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Late Antiquity

Western Provinces: Germany and Gaul

Germany

Germany was lost in yet a different way. In a real sense, Rome never ruled in Germany. There were certain areas east of the Rhine and north of the Danube that had Roman colonies, but the territory never was Romanized in the thorough fashion that Britain was.

The Roman troops stationed along this frontier were from the beginning heavily reinforced with native German troops. Gradually, the Germanic element grew stronger and stronger, until one German tribe faced another across the frontier, with one fighting on the side of Rome.

This region saw the blending of Roman and Germanic cultures early, even while the Empire was yet strong. These frontier communities show clearly that the barbarians were not savages howling at the walls of Rome, but were peoples seeking a place within the Empire.

Gaul

This was the land conquered by Caesar, more or less modern-day France and the Low Countries. It was thoroughly Romanized, especially in southern Gaul. The Franks moved into Gaul in the 5th century and eventually took over its rule. The most significant figure is that of Clovis, because he converted to Catholic Christianity (around 500 AD).

The Frankish lands also show yet another dynamic in the transformation of the old Empire: a vigorous native culture that moved into an area of strong Roman traditions. This happened in Spain under the Visigoths and in Italy under the Ostrogoths, but both those kingdoms were eventually swept away. The Franks remained, as did the peculiar alchemy between the Empire and the barbarians.

In Germany and Britain, the Roman past fell away and was lost. In Spain it was taken over by the Moors. It Italy it was never wholly lost, even in Lombardy. But in Gaul the Empire and the barbarians were about evenly matched, and out of the mixing came a new culture, the core of what would become Europe.