number; each diocese into provinces, one hundred and nineteen in number; the provinces were subdivided into townships and the townships into cantons.

A precise idea of provincial administration may be gained by noting what took place at that time in Gaul.

4. Gaul. Administrative Divisions. – Gaul, in the ordinary sense of the word, that is to say the country lying between the Pyrenees, the Rhine, the Alps, and the sea, formed at the end of the fourth century a diocese which was divided into seventeen provinces. Seven southern provinces, partly corresponding to the former Roman province, formed a separate body, with its own administration. In administrative terms the expression “Gauls” was reserved to the ten other provinces. The provinces were subdivided into townships (civitates) to the number of one hundred and twelve, and somewhat later to one hundred and fifteen. The cantons (pagi), the number of which is unknown, were the territorial divisions of the former Gallic tribes. These divisions had been respected by the conquerors, and incorporated into the new divisions.

5. The Prætorian Prefect. – The prætorian prefect was at the head of the civil administration in Gaul. His official residence was at Trèves; later, from the year 400, at Arles, far from the frontier, which was harassed by the barbarians. His powers were most extensive; he published the laws, superintended the collection of imposts, administered the public domains, the imperial posts, supervised the provincial governors, and with his assessors judged without appeal; he also had charge of recruiting and of army supplies. He had under his immediate orders a vice-prefect (vicarius), for the group of seven provinces, and a master of soldiers (magister militum).

6. The Governors of the Seventeen Provinces. – The seventeen governors (six consulares and eleven prœsides) resided in the principal town or metropolis of the province. They had a numerous retinue of personal followers. The clerks were apportioned to bureaus (officia, scrinia); they had a life appointment, almost an hereditary one. They were expected to aid the governor, and were responsible for the errors which the latter might commit. Like the functions of the prefects, those of the governors were most varied; these officers were both administrators and judges. They were paid in money, and were given certain equipments, of which a writer of the third century furnishes the following details: “Twenty pounds of silver and one hundred pieces of gold, six jugs of wine, two mules and two horses, two ceremonial costumes, one simple costume, a bath, a cook, a muleteer.” It was only under Theodosius II. that the custom of providing equipments was discontinued.

7. Municipal Government. – Under the authority and protection of the governors the laws and customs of the municipal government were freely administered in the townships (civitates). These comprised a territory of moderate extent, which may be compared to the French departments; they contained, therefore, a certain number of cities, market towns, and villages ruled by a kind of general council. This was the Senate or curia (curia). The members of this Senate were taken from among the freemen or proprietors who owned at least twenty-five jugera of land in the township. They made up the class of curials (curiales) or decurions, which was named ordo decurionum. Their functions were obligatory and hereditary; every son of a curial became one himself at the age of eighteen. The curials bore in fact many burdens of state or city. They were responsible individually with their personal fortunes for the payment of taxes. On the other hand they enjoyed certain privileges; such as exemption from the bastinado and torture, and they received marked consideration from the governor. The Senate named the magistrates of the city, aided them in the maintenance of order, in the administration of food supplies (annona), charitable establishments, religion, and the communal finances. Above the curials in rank were the senators. They were the richest and most important men of the community, who had received from the emperor the right to sit in the Senate at Rome, and the rank of senator, although without the functions appertaining to this office. They should not be confounded with the members of the municipal Senate.

8. Municipal Magistrates. – The magistrates were chosen from among the curials and according to a definite order. They were the quæstors, the ediles, the decemvirs, for judicial and financial matters; the priests, flamens. for the municipal worship; the tribuni militum a populo, for the maintenance of law and order; the curatores, for the administration of public property. These officers were appointed for a year, and were responsible for their administration. Added to these magistracies was a new office of defensor, created in Illyria in 364; this finally became general. Heretofore the municipalities had chosen some influential Roman to act as their patron and advocate. More than once he took advantage of the city which had profited by his services and made himself master of it. In order to regulate this abuse the emperor suppressed patronage and created the office of defensor. The defensors were at first named by the government, then elected by the people for five years. They were chosen not from among the curials, but from the notables of the community. They were not popular, for they had to protect the lower classes, defend them even against the curials, and also guard the interests of the treasury by preventing the curials from deserting the curia. It has often been said that the bishop was usually named for defensor; it would be more exact to say that he gradually replaced him.

9. Towns and Villages. – As time went on the municipal organisation was more and more extended to small places. Certain pagi had a local assembly and magistrates. Simple fortified camps (castra) were given a municipal constitution. Gaul is one of the countries where the dismemberment of the original municipalities was the most frequent. It was as when, in the Middle Ages, the smallest town demanded its liberty, its charter, and its customs. The villages progressed more slowly. During the Roman epoch they had a local worship and their priests; when converted to Christianity they formed parishes, but had to wait until the eighteenth century to become communes.

Parcelling out the municipalities weakened them. Besides, the invasions ruined the curials,...