DOCSLIB.ORG

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire http://www.servantofmessiah.org THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE http://www.servantofmessiah.org THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE James W. Ermatinger Greenwood Guides to Historic Events of the Ancient World Bella Vivante, Series Editor GREENWOOD PRESS Westport, Connecticut • London http://www.servantofmessiah.org Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ermatinger, James William, 1959– The decline and fall of the Roman Empire / by James W. Ermatinger. p. cm.—(Greenwood guides to historic events of the ancient world) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–313–32692–4 (alk. paper) 1. Rome—History—Empire, 284–476. 2. Rome—History—Germanic Invasions, 3rd–6th centuries. I. Title. II. Series. DG311.E75 2004 937'.09–dc22 2004014674 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2004 by James W. Ermatinger All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2004014674 ISBN: 0–313–32692–4 First published in 2004 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 Copyright Acknowledgment The author and publisher gratefully acknowledge permission for use of the following material: From Roman to Merovingian Gaul: A Reader, edited and translated by Alexander Callander Murray (Peterborough, ON: Broadview Press, 2000). Copyright © 2000 by Alexander Callander Murray. Reprinted by permission of Broadview Press. http://www.servantofmessiah.org To Angela, Michelle, and Ian http://www.servantofmessiah.org CONTENTS Series Foreword by Bella Vivante ix Preface xv Chronology of Events xvii Introduction: Historical Overview xxi Chapter 1. Late Roman Culture (250–500 C.E.) 1 Chapter 2. Society and Economics in Late Antiquity 15 Chapter 3. Religious Conflict in Christian Rome 27 Chapter 4. Enemies of Rome 41 Chapter 5. Why and When Rome Fell 55 Chapter 6. Conclusion 67 Biographies: Principal Individuals in Late Rome 75 Primary Documents Illustrating Late Rome 107 Glossary of Selected Terms 159 Notes 165 Annotated Bibliography 167 Index 183 Illustrations follow Chapter 6. http://www.servantofmessiah.org SERIES FOREWORD As a professor and scholar of the ancient Greek world, I am often asked by students and scholars of other disciplines, why study antiquity? What possible relevance could human events from two, three, or more thou- sand years ago have to our lives today? This questioning of the contin- ued validity of our historical past may be the offshoot of the forces shaping the history of the American people. Proud of forging a new na- tion out of immigrants wrenched willingly or not from their home soils, Americans have experienced a liberating headiness of separation from traditional historical demands on their social and cultural identity. The result has been a skepticism about the very validity of that historical past. Some of that skepticism is healthy and serves constructive purposes of scholarly inquiry. Questions of how, by whom, and in whose interest “his- tory” is written are valid questions pursued by contemporary historians striving to uncover the multiple forces shaping any historical event and the multilayered social consequences that result. But the current aca- demic focus on “presentism”—the concern with only recent events and a deliberate ignoring of premodern eras—betrays an extreme distortion of legitimate intellectual inquiry. This stress on the present seems to have deepened in the early years of the twenty-first century. The cybertech- nological explosions of the preceding decades seem to have propelled us into a new cultural age requiring new rules that make the past appear all the more obsolete. So again I ask, why study ancient cultures? In the past year, after it ousted that nation’s heinous regime, the United States’ occupation of Iraq has kept that nation in the forefront of the news. The land base of Iraq is ancient Mesopotamia, “the land between the rivers” of the Tigris http://www.servantofmessiah.org x Series Foreword and Euphrates, two of the four rivers in the biblical Garden of Eden (Gen. 2). Called the cradle of civilization, this area witnessed the early devel- opment of a centrally organized, hierarchical social system that utilized the new technology of writing to administer an increasingly complex state. Is there a connection between the ancient events, literature, and art coming out of this land and contemporary events? Michael Wood, in his educational video Iraq: The Cradle of Civilization, produced shortly after the 1991 Gulf War, thinks so and makes this connection explicit—be- tween the people, their way of interacting with their environment, and even the cosmological stories they create to explain and define their world. Study of the ancient world, like study of contemporary cultures other than one’s own, has more than academic or exotic value. First, study of the past seeks meaning beyond solely acquiring factual knowledge. It strives to understand the human and social dynamics that underlie any historical event and what these underlying dynamics teach us about our- selves as human beings in interaction with one another. Study of the past also encourages deeper inquiry than what appears to some as the “quaint” observation that this region of current and recent conflict could have served as a biblical ideal or as a critical marker in the development of world civilizations. In fact, these apparently quaint dimensions can serve as the hook that piques our interest into examining the past and dis- covering what it may have to say to us today. Not an end in itself, the knowledge forms the bedrock for exploring deeper meanings. Consider, for example, the following questions. What does it mean that three major world religions—Judaism, Christianity, and Islam—de- veloped out of the ancient Mesopotamian