“Decline and Fall”
or “the world turned upside down”? is an oft-quoted phrase taken from
Salvian’s sermon of the early 5th century to describe the Germanic
invasions.
Take
a closer look at three near-contemporary Gallo-Roman sources - Paulinus of
Pella, Orientius and Salvian - and what they say about these events. To what
extent should we take them at face value?
The first
half of the fifth century was a period of rapid transformation for the established
structures and institutions in Gaul. Once a part of the Western Roman Empire, Gaul
was increasingly subjected to the sway of barbarian tribes who were crossing
the Rhine frontier. For the established Roman aristocracy this was a
particularly difficult period, and many were forced off the land that their
families had held for generations. Increasingly, the burgeoning religion of Christianity was to provide material,
spiritual and moral support for those displaced. From this setting emerge the
three sources that are the subject of this essay. All were educated, Christian
writers from Gaul, who, to varying degrees, witnessed and reported on what may
be cautiously called the barbarian invasion of Gaul. However, if we consider
the accounts given by Orientius, Paulinus of Pella and Salvian, we find that
they differ widely in both subject and form, which leads to a natural process
of questioning. This essay, then, will look at these three writers and consider
how much historical value can be placed on their work. It will be argued that
each were writing for different reasons, and that these concerns greatly
affected the accounts that they gave, which, of its self, recommends caution in
taking their accounts “on face value”.
Orientius, the earliest of the
three writers, wrote his Commonitorium,
a poem of just over a thousand elegiacs, after the invasion of Gaul by the
Vandals, Alans and Sueves in AD 406[1].
The poem is a “series of exhortations to upright, Christian living,”[2]
which uses the events of the barbarian invasion for essentially moralistic
purposes. Orientius’ description is characterized by images of apocalyptic
upheaval, of “death, sorrow, destruction, fire, lamentation”[3].
He uses emotive language to describe the plight of the “faithful” at the hands
of the non-descript “barbarians”. The purported scale of violence, of which it
is difficult to believe Orientius had reliable knowledge, when combined with a decided
lack of detail, must lead to questions over the account's veracity.
Additionally, Orientius uses almost identical phrases to contemporary writers
of Christian poetry[4],
indicating that they are formulaic and rhetorical, and devotes only 20 of the thousand
lines of the Commonitorium to these
dramatic events[5],
a fact that betrays Orientius’ lack of historical interest. Instead of an
historical account, the Commonitorium
is perhaps best seen as an expression of Christian ascetic idealism. This was
the rejection of material concerns in pursuit of the Christian god—a pursuit
made all the more pertinent by the invasion of the barbarians. Unfortunately,
this doesn’t leave us with much more than the fact that barbarians were
entering Roman Gaul, and Christians like Orientius were retreating further into
their dogmatic beliefs. The next source to be considered here, Paulinus of
Pella, however, does offer a more nuanced perspective, one that, although
ostensibly a Christian confession, was arguably centred on more material
concerns.
Paulinus of Pella was a member of
an aristocratic family in Aquitania, who were very much a part of the Roman political
structure before the arrival of the barbarians. His Eucharisticos outline the events of his life, from the wealth and
prosperity of his youth to near destitution in old age. Most importantly, the Eucharisticos are a candid, if not
thorough, examination of the public and private machinations of Paulinus in
Aquitania, after the invasion of AD 406. In brief, Paulinus tells of his youth
and education in Bordeaux and his marriage into another aristocratic family. The
relatively prosperity of his youth is broken when, in AD 406, at the age of
thirty, he suffers the “double burden” of the death of his father and the invasion
of the Barbarian “foes,” who “burst into the vitals of the Roman Realm”[6].
He then describes the loss of his estate in Bordeaux and his role in saving
Bazas from the Goths and Alans. Finally, he poignantly recounts his “perpetual
exile,”[7]
suffering the gradual loss of his family,
and finding consolation alone in his relationship with god.
Paulinus’ narrative, while rather
unfortunate, offers us a tantalizing glimpse at the ramifications of the
barbarian invasion. Through the example of Paulinus, we are able to see the way
that an aristocratic family was forced to adapt when the old structures of the
Empire began to collapse. It is interesting to note that, while suffering his
fair share of hardship, Paulinus’ estate was not simply burned and ruined, and
that his political sway, while reduced, was still of vital importance to him.
The Eucharisticos illustrates the
difficult position that such men would have found themselves in: being forced
to decide whether to stay and deal with new authorities or flee, and whether to
give up some entitlements, specifically land, in order to gain physical
protection from a Gothic “guest”[8].
It is equally interesting to note the personal relationships that Paulinus mentions
including friendships with the Gothic kings Attaulf and Attalus[9]
and the way he uses these relationships, ultimately unsuccessfully, to further
his own ends. This picture is perhaps closer to the one painted by modern
historians of this period than that of Orientius[10].
Another key element to Paulinus is the way he used Christianity not just for
spiritual assistance but as a means for securing his material position as well.
This phenomenon, of members of the established aristocracy seeking positions
within the church as a means of preserving their political positions, as well
as their material wealth and culture, was common at this time[11].
