B. c. 30- Alamanni. Between the Main and the Elbe was the king- CHAP. I dom of the Thuringians. West of this, lying along the Weser, was the kingdom of the Saxons. South and west of the Rhine, extending over the Lower Rhine, the Meuse, and the Moselle, as far south as the Somme, and destined to dominate the whole of Gaul and Germany, was the rising kingdom of the Franks. To the south, in the valley of the Rhone, lay the kingdom of the Burgundians. To the west, between the Somme and the Loire, was the evanescent Gallo-Roman kingdom founded by Egidius and ruled by his son and successor Syagrius. All the remainder of Gaul and the whole of Spain, excepting the little kingdom of the Suevi in the northwest corner of the Spanish peninsula, constituted the seat of the great kingdom of the Visigoths, whose extent promised a still further expansion. Stretching along nearly the entire Mediterranean coast of Africa lay the vigorous but shortlived kingdom of the Vandals. All these kingdoms were to undergo radical and rapid changes, for they were the habitations of restless and migratory peoples. The Franks were to spread over the whole of Gaul, annexing to their domain the lands of the Burgundians, the Alamanni, and the Thuringians, and making great inroads on the Saxons and the Visigoths. But it is unnecessary for our purpose to trace these mutations, which were to end, after a long period of movement and conflict, in the suppression of the barbaric kingdoms and the consolidation of the greater part of Western Europe under the Franks. the Goth The diplomacy of Zeno in dealing with the embassy of Theodoric Odoacer, while yielding to the necessity of the moment, had successfully guarded the legal rights of the Empire; and the Emperor had never abandoned the intention of restoring the imperial authority when the occasion offered. In 479,, Theodoric, King of the Ostrogoths, requested of Zeno the authorization to join his army with the forces of the deposed Emperor Nepos for the purpose of restoring the dethroned monarch. The death of Nepos in 480 prevented the consummation of this negotiation, but about ten years later a CHAP. I The diplomatic relations of Theodoric similar proposition was made in behalf of Augustulus. Zeno, wishing to divert the Ostrogoths from an invasion of the East, approved the enterprise of reconquering Italy, and Theodoric, with the title of Roman Consul, set out at the head of his army, under orders of the Emperor, " to avenge the injury done to Augustulus.” The Romans were filled with joy at the prospect of seeing the Empire restored in Italy, and refused asylum to Odoacer when, forced to retreat, he sought refuge within the walls of Rome. After four years of heroic resistance, Odoacer was finally overcome. Theodoric had promised to spare his life, but in the midst of a banquet slew him with his own hand. The conquest of Italy had been made in the name and with the authority of the Emperor, to whom Theodoric still owed allegiance. For many years, Roman consuls continued to be named at Byzantium, while the name of the Emperor appeared on the monuments restored by the Gothic king and coins were stamped with his image. In time, however, Theodoric reunited nearly half of the old Roman Empire in the West, and Italy, rendered prosperous by his wise and vigorous rule, became in fact an independent kingdom. Not merely by the power of the sword, but by the exercise of statecraft, did Theodoric attempt to extend and rule his wide dominions. The heir of the Roman institutions in Italy, which Odoacer had not disturbed, he had come into possession not only of a complete system of political methods and formulas but of highly skilled advisers. In the person of the elder Cassiodorus, a Roman statesman who had served Odoacer as a valued counsellor, Theodoric enjoyed the assistance of a trained publicist who was a master of all the imperial traditions. The younger Cassiodorus, who had received a careful education to fit him for public life, besides filling other high offices, became the confidential adviser of the King, the chief of his chancellery, and the historian of his time. The first thought of Theodoric, after his conquest of Italy, was to obtain from the Emperor Anastasius a recognition of his government. For this purpose he sent an embassy to present his homage to the new emperor, who had just succeeded Zeno, and to express his acknowledgment of the imperial supremacy. Although, according to a chronicler of the time, the Emperor not only recognized Theodoric but presented him with the imperial ornaments which Odoacer had sent to Constantinople, it is doubtful if the advances of the Goth were received without distrust. On his part, at least, the barbarian king was quick to perceive the incompatibility of his own ambition and the permanent interests of the Empire. Placed between Constantinople on the East and the barbarian kingdoms on the West, his security lay in the cultivation of peaceful relations on both sides. Foreseeing the inevitable conflict with the Empire when it was prepared to assert its authority over him, he at once began to organize his defence by forming strong alliances with his barbarian neighbors. The identity of political interests was strengthened