What were the barbarian invasions?

The barbarian invasions were migrations of Germanic peoples lasting from before 200 BCE to the early Middle Ages that resulted in the destruction of the Western Roman Empire. These migrations were driven by overpopulation and worsening climate conditions that pushed Germanic tribes southward in search of new lands. These migrations were gradual expansions of land-hungry people rather than nomadic invasions. Migrating tribes didn't always move en masse; some members remained in their homelands or settled along the way. These migrations required strong leadership, which led to the rise of a noble class. The influx of Germanic peoples placed pressure on the Roman Empire's borders, which resulted in governmental changes. The empire was divided, with emperors in the East attempting to divert potential threats towards the Western Empire. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, which signaled the beginning of the end for the Western Empire. Several barbarian kingdoms were established in the Western Empire. In 476, the Western Roman Empire fell when Odoacer, a barbarian general, occupied Rome.

Which groups were considered barbarians in European history?

In European history, various groups were labeled as barbarians, reflecting the perspectives of those within the established Roman and later European societies. The term "barbarians" was often applied to migrating Germanic tribes who posed a threat to the Roman Empire. These groups included: * Germanic peoples Tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Alemanni, and Saxons were significant forces during the migrations that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. They established kingdoms across Europe and, while initially seen as outsiders, gradually integrated into the existing societies. * Huns Arriving from Central Asia in the 4th century, the Huns pushed various Germanic tribes westward, further destabilizing the Roman Empire. * Slavs From the 6th century, Slavic groups expanded into the Balkans and Central Europe, often clashing with the Byzantine Empire.

When did the barbarian invasions happen?

The barbarian invasions, or the movements of Germanic peoples, began before 200 BCE and lasted until the early Middle Ages. These migrations, along with the migrations of the Slavs, were key in shaping the distribution of people in modern Europe. Waves of migrations occurred throughout centuries: * Initial movements As early as 200 BCE, Germanic tribes reached the lower Danube, encountering the Antigonid dynasty of Macedonia. * The Cimbri and Teutoni Migratory groups of Cimbri, Teutoni, and Ambrones penetrated Celtic-Illyrian lands around 113 BCE, eventually clashing with the Romans. * Later Incursions From 150 CE, unrest spread among Germanic tribes, leading to wars with the Romans and threats to Italy. The Alemanni pushed up the Main River by 260 CE. * 4th Century The pressure of Germanic tribes increased on the frontiers, prompting Constantine I to move the capital to Constantinople in 330 CE. * The Huns The emergence of the Huns in the late 4th century forced Germanic tribes to seek refuge in the Roman Empire, intensifying clashes. * 5th Century The Western Roman Empire faced further migrations, with Visigoths sacking Rome in 410. Germanic tribes, including Vandals, Alani, Suebi, and Burgundians, crossed the Rhine between 406 and 407. The barbarian invasions played a significant role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.

Why did the barbarians invade the Roman Empire?

The barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire were a series of migrations and incursions by Germanic peoples that began before 200 BCE and lasted until the early Middle Ages, contributing to the destruction of the Western Roman Empire. These migrations were driven by a combination of factors, including population growth and worsening climatic conditions, which pushed Germanic tribes to seek new lands farther south. These tribes were not nomadic, but rather land-hungry peasants gradually expanding their territory. They were also drawn by the wealth and opportunities within the Empire, serving as mercenaries in the Roman army and settling in Roman lands. The Huns' arrival in Europe in the 4th century CE further destabilized the region, forcing many Germanic tribes to seek refuge within the Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire eventually fell in 476 CE when a barbarian general, Odoacer, deposed the last emperor.

How did the invasions affect the Roman Empire?

The barbarian invasions significantly impacted the Roman Empire, contributing to its disruption and weakening over half a century. These invasions, combined with internal civil wars, led to the devastation of numerous regions and the pillaging of important cities. The political destabilization resulting from the invasions led to economic challenges, including disrupted commerce, uneven tax collection, destruction of homes and harvests, and loss of savings due to inflation. The influx of Germanic tribes into the Roman army and lands altered its composition and culture. The empire faced continuous incursions from various Germanic peoples, stretching its resources and military capabilities. Ultimately, the Western Roman Empire ended when a Germanic general, Odoacer, deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476 CE.