worldview? In this view, the world, and hence its gods, were seen as being in perpetual conflict with one another and with the environment, and death was perceived as a matter of despair and desolation. What does it mean that Western forms of thinking derive from the particular intellectual revolution of archaic Greece that developed into what is called rational discourse, ultimately systematized by Aristotle in the fourth century b.c.e.? How does this thinking, now fundamental to Western discourse, shape how we see the world and ourselves, and how we interact with one another? And how does it affect our ability, or lack thereof, to communicate intelligibly with people with differently framed cultural perceptions? What, ultimately, do http://www.servantofmessiah.org Series Foreword xi we gain from being aware of the origin and development of these fun- damental features of our thinking and beliefs? In short, knowing the past is essential for knowing ourselves in the present. Without an understanding of where we came from, and the jour- ney we took to get where we are today, we cannot understand why we think or act the way we do. Nor, without an understanding of historical development, are we in a position to make the kinds of constructive changes necessary to advance as a society. Awareness of the past gives us the resources necessary to make comparisons between our contemporary world and past times. It is from those comparisons that we can assess both the advances we have made as human societies and those aspects that can still benefit from change. Hence, knowledge of the past is crucial for shaping our individual and social identities, providing us with the re- sources to make intelligent, aware, and informed decisions for the future. All ancient societies, whether significant for the evolution of Western ideas and values, or whether they developed largely separate from the cultures that more directly influenced Western civilization, such as China, have important lessons to teach us. For fundamentally they all address questions that have faced every human individual and every human society that has existed. Because ancient civilizations erected great monuments of themselves in stone, writings, and the visual arts— all enduring material evidence—we can view how these ancient cultures dealt with many of the same questions we face today. And we learn the consequences of the actions taken by people in other societies and times that, ideally, should help us as we seek solutions to contemporary issues. Thus it was that President John F. Kennedy wrote of his reliance upon Thucydides’ treatment of the devastating war between the ancient Greek city-states of Athens and Sparta (see the volume on the Peloponnesian War) in his study of exemplary figures, Profiles in Courage. This series seeks to fulfill this goal both collectively and in the indi- vidual volumes. The individual volumes examine key events, trends, and developments in world history in ancient times that are central to the secondary school and lower-level undergraduate history curriculum and that form standard topics for student research. From a vast field of po- tential subjects, these selected topics emerged after consultations with scholars, educators, and librarians. Each book in the series can be de- scribed as a “library in a book.” Each one presents a chronological time- line and an initial factual overview of its subject, three to five topical http://www.servantofmessiah.org xii Series Foreword essays that examine the subject from diverse perspectives and for its var- ious consequences, a concluding essay providing current perspectives on the event, biographies of key players, a selection of primary documents, illustrations, a glossary, and an index. The concept of the series is to pro- vide ready-reference materials that include a quick, in-depth examina- tion of the topic and insightful guidelines for interpretive analysis, suitable for student research and designed to stimulate critical thinking.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • St. Augustine and the Doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ Stanislaus J
    ST. AUGUSTINE AND THE DOCTRINE OF THE MYSTICAL BODY OF CHRIST STANISLAUS J. GRABOWSKI, S.T.D., S.T.M. Catholic University of America N THE present article a study will be made of Saint Augustine's doc­ I trine of the Mystical Body of Christ. This subject is, as it will be later pointed out, timely and fruitful. It is of unutterable importance for the proper and full conception of the Church. This study may be conveniently divided into four parts: (I) A fuller consideration of the doctrine of the Mystical Body of Christ, as it is found in the works of the great Bishop of Hippo; (II) a brief study of that same doctrine, as it is found in the sources which the Saint utilized; (III) a scrutiny of the place that this doctrine holds in the whole system of his religious thought and of some of its peculiarities; (IV) some consideration of the influence that Saint Augustine exercised on the development of this particular doctrine in theologians and doctrinal systems. THE DOCTRINE St. Augustine gives utterance in many passages, as the occasion de­ mands, to words, expressions, and sentences from which we are able to infer that the Church of his time was a Church of sacramental rites and a hierarchical order. Further, writing especially against Donatism, he is led Xo portray the Church concretely in its historical, geographical, visible form, characterized by manifest traits through which she may be recognized and discerned from false chuiches. The aspect, however, of the concept of the Church which he cherished most fondly and which he never seems tired of teaching, repeating, emphasizing, and expound­ ing to his listeners is the Church considered as the Body of Christ.1 1 On St.
