The Fifth Century
The Fifth Century
In this period, the Empire weakened and Germani—strange (Visigoths) and familiar (Burgundians and Franks)—increasingly exploited the opportunity to partition Gaul, but not the Alamanni. These, in line with cultural developments elsewhere in the western Germanic world, grew socially and politically more sophisticated, and their numbers were swelled by further waves of Elbe-Germanic migration. However, apart from their usual opportunistic raiding and a short spell in the 450s when they were under Hunnic domination, they remained loyal to the Empire. Their expansion, when it came, was marginal; and from around 496 they were absorbed by the Franks. This was principally because of their continuing symbiosis with Rome, which inhibited independent development and tied their fortunes to those of the declining Empire.
Keywords: Franks, Visigoths, Rome, Germani, Burgundians
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