THE LATINIZING OF THE WEST
The intellectual and spiritual life of the partly Hellenized and, at last,
Christianized, Roman Empire furnished the contents of the intellectual and
spiritual development of the Middle Ages.[17] In Latin forms the Christian
and antique elements passed to the mediaeval period. Their Latinization,
their continuance, and their passing on, were due to the existence of the
Empire as a political and social fact. Rome’s equal government facilitated
the transmission of Greek thought through the Mediterranean west; Roman
arms, Roman qualities conquered Spain and Gaul, subdued them to the Roman
order, opened them to Graeco-Latin influences, also to Christianity.
Indelibly Latinized in language and temper, Spain, Gaul, and Italy present
first a homogeneity of culture and civic order, and then a common
decadence and confusion. But decadence and confusion did not obliterate
the ancient elements; which painfully endured, passing down disfigured and
bedimmed, to form the basis of mediaeval culture.
The all-important Latinization of western Europe began with the
unification of Italy under Rome. This took five centuries of war. In
central Italy, Marsians, Samnites, Umbrians, Etruscans, were slowly
conquered; and in the south Rome stood forth at last triumphant after the
war against Tarentum and Pyrrhus of Epirus. With Rome’s political
domination, the Latin language also won its way to supremacy throughout
the peninsula, being drastically forced, along with Roman civic
institutions, upon Tarentum and the other Greek communities of Magna
Graecia.[18] Yet in revenge, from this time on, Greek medicine and
manners, mythology, art, poetry, philosophy--Greek thought in every
guise--entered the Latin pale.
At the time of which we speak, the third century before Christ, the
northern boundaries of Italy were still the rivers Arno and, to the east,
the Aesis, which flows into the Adriatic, near Ancona. North-west of the
Arno, Ligurian highlanders held the mountain lands as far as Nice. North
of the Aesis lay the valley of the Po. That great plain may have been
occupied at an early time by Etruscan communities scattered through a
Celtic population gradually settling to an agricultural life. Whatever may
be the facts as to the existence of these earlier Celts, other and ruder
Celtic tribes swarmed down from the Alps[19] about 400 B.C., spread
through the Po Valley, pushing the Etruscans back into Etruria, and
following them there to carry on the war. After this comes the well-known
story of Roman interference, leading to Roman overthrow at the river Allia
in 390, and the capture of the city by these “Gauls.” The latter then
retired northward, to occupy the Po Valley; though bands of them settled
as far south as the Aesis.
Time and again, Rome was to be reminded of the Celtic peril. Between the
first and second Punic wars, the Celts, reinforced from beyond the Alps,
attacked Etruria and threatened Rome. Defeating them, the Consuls pushed
north to subdue the Po Valley (222 B.C.). South of the river the Celts
were expelled, and their place was filled by Roman colonists. The fortress
cities of Placentia (Piacenza) and Cremona were founded on the right and
left banks of the Po, and south-east of them Mutina (Modena). The
Flaminian road was extended across the Apennines to Fanum, and thence to
Ariminum (Rimini), thus connecting the two Italian seas.
Hannibal’s invasion of Italy brought fresh disturbance, and when the war
with him was over, Rome set herself to the final subjugation of the Celts
north of the Po. Upon their submission the Latinization of the whole
valley began, and advanced apace; but the evidence is scanty. Statius
Caecilius, a comic Latin poet, was a manumitted Insubrian Celt who had
been brought to Rome probably as a prisoner of war. He died in 168 B.C.
Some generations after him, Cornelius Nepos was born in upper Italy, and
Catullus at Verona; Celtic blood may have flowed in their veins. In the
meanwhile the whole region had been organized as Gallia Cisalpina, with
its southern boundary fixed at the Rubicon, which flows near Rimini.
The Celts of northern Italy were the first palpably non-Italian people to
adopt the Latin language. Second in time and thoroughness to their
Latinization was that of Spain. Military reasons led to its conquest.
Hamilcar’s genius had created there a Carthaginian power, as a base for
the invasion of Italy. This project, accomplished by Hamilcar’s son,
brought home to the Roman Senate the need to control the Spanish
peninsula. The expulsion of the Carthaginians, which followed, did not
give mastery over the land; and two centuries of Roman persistence were
required to subdue the indomitable Iberians.