    [Show full text]
  • Journeys to Byzantium? Roman Senators Between Rome and Constantinople
    Journeys to Byzantium? Roman Senators Between Rome and Constantinople Master’s Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Michael Anthony Carrozzo, B.A Graduate Program in History The Ohio State University 2010 Thesis Committee: Kristina Sessa, Advisor Timothy Gregory Anthony Kaldellis Copyright by Michael Anthony Carrozzo 2010 Abstract For over a thousand years, the members of the Roman senatorial aristocracy played a pivotal role in the political and social life of the Roman state. Despite being eclipsed by the power of the emperors in the first century BC, the men who made up this order continued to act as the keepers of Roman civilization for the next four hundred years, maintaining their traditions even beyond the disappearance of an emperor in the West. Despite their longevity, the members of the senatorial aristocracy faced an existential crisis following the Ostrogothic conquest of the Italian peninsula, when the forces of the Byzantine emperor Justinian I invaded their homeland to contest its ownership. Considering the role they played in the later Roman Empire, the disappearance of the Roman senatorial aristocracy following this conflict is a seminal event in the history of Italy and Western Europe, as well as Late Antiquity. Two explanations have been offered to explain the subsequent disappearance of the Roman senatorial aristocracy. The first involves a series of migrations, beginning before the Gothic War, from Italy to Constantinople, in which members of this body abandoned their homes and settled in the eastern capital.
    [Show full text]
  • Ultra Max Electric Airless Sprayer
    Electric Sprayers Latin America Graco’s Complete Line of Professional Electric Airless Sprayers 390/ Ultra® The Ultra395 395’s reliability and performance has made it Graco’s most popular small electric sprayer. It features SmartContol™ 390S 1.0 pressure control that delivers If you need a solid workhorse a consistent spray fan without of a sprayer that is built for the pressure fluctuation at all spraying professional who is just “starting pressures. Proven technology out” then the 390 is for you. This and design make it perfect for is Graco’s lightest professional professionals who spray daily with sprayer ideal for residential jobs a wide range of coatings. because it is lightweight and portable, and delivers a quality spray pattern. Hands down, the 390 is the best value compared to any small electric sprayer. CONFIGURATION AVAILABLE IN STAND 110V and 230V Stand model Stand model HI-BOY 110V and 230V SPECIFICATIONS MAX TIP SIZE: 0.021 MAX LPM: 1.8 Hi-Boy model MAX PSI (BAR): 3300 (227) Features Found Only On A Graco Small Electric Sprayer All the features of the 390, PLUS: MOTOR HP: 5/8 DC CONFIGURATION AVAILABLE IN Lightweight, Ergonomic Design STAND 110V and 230V 15% higher output flow and 40% higher hp TEFC motor INCLUDES Graco’s lightest professional sprayer—weighs only 13.6 kg HI-BOY 110V and 230V • FTx™ Gun than the 390 Offset handle with rubber comfort grip positions sprayer at a ™ ™ • RAC X 515 SwitchTip and Guard comfortable carrying angle SPECIFICATIONS • 1/4 in x 50 ft (6.4 mm x 15 m) MAX TIP SIZE: 0.023 SmartControl 1.0
    [Show full text]
  • 6255 Kelly and Van Waarden Part 1.Indd
    See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344523990 “Sidonius’ People" Chapter · October 2020 CITATIONS READS 0 58 1 author: Ralph Mathisen University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign 77 PUBLICATIONS 382 CITATIONS SEE PROFILE Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects: Romans, Barbarians, and the End of the Western Roman Empire: Emperors, Tyrants, Generals, Potentates, and Kings View project All content following this page was uploaded by Ralph Mathisen on 07 October 2020. The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file. 2 SIDONIUS’ P EOPLE Ralph Mathisen 1 Introduction N THE LATE fi fth century, in his ‘Sermon on the saintly martyr Vincent’, bishop Faustus of IRiez (c. 460-90 CE) gave his opinion on the value of being named in a saint’s life: ‘What present-day realm, what transmarine province, however far the Roman Empire or the Christian religion extends, does not rejoice to celebrate the birth of Vincentius? Who today, however, has ever heard even the name of [the praeses] Datianus, unless he has read the passion of Vincent?’1 As far as Faustus was concerned, Datianus’ appearance in a saint’s life would be his only chance for remembrance.2 The same can be said for nearly all of the people who appear in the works of Sidonius Apollinaris. Late antique Gaul was a busy place.3 A lot was happening: the rise of the Christian church as the most signifi cant social and cultural institution; the creation of barbarian kingdoms cou- pled with the fi nal precipitous decline and end of Roman authority; and a social world that was very much in fl ux, as previously unprivileged social groups gained greater opportunities and means of self-expression.4 The 24 poems, and in particular the 147 letters, of Sidonius offer an unparalleled window on the world of late antique Gaul, and provide readers with a wealth of material about the people who populated it.5 Sidonius was well positioned to gather this kind of information.