What long-term changes did the barbarian invasions bring to Europe?

The barbarian invasions brought long-term changes to Europe that reorganized political, social, and economic structures. Roman imperial traditions gave way to those of the Germanic peoples, who established kingdoms in the former Western Empire. New forms of political leadership were introduced, and Europe gradually underwent Christianization. From the 5th to the 8th centuries, the cultures associated with the new kings and peoples influenced political and religious change even in areas that the empire had never ruled. The bishop and the monk were two of the most remarkable and longest enduring religious and social inventions of late antiquity; the barbarian kingdoms were a third. Their experiments in Christian kingship began a long tradition in European political life and thought.

barbarian invasions

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Thematic map of Europe and the Mediterranean showing the routes of various barbarian groups during the invasions of the late Roman Empire. Colored arrows trace the migrations of groups such as the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Saxons, and others, with boundaries of the Roman Empire in 395 CE and subsequent political divisions marked. Major kingdoms and cities are labeled, illustrating the movement and settlement patterns of these peoples.

Bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius with his right arm raised, seated on a horse, at Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome, Italy.

The Ludovisi battle sarcophagus features an intricate high-relief scene in marble of Romans fighting Goths, with densely packed figures in dramatic poses.

Historical map showing the migrations and kingdoms of the Goths during the 5th and 6th centuries AD in Europe. The map uses color shading to distinguish the Ostrogothic and Visigothic kingdoms at different points in time, with arrows marking the migration routes of each group. Key cities such as Milan, Rome, Toulouse, Cartagena, and Toledo are labeled, as well as significant migration dates and the site of the Battle of Vouille in 507.

Illustration of Alaric, wearing armor and a red cloak, riding a horse as he enters ancient Athens, accompanied by armed soldiers and watched by gathered townspeople. Classical columns are visible in the background.

Bronze statue of Theoderic the Great by Peter Vischer the Elder, depicting a standing armored figure holding a sword and shield inside the ornate Hofkirche, Innsbruck.

Mosaic detail of Emperor Justinian I with a jeweled crown and halo, wearing ornate robes, from the Church of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy.

Map showing the changing boundaries of the Byzantine Empire around the eastern Mediterranean. Three areas are marked: the largest outline shows the empire's greatest extent under Justinian I (527-565), a medium pink area shows the empire in about 1020, and a smaller red area shows the empire in about 1360. Key regions include Asia Minor, Greece, the Balkans, and parts of Italy, North Africa, and the eastern Mediterranean coast, with Constantinople marked as the capital.

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Top Questions

What were the barbarian invasions?
The barbarian invasions were migrations of Germanic peoples lasting from before 200 BCE to the early Middle Ages that resulted in the destruction of the Western Roman Empire. These migrations were driven by overpopulation and worsening climate conditions that pushed Germanic tribes southward in search of new lands.

These migrations were gradual expansions of land-hungry people rather than nomadic invasions. Migrating tribes didn't always move en masse; some members remained in their homelands or settled along the way. These migrations required strong leadership, which led to the rise of a noble class.

The influx of Germanic peoples placed pressure on the Roman Empire's borders, which resulted in governmental changes. The empire was divided, with emperors in the East attempting to divert potential threats towards the Western Empire. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410, which signaled the beginning of the end for the Western Empire. Several barbarian kingdoms were established in the Western Empire. In 476, the Western Roman Empire fell when Odoacer, a barbarian general, occupied Rome.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Which groups were considered barbarians in European history?
In European history, various groups were labeled as barbarians, reflecting the perspectives of those within the established Roman and later European societies. The term "barbarians" was often applied to migrating Germanic tribes who posed a threat to the Roman Empire.

These groups included:
* Germanic peoples Tribes such as the Goths, Vandals, Franks, Alemanni, and Saxons were significant forces during the migrations that contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire. They established kingdoms across Europe and, while initially seen as outsiders, gradually integrated into the existing societies.
* Huns Arriving from Central Asia in the 4th century, the Huns pushed various Germanic tribes westward, further destabilizing the Roman Empire.
* Slavs From the 6th century, Slavic groups expanded into the Balkans and Central Europe, often clashing with the Byzantine Empire.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
When did the barbarian invasions happen?
The barbarian invasions, or the movements of Germanic peoples, began before 200 BCE and lasted until the early Middle Ages. These migrations, along with the migrations of the Slavs, were key in shaping the distribution of people in modern Europe.

