THE OSTROGOTHS (489-553)
The Ostrogoths were a fine people; and historians have speculated sadly
on the immense advantage, the vast saving of ills, that would have
accrued to Italy had they succeeded in their attempt to establish a
kingdom. Such a union of strength and vigour with the gifted Italian
nature might well have produced a happy result. But my business is
merely to indicate why and how the attempt failed.
The Ostrogoths (East Goths), one branch of the great Gothic nation, of
which the Visigoths (West Goths) were the other, immediately prior to
their invasion of Italy inhabited Pannonia (now Austria) on the south
side of the Danube. They were a warlike people, and had given much
trouble to the Eastern Emperors, who had been obliged not only to bestow
upon them territory, but also to pay tribute. The reigning Emperor
eagerly seized the first opportunity to rid himself of them. He
suggested to their king, Theodoric,--hunter, soldier, statesman, a
big-limbed, heroic man, passionate but just,--that he should lead his
people into Italy, conquer Odoacer, and rule as Imperial lieutenant. As
Italy was far pleasanter than Pannonia, Theodoric gladly accepted the
suggestion.
The Goths, not more than two or three hundred thousand persons all
told, effected their tedious emigration in 488-489. It was an easy
matter to defeat the unstable Odoacer, and the Latins made no
resistance. Theodoric, now master of Italy, both by right of conquest
and by Imperial commission, set himself, in his turn, to the task of
uniting Barbarians and Romans throughout the peninsula under one stable
government. His difficulties were great. In the first place the
immigrating people whom he led, though mainly Goths, were a medley of
various tribes, and constituted an alien army of occupation in the midst
of an unfriendly population, perhaps ten times their number. This Roman
population, which had completely given up the use of arms, and never
took part in any fight more formidable than a riot, was largely urban
and lived in the cities which were scattered over Italy, almost the same
that exist to this day. In the north were Turin, Pavia, Ferrara, Milan,
Bergamo, Verona, Aquileia; on the east coast, Ravenna, Rimini, Ancona;
on the west coast and in the centre, Genoa, Pisa, Lucca, Perugia,
Spoleto, Rome, Benevento, Naples, Salerno, Amalfi; and in the south, the
old Greek cities. All the ordinary business of life was in Roman hands;
lawyers, physicians, weavers, spinners, carpenters, masons, cobblers,
were Roman. Many of the workmen on great estates were also Roman. The
Goths were primarily men-at-arms, and only exercised such rude crafts as
were required in village communities. The leaders became military
landowners. Naturally each race looked upon the other with suspicion,
dislike, and contempt. It is obvious that there was need of both time
and statesmanship before the two races would understand each other,
share occupations, inter-marry, and feel themselves countrymen.
Theodoric's policy falls under three heads,--relations with the subject
population, with the Emperor, and with the Church. With the Romans
Theodoric was just and considerate; he limited the division of lands
among his followers, so far as he could, to those lands which Odoacer's
followers had had; he left civil administration chiefly in Roman hands;
he let Romans live under Roman law and Goths under Gothic law. He
employed as his chief counsellor Cassiodorus, a great Roman noble of
wealth and learning; he issued a code compiled from the Imperial codes;
he reduced the taxation. Following the custom of the late Western
Emperors, he dwelt in Ravenna, where _S. Apollinare Nuovo_, _S.
Spirito_, a baptistery, and a mausoleum still testify to his presence.
When the State had been put in order, Theodoric made a royal progress to
Rome (500), where he was welcomed with Imperial honours. He promised to
uphold all the institutions established by Roman Emperors, and showed
himself as much interested in the city as if he had been a Roman. He
provided carefully for the preservation of all the monuments of
antiquity, repaired the walls, the aqueducts, the _cloacae_, and drained
the Pontine Marshes. He spoke of Rome as "the city which is indifferent
to none, since she is foreign to none; the fruitful mother of eloquence,
the spacious temple of every virtue, comprising within herself all the
cherished marvels of the universe, so that it may in truth be said, Rome
is herself one great marvel."[2] He renewed the distribution of bread,
celebrated games in the circus, and treated the Senate with great
distinction. In fact, until his breach with the Church, which turned all
the orthodox population against him, he walked closely in the Imperial
footsteps and was very successful in his relations with the Latin
people.
