Soissons and the End of the Western Roman Empire

for all the talk about the rise and fall of the Roman Empire the decline of Rome wasn't a single event it was a long cultural and economic shift that took place over centuries there's even disagreement over when Rome actually fell although most historians agree that the end of the Western Roman Empire came in 476 ad when the last Roman Emperor Romulus was ousted by the Barbarian Statesman odoacer but the Roman Senate continued clear until at least the seventh century and of course the eastern Roman Empire survived as Byzantium into the Middle Ages and there are several successor states or claim successor states from the originators of the country of Romania to the Holy Roman Empire but perhaps less well remembered was the Western Roman province of Swiss all the classic example of a rump state Swiss ah was ruled over by a ducks meaning leader or Duke first a Didius and then his son sera GEOSS as what they claimed to be a province of the Western Roman Empire ten years after the fall of Rome and so they have some claim to have been the last Emperor's of Rome it is history that deserves to be remembered Julius Caesar conquered much of Gaul during the Gallic Wars in the first century BC just before I returned to Rome and undertook a series of reforms that made him a de facto Emperor then eventually led to his death Gaul would remain under Roman control for most of the next six centuries the Empire reached its greatest extent in 117 ad but the fourth and fifth century saw a period of significant contraction by 410 the Romans had had been to Britain and that same year Rome was sacked for the first time in eight hundred years by the Visigoths the second shocked the world Saint to Rome cried that the city which had taken the world was itself taken the Rome hadn't been the capital of the Empire since 286 it remained the spiritual center for most Romans the decay of the Western Empire was made even more apparent when it was sacked again in 455 this time by an army of vandals from North Africa in the myth century northwestern Gaul was separated completely from Italy as Germanic kingdoms bent at the heels of the crumbling Empire Emperor Avitus was installed by the vandal after they sacked Rome but he was quickly overthrown by two of his generals Ricimer and Maggiore n' as a barbarian Ricimer was barred from the throne and so Maggiore on became emperor Maggiore inque mum a military family and had made a name for himself fighting Franks in Gaul it was there that he had met Ricimer and another of his most ardent supporters a genius a genius was an early supporter of both Ricimer and Maggiore but especially to majority a Didius was made magister militant or master of the soldiers of gaul took over command of all the remaining roman forces in the region Maggiore and was unique compared to other leaders of the late Empire he is credited with a series of reforms that attempted restore justice and efficiency and would be the last Western Emperor to try to restore the empire with his own forces he was popular with soldiers that the armies in a three-year campaign that captured much of Gaul in nearly all of Hispania at the Battle of Arles in southern Gaul maggiorin defeated the Visigoths enforce the entire Visigothic kingdoms returned to federate status though ruled by Rome it would retain some local autonomy but Durham also defeated the Burgundians in Gaul and the Suevi in Hispania consolidating his games over former Roman territories in his work the history of the decline and fall of the Roman Empire and were given set of Maggiore in' that he presents the welcome discovery of a great and heroic character such as sometimes arise in a degenerate age to vindicate the honor of the human species unfortunately image orion was not destined to rekindle the empire his reforms had caused discontent among Roman Nobles in Italy that made him an enemy of his former ally Ricimer when he returned to Italy he was met by Ricimer near the city of piacenza and he was deposed tortured and let her beheaded Ricimer NYX chose Libya's Severus of largely unknown senator as Emperor mostly as a figurehead Maggiore ins death would cause the birth the kingdom was Warsaw when the genius received news of the Emperor's murder he refused to acknowledge his successor a genius was also an important Tim powerful general by then a Gitty is threatened to invade Italy and it's possible that a Didius legitimize his retention of command in Gaul but insisting he was oil to the Eastern Roman Emperor Leo the first in Constantinople who never recognized Severus either a genius never did invade Rome according to the historian prissiest that was because it was in a border dispute with some Visigoths and it was a war which he performed many deeds of bravery but to invade Rome would have meant leaving Gaul undefended and he simply might not have been able to project his powers problem common to leaders in fragmented post Roman Europe even Ricimer seemed unable to project his power beyond the Alps in 463 at the operat the second king of the Visigoths moved against a ideas the Visigoths might have been employed by Severus or might have merely scented opportunity but whatever their motives they were dealt a stunning defeated or leans a Didius possibly supported by Franks soundly routed the objects army added ease this relationship with the Franks is unclear Frank's had served in Roman armies for years of whether they were following a Didius as federate s-- allies or mercenaries is unknown to have his existence the kingdom was Hassan would fight with and against Frankish forces the traditional view is that the kingdom was a song acted as a bulwark against Frankish expansion for most of a generation the archaeological evidence seems to support this shortly after his victory over theater candor leans the Didius died in da deus a contemporary living in Hispania says a Didius died betrayed some say in a trap others buy poison on his passing the Goths soon invaded the regions that he had protected in the name of Rome it isn't clear who or even if he was murdered or if he died of natural causes Odysseus is remembered mostly fondly by later chronicles one described him is a man of courage commendable reputation and pleasing to God for his good works his young son sooraj iasts took over the title of Magister militant the record is sparse so much of the period is left to speculation when the western empire fell