Waves of migrations occurred throughout centuries:
* Initial movements As early as 200 BCE, Germanic tribes reached the lower Danube, encountering the Antigonid dynasty of Macedonia.
* The Cimbri and Teutoni Migratory groups of Cimbri, Teutoni, and Ambrones penetrated Celtic-Illyrian lands around 113 BCE, eventually clashing with the Romans.
* Later Incursions From 150 CE, unrest spread among Germanic tribes, leading to wars with the Romans and threats to Italy. The Alemanni pushed up the Main River by 260 CE.
* 4th Century The pressure of Germanic tribes increased on the frontiers, prompting Constantine I to move the capital to Constantinople in 330 CE.
* The Huns The emergence of the Huns in the late 4th century forced Germanic tribes to seek refuge in the Roman Empire, intensifying clashes.
* 5th Century The Western Roman Empire faced further migrations, with Visigoths sacking Rome in 410. Germanic tribes, including Vandals, Alani, Suebi, and Burgundians, crossed the Rhine between 406 and 407.

The barbarian invasions played a significant role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Why did the barbarians invade the Roman Empire?
The barbarian invasions of the Roman Empire were a series of migrations and incursions by Germanic peoples that began before 200 BCE and lasted until the early Middle Ages, contributing to the destruction of the Western Roman Empire. These migrations were driven by a combination of factors, including population growth and worsening climatic conditions, which pushed Germanic tribes to seek new lands farther south.

These tribes were not nomadic, but rather land-hungry peasants gradually expanding their territory. They were also drawn by the wealth and opportunities within the Empire, serving as mercenaries in the Roman army and settling in Roman lands. The Huns' arrival in Europe in the 4th century CE further destabilized the region, forcing many Germanic tribes to seek refuge within the Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire eventually fell in 476 CE when a barbarian general, Odoacer, deposed the last emperor.
8 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
How did the invasions affect the Roman Empire?
The barbarian invasions significantly impacted the Roman Empire, contributing to its disruption and weakening over half a century. These invasions, combined with internal civil wars, led to the devastation of numerous regions and the pillaging of important cities. The political destabilization resulting from the invasions led to economic challenges, including disrupted commerce, uneven tax collection, destruction of homes and harvests, and loss of savings due to inflation.

The influx of Germanic tribes into the Roman army and lands altered its composition and culture. The empire faced continuous incursions from various Germanic peoples, stretching its resources and military capabilities. Ultimately, the Western Roman Empire ended when a Germanic general, Odoacer, deposed Emperor Romulus Augustulus in 476 CE.
4 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
What long-term changes did the barbarian invasions bring to Europe?
The barbarian invasions brought long-term changes to Europe that reorganized political, social, and economic structures. Roman imperial traditions gave way to those of the Germanic peoples, who established kingdoms in the former Western Empire. New forms of political leadership were introduced, and Europe gradually underwent Christianization.

From the 5th to the 8th centuries, the cultures associated with the new kings and peoples influenced political and religious change even in areas that the empire had never ruled. The bishop and the monk were two of the most remarkable and longest enduring religious and social inventions of late antiquity; the barbarian kingdoms were a third. Their experiments in Christian kingship began a long tradition in European political life and thought.
3 Britannica Sources
Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.

barbarian invasions, the movements of Germanic peoples which began before 200 bce and lasted until the early Middle Ages, destroying the Western Roman Empire in the process. Together with the migrations of the Slavs, these events were the formative elements of the distribution of peoples in modern Europe.

The Germanic peoples originated about 1800 bce from the superimposition of Battle-Ax people from the Corded Ware Culture of middle Germany on a population of megalithic culture on the eastern North Sea coast. During the Bronze Age the Germanic peoples spread over southern Scandinavia and penetrated more deeply into Germany between the Weser and Vistula rivers. Contact with the Mediterranean during this era was made through the amber trade, but during the Iron Age the Germanic peoples were cut off from the Mediterranean by the Celts and Illyrians. Germanic culture declined, and an increasing population, together with worsening climatic conditions, drove the Germans to seek new lands farther south.