So, in the end, Spain was conquered, and became a Latin country. Its
tribal cantons were replaced with urban communities, and many Roman
colonies were founded, to grow to prosperous cities. These were
strongholds of Latin. Cordova became a very famous home of education and
letters. Apparently the southern Spaniards had fully adopted the ways and
speech of Rome before Strabo wrote his _Geography_, about A.D. 20. The
change was slower in the mountains of Asturia, but quite rapid in the
north-eastern region known as Nearer Spain, Hispania Citerior, as it was
called. There, at the town of Osca (Huesca), Sertorius eighty years before
Christ had established the first Latin school for the native Spanish
youth.
The reign of Augustus, and especially his two years’ sojourn in Spain (26
and 25 B.C.) brought quiet to the peninsula, and thereafter no part of the
Empire enjoyed such unbroken peace. Of all lands outside of Italy, with
the possible exception of Provincia, Spain became most completely Roman in
its institutions, and most unequivocally Latin in its culture. It was the
most populous of the European provinces;[20] and no other held so many
Roman citizens, or so many cities early endowed with Roman civic
rights.[21] The great Augustan literature was the work of natives of
Italy.[22] But in the Silver Age that followed, many of the chief Latin
authors--the elder and younger Seneca, Lucan, Quintilian--were Spaniards.
They were unquestioned representatives of Latin literature, with no
provincial twang in their writings. Then, of Rome’s emperors, Trajan was
born in Spain, and Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius were of Spanish blood.
Perhaps even more completely Latinized was Narbonensis, commonly called
Provincia. Its official name was drawn from the ancient town of Narbo
(Narbonne), which in 118 B.C. was refounded as a Roman colony in partial
accomplishment of the plans of Caius Gracchus. The boundaries of this
colony touched those of the Greek city-state Massilia (Marseilles), whose
rights were respected until it sided against Caesar in the Civil War. Save
for the Massilian territory, which it later included, Provincia stretched
from the eastern Pyrenees by the way of Nemausus (Nîmes) and the Arelate
(Arles) north-easterly through the Rhone Valley, taking in Vienne and
Valence in the country of the Allobroges, and then onward to the edge of
Lake Geneva; thence southerly along the Maritime Alps to the sea. Many of
its towns owed their prosperity to Caesar. In his time the country west of
the Rhone was already half Latin, and was filling up with men from
Italy.[23] Two or three generations later, Pliny dubbed it _Italia verius
quam provincia_. At all events, like northern Italy and Spain, Provincia,
throughout its length and breadth, had appropriated the Latin civilization
of Rome; that civilization city-born and city-reared, solvent of cantonal
organization and tribal custom, destructive of former ways of living and
standards of conduct; a civilization which was commercial as well as
military in its means, and urban in its ends; which loved the life of the
forum, the theatre, the circus, the public bath, and seemed to gain its
finest essence from the instruction of the grammarian and rhetorician. The
language and literature of this civilization were those of an imperial
city, and were to be the language and literature of the Latin city
universal, in whatever western land its walls might rise.