by the community of religious faith among these invaders of imperial territory; for, like himself, the kings of the Visigoths, Burgundians, and Vandals were followers of the Arian heresy. Under the guidance of Cassiodorus the Elder, Theodoric undertook to create a system of alliances with his neighbors, by which their forces would be united to preserve their conquests from future reclamation by the Emperor. The first step in this direction was a series of marriages by which his family became connected with the principal barbarian kings. Taking as his wife Audelfreda, the sister of Clovis, King of the Franks, at that time a pagan nation, he hoped to exercise a predominating influence upon the future of that kingdom. Having married his sister, Amalfreda, to Trasamund, King of the Vandals, his two daughters by an earlier marriage were given to Alaric II, King of the Visigoths, and Sigismund, son of the King of the Burgundians. A niece, Amalaberga, was married to Hermenfrid, King of the Thuringians. Having thus made himself the centre of a group of family alliances, he endeavored by means СНАР. І B. C. 30 A. D. 500 CHAP. I of gifts and friendly services to unite all the others under B. C. 30- his leadership. A. D. 500 Diplomatic usages of the barbarian kings The task which Theodoric had undertaken was not devoid of serious difficulties; for, while the Vandals, the Visigoths, and the Burgundians had already made extensive conquests, and were endeavoring to consolidate their power within the limits already attained, the Franks were eager to extend their borders, and under the leadership of their energetic and unscrupulous king were constantly invading and subjugating their neighbors. When the Alamanni, driven by the merciless violence of the Franks, crossed the Alps to seek refuge in Italy, Theodoric was placed in a position of extreme embarrassment. If he refused protection to the unfortunate refugees, he would lose his influence with his peaceable neighbors. If he afforded them asylum, he would incur the hostility of Clovis. The manner in which he solved this delicate problem illustrates the acumen of this barbarian prince. He welcomed the refugees and offered them homes in the depopulated districts of Northern Italy, but at the same time wrote to Clovis a friendly letter, congratulating him upon his brilliant victory and intimating that, since Clovis would, doubtless, regard it wise to exercise moderation after so signal a triumph, he, as a friend and relative, had received the vanquished and would be pleased to aid him in his exhibition of clemency by caring for them in such a manner as to redound to the credit of the Frankish king.1 Two ambassadors were charged to deliver this clever message, and, in order to appease still further the warlike temper of Clovis, an accomplished singer and citharist was sent to soothe his spirit with gentle music. Touched by the friendliness of the letter and the sweetness of the songs, Clovis accepted the offer of Theodoric, and the crisis was safely passed. In his efforts to extend his realm and to influence his neighbors, Theodoric was brought into relations with all the barbarian rulers, particularly with those of the Franks and 1 Cassiodorus, Variae, II, 41. B. C. 30 A. D. 500 the Burgundians, and thus the forms and usages of the old CHAP. I Roman chancellery were passed on and became the common property of these kingdoms. Under the name of nuntii, missi, or legati, envoys were sent by these rulers not only to the Eastern Emperor but to one another. In one of his letters, Cassiodorus has expressed his estimate of the qualities essential to a diplomatic agent, an opinion which may furnish an instructive lesson to our own time. "If, indeed," he says, "every embassy requires a wise man, to whom the conservation of the interests of the state may be intrusted, the most sagacious of all should be chosen, who will be able to argue against the most crafty, and to speak in the council of the wise in such a manner that even so great a number of learned men will not be able to gain a victory in the business with which he is charged." 1 In order that the embassy might be impressive as well as sagacious, for the transaction of important public business only illustrious men were chosen, especially men of learning. As the conduct of a mission often required freedom of judgment, the instructions given by the King were of the most general character, and appear to have been chiefly oral; but Cassiodorus has preserved and transmitted forms of letters of credence, whose Latin formulas continued to be used, practically without alteration, throughout the whole of the Middle Ages, and have furnished the general type of these documents for all subsequent times.2 Even among the most barbaric nations, the inviolability of envoys appears to have been recognized from very early times. To protect them from violence on their journeys, a supplement to the Salic Law imposed a wergeld of eighteen hundred soldi upon the murderer of an ambassador. Similar 1 Cassiodorus, Variae, II, 6. Also Löhren, Beiträge, p. 26. 2 For examples, see Cassiodorus, Variae, I, 1; III, 1; X, 20; also Menzel, Deutsches Gesandtschaftswesen, p. 7; and Fumagalli, Delle istituzioni diplomatiche. |