In a sense, the Roman Empire had been already “barbarized” before the barbarian invasions began in earnest. Land left vacant by the dwindling Roman population was colonized by immigrants—Germans and others—from beyond the frontiers. The Roman legions were largely recruited from Germans and other non-Romans, some of whom even rose to the imperial purple. Thus, in the end, the Roman emperor, with his guard and his household, ruling over an empire exploited to fill his treasury, was essentially indistinguishable from those barbarian chiefs with whom he clashed.

An antique black and white map of Europe from the Encyclopaedia Britannica First Edition, showing detailed outlines and place names for countries including Great Britain, France, Spain, Germany, Hungary, Turkey, Anatolia, Poland, Russia, Italy, Greece, Ireland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Lapland, and Denmark. The map features ornate script for the word Europe and dense labeling of regions and bodies of water.

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history of Europe: Barbarian migrations and invasions

The migrations of the Germanic peoples were in no way nomadic, nor were they conducted en masse. Many members of the migrating groups remained in their original homelands or settled down at points along the migration route. Even before 200 bce the first Germanic tribes had reached the lower Danube, where their path was barred by the Antigonid dynasty of Macedonia. At the end of the 2nd century bce, migratory hordes of Cimbri, Teutoni, and Ambrones penetrated the Celtic-Illyrian lands and reached the edges of the Roman frontier, appearing first in Carinthia (113 bce), then in southern France, and finally in upper Italy. In 102 bce the Romans routed the Teutoni and destroyed the army of the Cimbri the following year. Swabian tribes, however, advanced through central and southern Germany, and the Helvetii, a Celtic tribe, were compelled to retreat into Gaul. When Germans under Ariovistus crossed the upper Rhine, Julius Caesar checked their advance and launched a Roman counteroffensive. Under the emperor Augustus the Roman frontier was pushed back as far as the Rhine and the Danube.

Before long, population growth forced the Germanic peoples into conflict with Rome once again. From 150 ce unrest spread among the tribes on the Roman periphery, and the resulting wars between the Romans and the Marcomanni threatened Italy itself. Marcus Aurelius successfully halted the Germanic advance and campaigned to expand Rome’s northern borders, but these efforts were abandoned upon his death. Almost immediately, his son Commodus sought terms with the Germans, and soon the Alemanni were pushing up the Main River, establishing themselves in the Agri Decumates by 260 ce.

Meanwhile, to the east the Goths had penetrated into the Balkan Peninsula and Asia Minor as far as Cyprus, but Claudius II checked their advance at Niš in 269 ce. Enriched by their conquests and enlisted as imperial mercenaries, the Goths became a settled population, and the Romans abandoned Dacia beyond the Danube. Everywhere within the empire towns were fortified, even Rome itself. Franks and Saxons ravaged the coasts of northern Gaul and Britain, and for the next three centuries incursions by Germanic peoples were the scourge of the Western Empire.

In the 4th century ce the pressure of the Germanic advance was increasingly felt on the frontiers, and this led to a change in the government of the empire which was to have notable consequences. In May 330 ce Constantine I transferred the capital from Rome to Constantinople, but the empire, from Hadrian’s Wall to the Tigris, continued to be administered successfully from a single centre. This would not remain the case for long, however, as the increasing perils from outside the empire made closer supervision essential.

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The pace of the Germanic incursions increased dramatically during the reigns of the emperor Valens and his successors. These invasions were of two types: (1) migrations of whole peoples with their complete German patriarchal organizations intact and (2) bands, larger or smaller, of emigrants in search of land to settle, without tribal cohesion but organized under the leadership of military chiefs. The Goths and Vandals, and later the Burgundians and Lombards, were of the first type; to the second belonged the Franks, “free” men from the Saxon plain, and the Saxon invaders of Britain. The distinction was a vital one. The Goths, Vandals, Burgundians, and Lombards never took root in the soil, and succumbed in turn, while the Frankish and Saxon immigrants not only maintained themselves but set up a wholly new polity, based on the independence of the territorial unit, which later on was to develop into feudalism.