North of Provincia stretched the great territory reaching from the
Atlantic to the Rhine, and with its edges following that river northerly,
and again westerly to the sea. This was Caesar’s conquest, his _omnis
Gallia_. The resistlessness of Rome, her civic and military superiority
over the western peoples whom she conquered, may be grasped from the
record of Gallic subjugation by one in whom great Roman qualities were
united. Perhaps the deepest impression received by the reader of those
_Commentaries_ is of the man behind the book, Caesar himself. The Gallic
War passes before us as a presentation, or medium of realization, of that
all-compelling personality, with whom to consider was to plan, and to
resolve was to accomplish, without hesitation or fear, by the force of
mind. It is in the mirror of this man’s contempt for restless
irresolution, for unsteadiness and impotence, that Gallic qualities are
shown, the reflection undisturbed either by intolerance or sympathy. The
Gauls were always anxious for change, _mobiliter celeriterque_ inflamed to
war or revolution, says Caesar in his memorable words; and, like all men,
they were by nature zealous for liberty, hating the servile state--so it
behoved Caesar to distribute his legions with foresight in a certain
crisis.[24] Thus, without shrug or smile, writes the greatest of
revolutionists who for himself was also seeking liberty of action, freely
and devisingly, not hurried by impatience or any such planless
restlessness as, for example, drove Dumnorix the Aeduan to plot feebly,
futilely, without plan or policy, against fate, to wit Caesar--so he met
his death.[25]
Instability appears as peculiarly characteristic of the Gauls. They were
not barbarians, but an ingenious folk, quick-witted and loquacious.[26]
Their domestic customs were reasonable; they had taxes and judicial
tribunals; their religion held belief in immortality, and in other
respects was not below the paganism of Italy. It was directed by the
priestly caste of Druids, who possessed considerable knowledge, and used
the Greek alphabet in writing. They also presided at trials, and
excommunicated suitors who would not obey their judicial decrees.[27]
The country was divided into about ninety states (_civitates_). Monarchies
appear among them, but the greater number were aristocracies torn with
jealousy, and always in alarm lest some noble’s overweening influence
upset the government. The common people and poor debtors seem scarcely to
have counted. Factions existed in every state, village, and even
household, says Caesar,[28] headed by the rival states of the Aedui and
Sequani. Espousing, as he professed to, the Aeduan cause, Caesar could
always appear as an ally of one faction. At the last a general confederacy
took up arms against him under the noble Auvernian, Vercingetorix.[29] But
the instability of his authority forced the hand of this brilliant leader.
In fine, it would seem that the Gallic peoples had progressed in
civilization as far as their limited political capacity and self-control
would allow. These were the limitations set by the Gallic character. It is
a Gallic custom, says Caesar, to stop travellers, and insist upon their
telling what they know or have heard. In the towns the crowd will throng
around a merchant and make him tell where he has come from and give them
the news. Upon such hearsay the Gauls enter upon measures of the gravest
importance. The states which are deemed the best governed, he adds, have a
law that whenever any one has heard a report or rumour of public moment,
he shall communicate it to a magistrate and to none else. The magistrates
conceal or divulge such news in their discretion. It is not permitted to
discuss public affairs save in an assembly.[30]
Apparently Caesar is not joking in these passages, which speak of a
statecraft based on gossip gathered in the streets, carried straight to a
magistrate, and neither discussed nor divulged on the way! Quite otherwise
were Roman officials to govern, when Caesar’s great campaigns had subdued
these mercurial Gauls. It was after his death that Augustus established
the Roman order through the land. In those famous _partes tres_ of the
_Commentaries_ he settled it: Iberian and Celtic Aquitania, Celtic
Lugdunensis, and Celtic-Teuton Belgica, making together the three Gauls.
It is significant that the emperor kept them as imperial provinces, still
needing military administration, while he handed over Provincia to the
Senate.
Provincia had been Romanized in law and government as the “Three Gauls”
never were to be. Augustus followed Caesar in respecting the tribal and
cantonal divisions of the latter, making only such changes as were
necessary. Gallic cities under the Empire show no great uniformity. Each
appears as the continuance of the local tribe, whose life and politics
were focused in the town. The city (_civitas_) did not end with the town
walls, but included the surrounding country and perhaps many villages. A
number of these cities preserved their ancient constitutions; others
conformed to the type of Roman colonies, whose constitutions were modelled
on those of Italian cities. Colonia Claudia Agrippina (Cologne) is an
example. But all the cities of the “Three Gauls” as well as those of
Provincia, whatever their form of government, conducted their affairs with
senate, magistrates and police of their choosing, had their municipal
property, and controlled their internal finances. A diet was established
for the “Three Gauls” at Lyons, to which the cities sent delegates.
Whatever were its powers, its existence tended to foster a sense of common
Gallic nationality. The Roman franchise, however, was but sparingly
bestowed on individuals, and was not granted to any Gallic city (except
Lyons) until the time of Claudius, himself born at Lyons. He refounded
Cologne as a colony, granted the franchise to Trèves, and abolished the
provisions forbidding Gauls to hold the imperial magistracies. With the
reorganization of the Empire under Diocletian, Trèves became the capital
not only of Gaul, but of Spain and Britain also.
