When these Eurasian warriors rampaged through northern Europe, they drove many Germanic tribes to the borders of the Roman Empire. The Barbarian attacks on Rome partially stemmed from a mass migration caused by the Huns’ invasion of Europe in the late fourth century. The arrival of the Huns and the migration of the Barbarian tribes The Western political structure would finally disintegrate in the fifth century, but the Eastern Empire endured in some form for another thousand years before being overwhelmed by the Ottoman Empire in the 1400s.Ħ. Emperors like Constantine ensured that the city of Constantinople was fortified and well guarded, but Italy and the city of Rome-which only had symbolic value for many in the East-were left vulnerable.
Most importantly, the strength of the Eastern Empire served to divert Barbarian invasions to the West. As the gulf widened, the largely Greek-speaking Eastern Empire grew in wealth while the Latin-speaking West descended into economic crisis. East and West failed to adequately work together to combat outside threats, and the two often squabbled over resources and military aid. The division made the empire more easily governable in the short term, but over time the two halves drifted apart. The fate of Western Rome was partially sealed in the late third century, when the Emperor Diocletian divided the Empire into two halves-the Western Empire seated in the city of Milan, and the Eastern Empire in Byzantium, later known as Constantinople. With its economy faltering and its commercial and agricultural production in decline, the Empire began to lose its grip on Europe. A further blow came in the fifth century, when the Vandals claimed North Africa and began disrupting the empire’s trade by prowling the Mediterranean as pirates. But when expansion ground to a halt in the second century, Rome’s supply of slaves and other war treasures began to dry up. Rome’s economy depended on slaves to till its fields and work as craftsmen, and its military might had traditionally provided a fresh influx of conquered peoples to put to work. At the same time, the empire was rocked by a labor deficit. In the hope of avoiding the taxman, many members of the wealthy classes had even fled to the countryside and set up independent fiefdoms. Constant wars and overspending had significantly lightened imperial coffers, and oppressive taxation and inflation had widened the gap between rich and poor.
Economic troubles and overreliance on slave laborĮven as Rome was under attack from outside forces, it was also crumbling from within thanks to a severe financial crisis.
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