The emergence of the Huns in southeastern Europe in the late 4th century put to flight many of the Germanic tribes in that area and forced additional clashes with the Romans. In 378 the Goths defeated and slew Valens in a battle near Adrianople, but his successor, Theodosius I, was able to stem the Germanic tide, however temporarily. After the death of Theodosius in 395, the empire was divided between emperors of the East and West, and the emperors at Constantinople did everything in their power to drive any potential threats away from their own capital and toward the lands of the Western Empire. In 406–407 Germanic and other tribes (Vandals, Alani, Suebi, and Burgundians) from Silesia and even farther east crossed the Rhine in their flight from the Huns and penetrated as far as Spain.

AttilaNineteenth-century painting of Attila, king of the Huns from 434 to 453.

Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sacked Rome in 410, signaling the beginning of the end of the Western Empire. Shortly after Alaric’s death later that year, the Goths passed into Gaul and Spain. In 429 Gaiseric, king of the Vandals, crossed from Spain to Roman Africa and created the first independent German kingdom on Roman soil. Soon the Vandals had established themselves as a great naval power which for a while commanded the Mediterranean and devastated the coasts of Italy and Sicily. Meanwhile, the Franks and Burgundians were pressing into Germany and Gaul, and from 449 onward the Saxons, Angles, and Jutes crossed from the Jutland peninsula and occupied Britain. About this time the Huns, under Attila, launched a significant campaign into Gaul. The Roman general Flavius Aetius, who ruled the Western Empire in everything but title, forged an alliance with the Visigoth king Theodoric I, and their combined army inflicted a serious reverse on the Huns at the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (451).

Aetius was murdered by the emperor Valentinian III in September 454, and this event marked the sunset of Roman political power. Six months later Valentinian was slain by two of Aetius’s retainers, and the throne of the Western Empire became the stake in the intrigues of the German chiefs Ricimer, Orestes, and Odoacer, who maintained real control through puppet emperors. In 476 the succession of Western emperors came to an end with Odoacer’s occupation of Rome, and this date is traditionally given as the end of the Western Roman Empire. The Roman Senate decided that one emperor was enough and that the Eastern emperor, Zeno, should rule the whole empire.

For a time, Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, ruled a kingdom that included Italy, Gaul, and Spain. After his death in 526, the empire of the Ostrogoths was shattered, and changes took place which led to the rise of independent Germanic kingdoms in Gaul and Spain. In Gaul Clovis, the king of the Franks, had already established his power, and in Spain a Visigothic kingdom with its capital at Toledo now asserted its independence.

Under Justinian (527–565), the Byzantine Empire seemed in a fair way to recover the Mediterranean supremacy once held by Rome. The Vandal kingdom in Africa was destroyed, and in 552 the Byzantine general Narses shattered the power of the Ostrogoths in Italy, The exarchate of Ravenna was established as an extension of Byzantine power, the Ostrogoths were forced to give up the south of Spain, and the Persians were checked. With the death of Justinian, however, troubles began. In 568 the Lombards, under Alboin, appeared in Italy, which they overran as far south as the Tiber, establishing their kingdom on the ruins of the exarchate. In Asia the emperor Heraclius, in a series of victorious campaigns, broke Persian power and succeeded even in extending Roman dominion, but Italy, save for Ravenna itself and a few scattered seacoast towns, was thenceforth lost to the empire of which in theory it still formed a part.

Copperplate engraving by Adrian Collaert showing Saint Gregory I, or Gregory the Great, seated in papal robes and tiara, holding a staff, with symbolic figures at his feet. — Pope Gregory ISt. Gregory the Great, copperplate engraving.

The withdrawal of Byzantine influence from Italy produced one result the importance of which it is impossible to exaggerate: the development of the political power of the papacy. At the beginning of the 6th century, Rome, under Theodoric, was still the city of the Caesars, and the tradition of its ancient life was yet unbroken. By the end of the century, Rome, under Pope Gregory the Great (590–604), had become the city of the popes. Along with the city, the popes laid claim to some of the political inheritance of the Caesars; the great medieval popes, in a truer sense than the medieval emperors, werethe representatives of the idea of Roman imperial unity.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Michael Ray.

barbarian invasions

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