[Sidenote: =How the Teutonic tribes lived=]
=292. The Coming of the Huns and Teutons.= North of the Alps, beyond
the Danube and the Rhine, and between the North Sea and the Black Sea,
was a vast region of wild lands. Here the German or Teutonic tribes
had lived for hundreds of years. They had made little advance in ways
of living. They still dwelt in poor villages. They loved to fight, or
waste their time in idleness and feasts. They were noted for their
love of liberty and pure family life. At the time of the invasions
(4th century) they were learning to live in towns, to unite in
confederations, and to be ruled by elected kings. They had so increased
in numbers that more land was needed to afford them a living. This was
the main cause of their moving south to the Roman frontiers.
[Sidenote: =Gradual coming of the Germans=]
For three hundred years the Germans were restless in their northern
homes. But the Roman armies were strong enough to keep them beyond the
Danube. Some had come over as soldiers in the Roman legions. By 330
half the troops were German. Some of the more peaceful Germans were
allowed to make settlements within the empire. Other Germans came in as
slaves, but mainly to work on the farms.
By the end of the fourth century after Christ the Romans had become too
weak to keep the Germans back.
[Illustration: THE COMING OF THE HUNS
_From a print after the painting by Ulpiano Checa_]
[Sidenote: =Battle of Chalons=]
But the Germans were gentle compared with the fierce Huns from Asia
who made the next great invasion into Europe. And under their terrible
chief, Attila, they swept over Europe like firebrands, laying waste all
they could not carry away. At last the Germans and the Romans united
and defeated the Huns at Chalons (451). The Huns moved eastward, passed
through northern Italy, and soon reëntered Asia. Europe was saved.
=293. End of the Empire.= Other German tribes entered the empire,
took possession of the lands, and even formed governments under their
chiefs. In a quarrel over lands the German troops removed the Roman
emperor and declared their chief, Odoacer, king (476). This marks the
end of the Roman Empire and the rise of the kingdom of Italy, though
the present United Kingdom, formed after centuries of division, among
small, jealous city states, is only sixty years old.
Other invasions went on for many years. Europe was in disorder and
confusion for nearly four hundred years. It was a time of seeding, when
the rough, brave, liberty-loving German peoples were intermarrying with
the Greeks and Romans and learning from them the finer ways of living.
From this fusion a new society was built on the ruins of the old, as
shown in the nations of Italy, France, and Spain.