Dealings with the Emperor were more difficult. Immediately after his
victory over Odoacer, Theodoric had asked the Emperor for the regalia
(the crown jewels and Imperial vestments) of the West, which had been
sent to Constantinople upon the deposition of Romulus Augustulus. This
embassy had been at first fobbed off, but finally the regalia were sent
him in token of full recognition of his authority. In the mean time
Theodoric's army without waiting for permission from the Emperor had
proclaimed him king; and in practice Theodoric always acted as an
independent king. In theory, however, he accepted the inclusion of Italy
in the Empire as a fundamental principle, and acknowledged that his
position was merely that of ruler of one of the Imperial provinces. The
Emperors, compelled by impotence to acquiesce in Theodoric's lieutenancy
of Italy, wished him in their hearts all possible bad luck, and bided
their time to make trouble for him. But this ill will was concealed
beneath the surface, and for about thirty years his relations with the
Empire, with some interruptions, were amicable enough.
Before speaking of Theodoric's relations with the Church, which were a
matter of politics, and had to be considered by him on general grounds
of policy, it is necessary to speak of the relations between the Church
and the Emperor, for the latter affected the former. There were always
difficulties, active or latent, between the Roman Church and the Empire.
There was jealousy between old Rome and new Constantinople. There was
misunderstanding between the Latin and Greek mind. There was friction
between Papal and Imperial authority. These troubles will appear more
clearly as we proceed. At this time it is only necessary to say that
during the first thirty years of Theodoric's reign, his period of
success and prosperity, there was discord between Pope and Emperor, a
kind of schism. The Byzantine Emperors, often men of cultivation, living
in the most civilized city of the world, interested themselves in
theology, and liked nothing better than to tinker with the Faith. To
this, also, they were pushed by political needs. Their subjects were
divided into the orthodox and the heterodox; and this diversity of
belief was always a menace to political unity. To heal the breach, the
reigning Emperor devised a scheme of compromise, a _via media_, on which
he hoped all would unite. The Papacy, incensed by this trifling with
orthodoxy, and by the assumption of an Imperial right to interfere in
matters of faith, denounced the compromise. A schism was the
consequence, which lasted until the reign of the Emperor Justin
(518-527), when the crafty statesman who guided Justin's policy, his
nephew, the famous Justinian, effected a reconciliation. For Justinian
already cherished an ambition to win back Italy for the Empire; and he
knew that that could not be done without the support of the Papacy. In
519 a papal embassy bearing the olive branch was warmly welcomed at
Constantinople; both Emperor and nephew condemned the compromise and
accepted the orthodox Catholic faith. Thus the breach was healed.
During the period of this breach between Empire and Papacy, the Gothic
king had managed his relations with the Church very prudently. Although
an Arian (like all Barbarians except the Franks), he was exceedingly
just to the Catholics. He carefully refrained from taking part in the
domestic affairs of the Church, until he was compelled to do so in the
interest of order. While in Rome he maintained a most correct attitude.
But though he acted with great moderation and only followed Imperial
precedents, the Church resented his interference. Do what Theodoric
would, the Papacy was his natural enemy. It felt instinctively that a
king of Italy must always overshadow the Pope, just as at Constantinople
the Emperor eclipsed the Patriarch, and that only upon condition of
keeping Italy without a strong government within its borders could the
Church attain its full stature. The ecclesiastical power was already
inimical to civil authority. The attitude of the Church toward Theodoric
presaged the history of the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages,
and the kingdom of Italy in our day. Nevertheless, until the
reconciliation of Emperor and Pope, Theodoric had no serious trouble.
About the year 524 the crafty Justinian, strong in his complete
reconciliation with the Papacy, felt the time ripe to set about the
recovery of the lost provinces of the West, and made the first hostile
move. Perhaps, however, it is unjust to assign a purely political motive
to Justinian's action, for in his active Byzantine brain, policy,
theology, law, art, and ambition were curiously blended. An Imperial
edict was issued, persecuting Arians in various ways, and in particular
commanding that all Arian churches throughout the Empire should be
handed over to Catholics. This action of course received the approval of
the Pope, and was most effective in alienating the Arian Goths from the
Catholic Latins. Theodoric, who had been consistently tolerant to
Catholics, was very angry and threatened to retaliate by suppressing the
Catholic ritual throughout Italy. This threat threw the Papacy into
closer alliance with the Emperor, and aggrieved the Latin people. A new
generation had grown up in peace and comparative prosperity under
Theodoric's rule, and, forgetful that for these blessings it was
indebted to the Goths, began to give free play to its Latin prejudices.
Thus the three natural enemies of Gothic rule gradually drew together:
the Empire, from desire to recover Italy; the Papacy, to be rid of a
ruler; and the Latins, out of national prejudice.
Intrigues were started between Constantinople and some leading men in
Rome. How far the conspiracy went nobody knew. The king was in no mood
to act judicially. Several senators were arrested on the charge of high
treason, tried before partial or irregular tribunals, and put to death.