    [Show full text]
  • Early Church History to the Death Of
    EARLY CHURCH HISTORY. LOJ:,DON ! PRINTED BY WBST, NBWMAN AND CO., HATTON GARDBN, E.C. .l\fm;aic of I->erpetua in the Archbishop's Palace, Ravenna. Copied from the oriyinal by Ed1card Backhou.se. EARLY CHURCH HISTOliY 6to tbt :llltatb of Ql;onstantittt. COMPILED BY THE LATE EDWARD BACKHOUSE. EDITED AND ENLARGED BY CHARLES TYLOR. WITH A BIOGRAPHICAL PREFACE BY DR. HODGKIN. ~birh CIDhition. LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT & Co., LIMITED. 1892. Christus Verita.tem se non Consuetudin£m cognominavit.-TERTULLIAN. Consuetudo sine veritate vetustas errori est.-CYPRIAN. It may be that suspense of judgment and exercise of charity were safer and seemlier for Christian men, than the hot pursuit of controversies, wherein they that are most fervent to dispute be not always the most able to determine. But who are on his side, and who against Him, our Lord in his good time shall reveal.-H0OKER. PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. THE first issue hiwing been exhausted in less than eighteen months, a second edition is now presented to the reader. The whole work has been revised with much care, many parts have been amplified, and some have been recast. Acknowledgments are due fur sug­ gestions to several friendly reviewers in the current periodicals. The chief new feature in the present edition is the introduction of the Teaching of the Tirelve Apostles, a treatise of the Primitive Church recently discovered at Constantinople, and published whilst our History was passing through the press. The treatise will be found entire, with some introductory remarks, at page 134, where it forms an Appendix to Part I.
    [Show full text]
  • Achila, Visigothic King, 34 Acisclus, Córdoban Martyr, 158 Adams
    Index ; Achila, Visigothic king, 34 Almodóvar del Río, Spain, 123–24 Acisclus, Córdoban martyr, 158 Almonacid de la Cuba, Spain, 150. See Adams, Robert, 21 also Dams Aemilian, St., 160 Alonso de la Sierra, Juan, 97 Aerial photography, 40, 82 Amalaric, Visigothic king, 29–30, 132, Aetius, Roman general, 173–75 157 Africa, 4, 21–23; and amphorae, 116, Amber, 114 137, 187, 196; and ARS, 46, 56, 90, Ammianus Marcellinus, Roman histo- 99, 187; and Byzantine reconquest, rian, 166, 168 30; and ‹shing, 103; and olive oil, Amphorae, 43, 80, 199–200; exported 88, 188; and Roman army, 114, 127, from Spain, 44, 97–98, 113, 115–16, 166; and trade, 105, 141; and Van- 172; kilns, 61–62, 87–90, 184; from dals, 27–28, 97, 127, 174 North Africa, 129, 187. See also African Red Slip (ARS) pottery, 101, Kilns 147, 186–87, 191, 197; de‹nition, 41, Anderson, Perry, 5 43, 44, 46; and site survival, 90, Andujar, Spain, 38, 47, 63 92–95, 98–99; and trade, 105–6, 110, Annales, 8, 12, 39 114, 116, 129, 183 Annona: disruption by Vandals, 97, Agde, council of, 29, 36, 41 174; to Roman army, 44, 81, 114–17; Agglomeration, 40–42, 59, 92 to Rome, 23, 27, 44, 81, 113; under Agila, Visigothic king, 158–59. See Ostrogoths, 29, 133. See also Army also Athanagild Antioch, Syria, 126 Agrippa, Roman general, 118 Anti-Semitism, 12, 33. See also Jews Alans, 24, 26, 27, 34, 126, 175 Antonine Itinerary, 152 Alaric, Visigothic king, 2, 5, 26–27 Apuleius, Roman writer, 75–76, 122 Alaric II, Visigothic king, 29–30 Aqueducts, 119, 130, 134, 174–75 Alcalá del Río, Spain, 40, 44, 93, 123, Aquitaine, France, 2, 27, 45, 102 148 Arabs, 33–34, 132–33, 137.
