Barbarians and Romans, A.D. 418-584: The Techniques of Accommodation

Description

Despite intermittent turbulence and destruction, much of the Roman West came under barbarian control in an orderly fashion. Goths, Burgundians, and other aliens were accommodated within the provinces without disrupting the settled population or overturning the patterns of landownership. Walter Goffart examines these arrangements and shows that they were based on the procedures of Roman taxation, rather than on those of military billeting (the so-called hospitalitas system), as has long been thought. Resident proprietors could be left in undisturbed possession of their lands because the proceeds of taxation, rather than land itself, were awarded to the barbarian troops and their leaders. CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS PREFACE I. THE BARBARIANS IN LATE ANTIQUITY AND HOW THEY WERE ACCOMMODATED IN THE WEST II. THE ROMAN BASIS FOR BARBARIAN LAND ALLOTMENTS III. ALLOTMENTS IN FIFTH-CENTURY ITALY IV. SETTLEMENTS IN GAUL. THE VISIGOTHS V. THE BURGUNDIANS: FROM ALLOTMENT TO OWNERSHIP VI. HOSPITALITAS AND THE FIFTH CENTURY SETTLEMENTS VII. THE LOMBARDS AS LATECOMING "GUESTS" VIII. CONCLUSION: THE DEVOLUTION OF TAXATION Appendix A. How Many Vandals Invaded Africa? Appendix B. Interpretations of CE 276. 3-4 Appendix C. Real Estate Not Declared for Assessment Appendix D. Sidonius on "Hospitality" Appendix E. Vegetius, Military Rations, and a Possible Connotation of fara INDEX TO MODERN AUTHORS INDEX