Indeed, as McLynn argues, the Eucharisticos
may serve as a pertinent literary example of this, because in them Paulinus’ uses
a confessional poem addressed to god, to further his more temporal concerns[12].
This cannot be said, however, for Salvian, whose religious fervour is
unquestionable, and whose moralistic endeavours pulse through every line of his
Dei Gubernatione de Dei.
Salvian, who wrote in the middle
part of the fifth century AD, was from northern Gaul, but soon fled to the
relative safety of Marseille. His Dei
Gubernatione de Dei or “Government of God” is essentially a Christian
treaty aimed at accounting for God’s favouring of the pagan or heretical
barbarians over the Christian Romans. Like Orientius, Salvian promotes
Christian asceticism[13];
however, his work represents a departure from those earlier Christian writers,
in the way that the barbarians are depicted. Not wholly barbaric, the invaders
are instead pagans and heretics, whose moral failings are not to be judged so
harshly as the Romans, because of their ignorance of the proper Christian god[14].
More specifically, in Book V, Salvian attacks the Roman aristocracy for their
greedy abuse of the taxation system. He defends those who choose to renounce
their Roman name and turn to the life of the outlaw under the ambiguous name
Bagaudae[15].
He also appears sympathetic to Romans who choose to live under Barbarian rule,
arguing that facing destitution under the Romans, there is simply no
alternative[16].
Salvian gives us an important
account of some of the internal factors that contributed to the breakdown of
the Roman structure. This perspective represents a sharp divergence from
Orientius who was more focused on the external invasion. We do, however, run
into difficulty with Salvian when we consider the cause of this internal decay;
his attribution of all ills to unreligious vice and the ubiquity of this
corruption throughout Aquitaine are difficult to credit with historical
accuracy[17].
Salvian then, while an important source, is best seen as a preacher, who “from
his vocation, and in proportion to his enthusiasm for righteousness, cannot be
a dispassionate observer”[18].
These three examples help to
illustrate the caution required when assessing this dramatic historical period.
All three writers had specific concerns that affected their narratives; as
such, none should be taken on “face value”. The complexity of the situation in
Gaul in the fifth century means that the once prevailing narrative of barbarian
invasion and Roman collapse does not capture the full extent of internal and
external factors at work. In combination, these three writers help to
illustrate that complexity.
Bibliography
Primary Sources
Orientius,
Commonitorii, Bk 11, (CSEL XVI,
205-243); transl. M.O’H
Paulinus Pellaeus (1921) The
Eucharisicos, Volume II of the Loeb
Classical Library's Ausonius,
295‑351. H.G Evelyn White
Salvian (1930)
De Gubernatione de Dei, On the Government
of God, Translated by Eva M. Sanford, New York: Columbia University Press
Secondary Sources
Dill, S.
(1910) Roman Society in the Last Century
of the Western Empire, London: MacMillan and Co.
Haverfield,
F. (1905) Recent Literature on Orientius, The
Classical Review, 19: 02: 126-128
Innes, M.
(2007) Introduction to Early Medieval
Western Eurpoe 300-900, Oxon: Routledge
Ladner, G.
(1976) On Roman Attitudes Toward Barbarians in Late Antiquity, Viator: Medieval and Renaissance Studies, 7: 01-26
Mathisen,
R.W. (1984) Emigrants, Exiles, and Survivors: Aristocratic Options in
Visigothic Aquitania. Phoenix, 38: 2: 159-170
McLynn, N.
(1995) Paulinus the Impenitent: A study of the Eucharisticos. Journal of Early Christian Studies, 3: 461-486
Thompson,
E.A. (1956) The settlement of the Babarians in Southern Gaul. JRS 46: 65-75
Van Dam,
R. (1985), Leaders and Community in Late Antique Gaul, Berkley: University of
California Press
[1]
Haverfield, 1905, 127.
[2]
Haverfield, 1905, 127.
[3]
Orientius, Commonitorium Bk11
[4]
Dill, 1910, 316.
[5]
Haverfield, 1905, 127.
[6]
Paulinus, Eucharisticos, 323
[7]
Paulinus, Eucharisticos, 343
[8]
Paulinus, Eucharisticos, 327
[9]
Paulinus, Eucharisticos, 329
[10]
Innes, 2007, 126, for example, writes: “Whilst we should not sanitise the
experience of invasion, civil war and political dislocation, or forget the
associated plunder pillage and destruction, it would be a mistake to see this
type of conflict as leading to the outright devastation of Roman order, and
wholesale social collapse”.
[11]
Van Dam, 1985, 151-153
[12]
Mclynn, 2004, 486
[13]
Salvian, De Gubernatione Dei, Book I, Ch. 2, for example, “It is useless for us
to bemoan this affliction of bodily illness, which we know is the mother of
strength”
[14]
Ladner, 1976, 24
[15]
Salvian, De Gubernatione Dei, Book V, Ch. 06
[16]
Salvian, De Gubernatione Dei, Book V, Ch. 08
[17]
Dill, 1910, 141-142
[18]
Dill, 1910, 142
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