    [Show full text]
  • OF ROMAN SENATORIAL PAGANISM David M. Gwynn Abstract
    THE ‘END’ OF ROMAN SENATORIAL PAGANISM David M. Gwynn Abstract The last decades of the 20th c. witnessed a seismic shift in how scholars approached the study of paganism in the increasingly Christian Roman Empire of the 4th and early 5th centuries. Older models which empha- sised decline and conflict were challenged by a new awareness of the vitality and diversity of Late Roman paganism and its religious and social interaction with Christianity. The purpose of this short paper is to reassess the impact of this new scholarly approach, particularly upon our understanding of the paganism of the western senatorial elite, and the role that material culture has played and will continue to play in revealing the complex religious world of late antique Rome.1 Introduction That Roman paganism did in some sense ‘decline’ in the 4th and 5th centuries is impossible to dispute. The great State cults of the Roman Republic and the Early Roman Empire continued to receive State support from Constantine and his immediate Christian successors, but this support ceased under Gratian and Theodosius I at the end of the 4th c. In the same period, the Christian Church increased dramati- cally in numbers and in status, changing the urban landscape and rais- ing to prominence a new elite of clerics and ascetics. By the death of Theodosius I in 395 Christianity had become the official religion of the State. Pagans and pagan beliefs survived, and remained a concern for Emperors down to Justinian in the 6th c. and beyond. But the Roman empire was now a Christian empire.
    [Show full text]
  • A75D/A75DE SCR Filtered Battery Charger/Eliminator Single Phase
    La Marche Manufacturing Company | www.lamarchemfg.com A75D/A75DE SCR Filtered Battery Charger/Eliminator Single Phase Installation and Operation Manual 106 Bradrock Dr. Des Plaines 60018 -1967 Instruction Drawing Number: P25 -LA75D -A75DE -1 Tel: 847 299 1188 Fax: 847 299 3061 Revision A07 Rev. Date: 7/12 ECN: 19609 Important Safety Instructions Before using this equipment read all manuals and other documents related to this unit and other equipment connected to this unit. Always have a copy of a units manual on file nearby, in a safe place; if a replacement copy of a manual is needed it can be found at the www.lamarchemfg.com. Electrical Safety WARNING: Hazardous Voltages are present at the input of power systems. The output from rectifiers and from batteries may be low in voltage, but can have a very high current capacity that may cause severe or even fatal injury. When working with any live battery or power system, follow these precautions: • Never work alone on any live power system, someone should always be close enough to come to your aid • Remove personal metal items such as rings, bracelets, necklaces, and watches. • Wear complete eye protection (with side shields) and clothing protection. • Always wear gloves and use insulated hand tools. WARNING: Lethal Voltages are present within the power system. Parts inside the unit may still be energized even when the unit has been disconnected from the AC input power. Check with a meter before proceeding. Do not touch any uninsulated parts. • A licensed electrician should be used in the installation of any unit.