Of these senators the most famous was Boethius, who stands at the end
of Roman civilization, as Dante stands at the beginning of modern
civilization. The long centuries between the two constitute the Middle
Ages. It is interesting to note that Dante in his desolation after the
death of Beatrice took to console him the book which Boethius wrote in
prison, the "Consolations of Philosophy."
Boethius came of the most distinguished family in Rome. He and both his
sons had been consuls. He was a student of Plato, Aristotle, and of the
Neoplatonists; he had translated treatises on mathematics from the
Greek, and had written on philosophy and theology. He was an
encyclopedia of knowledge; when a hydraulic watch was wanted, or an
especially magnificent sundial, or a test to detect counterfeit money,
or a musician to be sent to a foreign potentate, he was the man to be
consulted. His "Consolations of Philosophy," which had immense vogue all
through the Middle Ages in every language, furnishes his apology, his
case against Theodoric, and gives the Latin view of the Barbarians. He
says: "The hatred against me was incurred while I was in office, because
I opposed the acts of oppression to which the Romans were subjected. The
greed of the Barbarians for the lands of the Romans, always unpunished,
grew greater day by day; they sought men's lives in order to get their
goods. How often have I protected and defended wretches from the
innumerable calumnies of the Barbarians who wished to devour them."[3]
To this Roman defence must be opposed the statement of a contemporary
historian: "Everything about the Barbarians, even the very smell of
them, was hateful to the Romans; nevertheless it often happened that
they, especially the poor, preferred the oppression of the Barbarians to
that of the Imperial officials. The rich Romans impose taxes but they do
not pay them; they make the poor pay them. And when peradventure the
taxes are diminished the relief goes not to the poor but to the rich; so
that, when it is a matter of paying it concerns the people, and when it
comes to the matter of reducing taxes it is as if the rich were the only
persons taxed at all. Not Franks, Huns, Vandals, nor Goths behave so
shamelessly."
In spite of trials and executions Theodoric's anger and suspicion
increased; he compelled the Pope to go to Constantinople to ask that the
Arians be treated fairly and the Arian churches restored. The Pope
returned having obtained some favours for the Catholics, but nothing for
the Arians; whereupon Theodoric threw him into prison, and kept him
there till he died (526). He then nominated a successor, who was
promptly elected by the frightened Romans. This high-handed action
stimulated discontent so much that it seemed as if the time for a
Byzantine invasion had come, but Justinian, not having fully spun his
web, delayed. Perhaps he feared Theodoric and wished to wait for his
death. He did not have to wait long. That summer Theodoric died, and
with him Italy's best hopes died too.
With Theodoric's death ended the possibility of a Gothic monarchy. Even
in his reign a process of deterioration had set in among the young
generation. The decadent civilization of Italy wrought with fatal effect
upon the simple Goths; the luxurious ways, the idle habits, even the
refinements of the Latins, robbed them of their vigour and independence
of character. The conquerors became divided among themselves; some
inclined to the old Gothic traditions, some to the Latin ways. The royal
house affords a conspicuous instance of this deterioration; the boy king
succumbed to debauchery, his mother fell a victim to her Latin
sympathies, and his cousin, last of the royal line, a student of
literature and philosophy, showed himself perfectly incapable of action
and was deposed by his soldiers. Justinian, the spider, had been biding
his opportunity; now it had surely come. The Goths were disintegrated;
the Papacy and Latin people were with him; and his great general,
Belisarius, fresh from the brilliant conquest of the Vandal kingdom in
Africa, was ready for the task. In 535 the war for the reconquest of
Italy began.
The Goths were confused, divided, and without a leader, whereas
Belisarius was a man of military genius, and his army was composed of
veterans. The issue could not remain long in doubt. Naples, Rome, and
finally Ravenna, fell, and the reconquest would have been complete, but
that Justinian, jealous of a too successful general, recalled
Belisarius. The Goths improved their respite, and their king, Totila, a
very valiant soldier, for a time retrieved their falling fortunes.
Justinian, however, who had a remarkable knowledge of men, appointed
general-in-chief an extraordinary little old man, Narses, who, devoid of
all military experience, had passed his life in the Imperial civil
service. Narses handled his men as if he had been born and bred in a
camp, and, after a comparatively brief campaign in which Totila was
killed, compelled the last remnant of the Gothic army to surrender
(553).
Thus ended the first attempt to erect a Barbarian kingdom in Italy. Its
failure proved that without the support of the Catholic Church it was
impossible to establish a kingdom of Italy, for the Church controlled
the Latin people, and though these never fought, they had an hundred
ways of helping friends and hindering foes.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] _Rome in the Middle Ages_, Gregorovius, vol. i, p. 296.
[3] _Le invasioni barbariche_, Villari, pp. 167, 168, translated.