Although there was thus no violent Romanization of Gaul, Roman
civilization rapidly progressed under imperial fostering, and by virtue of
its own energy. Roman roads traversed the country; bridges spanned the
rivers; aqueducts were constructed; cities grew, trade increased,
agriculture improved, and the vine was introduced. At the time of Caesar’s
conquest, the quick-minded Gauls were prepared to profit from a superior
civilization; and under the mighty peace of Rome, men settled down to the
blessings of safe living and law regularly enforced.
The spread of the Latin tongue and the finer elements of Latin culture
followed the establishment of the Roman order. One Gallic city and then
another adopted the new language according to its circumstances and
situation. Of course the cities of Provincia took the lead, largely
Italian as they were in population. On the other hand, Latin made slow
progress among the hills of Auvergne. But farther north, the Roman city of
Lyons was Latin-tongued from its foundation. Thence to the remoter north
and west and east, Latin spread by cities, the foci of affairs and
provincial administration. The imperial government did not demand of its
subjects that they should abandon their native speech, but required in
Gaul, as elsewhere, the use of Latin in the transaction of official
business. This compelled all to study Latin who had affairs in law courts
or with officials, or hoped to become magistrates. Undoubtedly the rich
and noble, especially in the towns, learned Latin quickly, and it soon
became the vehicle of polite, as well as official, intercourse. It was
also the language of the schools attended by the noble Gallic youth. But
among the rural population, the native tongues continued indefinitely.
Obviously one cannot assign any specific time for the popular and general
change from Celtic; but it appears to have very generally taken place
before the Frankish conquest.[31]
By that time, too, those who would naturally constitute the educated
classes, possessed a Latin education. First in the cities of Provincia,
Nîmes, Arles, Vienne, Fréjus, Aix in Provence, then of course at Lyons and
in Aquitaine, and later through the cities of the north-east, Trèves,
Mainz, Cologne, and most laggingly through the north-west Belgic lands
lying over against the channel and the North Sea, Latin education spread.
Grammar and rhetoric were taught, and the great Classics were explained
and read, till the Gauls doubtless felt themselves Roman in spirit as in
tongue.
Of course they were mistaken. To be sure the Gaul was a citizen of the
Empire, which not only represented safety and civilization, but in fact
was the entire civilized world. He had no thought of revolting from that,
any more than from his daily habits or his daily food. Often he felt
himself sentimentally affected toward this universal symbol of his
welfare. He had Latin speech; he had Roman fashions; he took his warm
baths and his cold, enjoyed the sports of the amphitheatre, studied Roman
literature, and talked of the _Respublica_ and _Aurea Roma_. Yet he was,
after all, merely a Romanized inhabitant of Gaul. Roman law and
government, Latin education, and the colour of the Roman spirit had been
imparted; but the inworking, creative genius of Rome was not within her
gift or his capacity. The Gauls, however, are the chief example of a
mediating people. Romanized and not made Roman, their epoch, their
geographical situation, and their modified faculties, all made them
intermediaries between the Roman and the Teuton.
If the Romanization of the “Three Gauls” was least thorough in Belgica,
there was even less of it across the channel. Britain, as far north as the
Clyde and Firth of Forth, was a Roman province for three or four hundred
years. Latin was the language of the towns; but probably never supplanted
the Celtic in the country. The Romanization of the Britons however,
whether thorough or superficial, affected a people who were to be
apparently submerged. They seem to have transmitted none of their Latin
civilization to their Anglo-Saxon conquerors. Yet even the latter when
they came to Britain were not quite untouched by Rome. They were familiar
with Roman wares, if not with Roman ways; and certain Latin words which
are found in all Teutonic languages had doubtless entered Anglo-Saxon.[32]
But this early Roman influence was slight, compared with that which
afterwards came with Christianity. Nor did the Roman culture, before the
introduction of Christianity, exert a deep effect on Germany, at least
beyond the neighbourhood of the large Roman or Romanized towns like
Cologne and Mainz. In many ways, indeed, the Germans were touched by Rome.
Roman diplomacy, exciting tribe against tribe, was decimating them. Roman
influence, and sojourn at Rome, had taught much to many German princes.
Roman weapons, Roman utensils and wares of all kinds were used from the
Danube to the Baltic. But all this did not Romanize the Germans, any more
than a number of Latin words, which had crept in, Latinized their
language.[33]