    [Show full text]
  • Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy Charles Matson Odahl Boise State University
    Boise State University ScholarWorks History Faculty Publications and Presentations Department of History 1-1-2007 Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy Charles Matson Odahl Boise State University Publication Information Odahl, Charles Matson. (2007). "Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy". Connections: European Studies Annual Review, 3, 89-113. This document was originally published in Connections: European Studies Annual Review by Rocky Mountain European Scholars Consortium. Copyright restrictions may apply. Coda: Recovering Constantine's European Legacy 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Constantine the Great and Christian Imperial Theocracy Charles Matson Odahl, Boise State University1 rom his Christian conversion under the influence of cept of imperial theocracy was conveyed in contemporary art Frevelatory experiences outside Rome in A.D. 312 until (Illustration I). his burial as the thirteenth Apostle at Constantinople in Although Constantine had been raised as a tolerant 337, Constantine the Great, pagan polytheist and had the first Christian emperor propagated several Olympian of the Roman world, initiated divinities, particularly Jupiter, the role of and set the model Hercules, Mars, and Sol, as for Christian imperial theoc­ di vine patrons during the early racy. Through his relationship years of his reign as emperor
    [Show full text]
  • List of Approved Courses
    Portfolio Program in Arts and Cultural Management and Entrepreneurship List of Approved Courses Portfolio students are required to complete four classes (12 credit hours) from this list, including a minimum of one “core class.” At least two of the classes must be from outside the student’s home department. Courses that are cross-listed will be counted as outside of the home department. Core Classes FA 381 Arts Administration and Community Service FA 381 The Business of Entertainment FA 381 Career Goals and Management FA 383 Foundations of Arts Management PA 388L/TD 387D Nonprofit Management and Strategy (provided grant and final assignments are about cultural institutions) Other Classes* ADV 385 Media Management ADV 391K Integrated Communications for Nonprofits ADV 391K Audience Development and Engagement AED 381G Foundations of Art Education AED 381K Contemporary Issues in Art Education AED 383J Museum Education: History and Theory AMS 390 Latinidades ARC 386M/CRP 381 Preservation Law ARC 386M US Cultural Landscapes ARH 394 Issues in Museum Studies CMS 390S Contemporary Issues in Organizational Communication CMS 390S Narrative Communication in Organizations FA 381 Philanthropy and the Arts FA 381 Cultural Policy and Participation FA 381 Fundraising in the Arts INF 385T Care of Indigenous Cultural Knowledge INF 387 Administration: Managing Projects and Leading Change INF 387C Managing Information Organizations INF 388E Historical Museums: Context and Practice INF 388K.1 Public Libraries INF 392G Management of Preservation Programs ITD
    [Show full text]
  • The Signs of the Times, Vol. 12 (1886)
    The Signs of the Times, Vol. 12 (1886) January 7, 1886 "The Ostrogoths and the Visigoths" The Signs of the Times 12, 1 , p. 4. THE peace which Constantine forced upon the Gothic nation in A.D. 331, continued for a period of thirty years. For the proper understanding of the further progress of our subject, it now becomes necessary to clearly define the distinction that existed between the two great divisions of the Gothic nation–the Ostro [Eastern] Goths, and the Visi [Western] Goths. As a matter of act this distinction existed from the earliest times of which we have any knowledge of the nation. "The Ostro and Visi, the eastern and western Goths, obtained those denominations from their original seats in Scandinavia. In all their future marches and settlements they preserved, with their names, the same relative situation."–Dec. and Fall, chap. 10, par. 8, note. Although this distinction was ever observed amongst them as a people, yet in all their wanderings and in all their expeditions, from the time they left the Baltic till the period of which we now treat, A.D. 361,–they were united and acted as one people. Now, however, we shall find them separated, and with the exception of a short interval, never more united. During the thirty years' peace with the Empire (A.D. 331-361), and under Hermanric, the last king of the united nation, the Gothic power was spread from the River Danube and the Black Sea to the Baltic. Of this we read:– "During a peaceful interval of thirty years, the Romans secured their frontiers, and the Goths extended their dominions.
    [Show full text]
  • The Bible Is a Catholic Book 8.Indd
    THE BIBLE IS A CATHOLIC BOOK JIMMY AKIN © 2019 Jimmy Akin All rights reserved. Except for quotations, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, uploading to the internet, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the publisher. Published by Catholic Answers, Inc. 2020 Gillespie Way El Cajon, California 92020 1-888-291-8000 orders 619-387-0042 fax catholic.com Printed in the United States of America Cover and interior design by Russell Graphic Design 978-1-68357-141-4 978-1-68357-142-1 Kindle 978-1-68357-143-8 ePub To the memory of my grandmother, Rosalie Octava Beard Burns, who gave me my first Bible. CONTENTS THE BIBLE, THE WORD OF GOD, AND YOU ................7 1. THE WORD OF GOD BEFORE THE BIBLE ................11 2. THE WORD OF GOD INCARNATE .............................. 47 3. THE WRITING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT .............. 79 4. AFTER THE NEW TESTAMENT ..........................129 Appendix I: Bible Timeline ............................... 171 Appendix II: Glossary..................................... 175 Endnotes .................................................. 179 About the Author .......................................... 181 The Bible, the Word of God, and You The Bible can be intimidating. It’s a big, thick book—much longer than most books people read. It’s also ancient. The most recent part of it was penned almost 2,000 years ago. That means it’s not written in a modern style. It can seem strange and unfamiliar to a contemporary person. Even more intimidating is that it shows us our sins and makes demands on our lives.
    [Show full text]