not all of the social implica structures fell with it in some places it was the same people in charge often still using roman titles member teamroman dress and collecting the same taxes though so though those were no longer sent to Rome so Somme was perhaps an extreme example of this both Egeus since suraj iasts seem to have claimed their legitimacy as rulers through their connection to rome and at least nominally if not in fact seemed to ruled in the name of Rome using the title ducks but there's no direct evidence to say that they ever claimed to be Kings so a Psalms is seen by many to be the last vestige of Western Roman rule outside of Italy perhaps the best evidence of Swiss ons power is that in a time of expansion for the Visigoths who again captured southern Gaul in 476 permantly isolating Swiss aunt from Italy and making it a rump state and many other kingdoms there is no evidence they ever cross the river Loire suggesting as one historian put it that someone was defending it in 476 when the last Western Emperor Romulus Augustus was deposed by the Barbarian Odoacer who declared himself king of Italy one source records that the Gauls of the West revolted against Odoacer and both they and Odoacer scented embassy to the eastern Roman Emperor Zeno he preferred to support Otto Acer though doesn't mention Suraj's by names Hasan seems to be the most likely source for a Golic embassy to be sent to Constantinople the challenge over a sirs legitimacy the central location of swiss awe in northern Gaul and it's largely intact infrastructure allowed a level of stability but also made the area tempting for their Frankish neighbors to the northeast the realm of Rogers was almost the same size as the Frankish area in 481 Clovis ascended to the throne the Frankish Kingdom of Tornai and became the process of uniting the Franks in 486 he invaded the kingdom was a song Suraj's did not hesitate to nor fear to resist it is tragic that no contemporary count of the Battle of a song seems to survive given the importance of the battle we know that Frankie and suicide were roughly of equal size although the Franks were divided amongst many small kingdoms we do know that several groups of Franks refused to support Clovis and were later punished for it the battle appears to been fought on an open field rather than a de fortification and it suggests that the two armies were similar in size and Suraj is apparently believed he could defeat the Franks and we know that the battle was a decisive victory for Clovis and his Franks defeated sadhyas fled to the Visigoths and was portrayed by King Alaric the second of the Visigoths who sent him back to Clovis according to the 6th century historian a Catholic bishop Gregory of Tours Clovis had him quietly murdered Gregory of Tours then recorded that Conquest assassins was completed in two stages birth to the seine and beyond it to the river Loire stories from the period include the siege of Paris that is said to have lasted twice five years the victory over Sorachi as though is usually seen as removing the main barrier to Frankish expansion as the conquest of susan's essentially doubled the size of Frankia and greatly aided Clovis in his bid to unify the Frankish kingdoms the battle so saw represents the final defeat of one Empire and the rise of another the kingdom of Frankia would be the dominant power in Western Europe for the next four centuries you might have taken something unexpected to conquer the former Roman Enclave Clovis's wife clotilda a princess of the Kingdom of Burgundy have been trying to convert Clovis to Christianity to no avail the story is that Clovis saw he was losing the battle and he prayed for deliverance from the Christian God when he won the battle he converted if the story is true the Battle of so saw is also the reason that the great kingdom of Frankia would become a powerful representative of the Catholic Church have a significant impact of the development of European Catholicism including doctrines such as the right to seek sanctuary Clara community and the boundaries of secular and episcopal authority the byzantine scholar procopius wrote that since the Germans were not able to overcome the remaining Romans by force they wished to win them over and make the two people's kin but if her marriage this suggested they received not at all unwillingly for both as it happened were Christians thus Clovis's conversion was apparently a pivotal moment whatever the truth of the kingdom of saw or whether it even deserves to be called a kingdom it remained important hasad we made an important base of power for Clovis and the Merovingian Kings into the sixth century and was the heartland of the wealth and power of Charlemagne and his holy roman empire by the 7th century the franks who are the most powerful and most important of the successor states of the western empire and the combination of Frankish and Roman traditions and of the Merovingian kings is seen as central to the development of Europe and the modern-day state of France and so Sanne seemed to be the foundation of those Roman traditions although all of God maintained some Roman legacy but the the that the memory of the kingdom of swiss all is is a good illustration of Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire a period of great change great violence of longing for some better greater imperial past a memory that affected politics in Europe well into the Middle Ages and the kingdom of Swiss saw even if the memory is imperfect represents a romantic vision a vision of the civilization of Rome stand against the tide of barbarism the last stand of the romans and the twilight of an age I hope you enjoyed this episode of the history guy short snippets of forgotten history between 10 and 15 minutes long and if you did enjoy please go ahead and click that thumbs up button if you have any questions or comments or suggestions for future episodes please write those in the comment section I will be happy to personally respond be sure to follow the history guy on Facebook Instagram Twitter and check out our merchandise on teespring com and if you'd like more episodes on forgotten history all you need to do is subscribe [Music]

Channel: The History Guy: History Deserves to Be Remembered

Views: 161,950

Keywords: history, the history guy, rome, soissons, Romulus Augustulus, history guy

Id: 6HsEl7sJ_9U

Length: 12min 20sec (740 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 05 2019