WEBVTT 00:02.133 --> 00:04.503 PAUL FREEDMAN: So last time we spoke about the 00:04.500 --> 00:07.430 collapse of the Roman Empire. 00:07.433 --> 00:11.173 And I didn't quite definitively answer the 00:11.167 --> 00:17.897 question: External force - Internal collapse? 00:17.900 --> 00:20.300 There are other possible explanations: an eminent 00:20.300 --> 00:23.100 historian of the barbarian says that the Roman Empire 00:23.100 --> 00:26.970 committed suicide by accident. 00:26.967 --> 00:28.997 That essentially it was just a political problem. 00:29.000 --> 00:31.100 The wrong people became emperors. 00:31.100 --> 00:34.500 Some bad things happened and one day there 00:34.500 --> 00:35.570 it was, it was gone. 00:35.567 --> 00:39.897 I'm not sure I buy that; I like long-term causes more. 00:39.900 --> 00:42.530 But it is important to emphasize that a lot of this 00:42.533 --> 00:46.003 is contingency and not inevitability. 00:46.000 --> 00:51.400 Historians generally tend to make things look as if they 00:51.400 --> 00:53.030 had to happen. 00:53.033 --> 00:56.503 As if there's sort of long-term things playing out 00:56.500 --> 00:58.800 inevitably. 00:58.800 --> 01:04.430 And the longer or the farther away the historian is from the 01:04.433 --> 01:08.233 period that he or she is studying, the greater that 01:08.233 --> 01:12.403 tendency because the look back is longer. 01:12.400 --> 01:16.330 So in talking about both the Empire and the barbarians, I 01:16.333 --> 01:19.903 want to at least remind you that events could have gone 01:19.900 --> 01:21.870 other ways. 01:21.867 --> 01:27.227 There are lots of long-term tendencies, but we're talking 01:27.233 --> 01:32.603 about a series of factors that are both 01:32.600 --> 01:35.670 immediate and long term. 01:35.667 --> 01:38.567 This is relevant to talking about the barbarians 01:38.567 --> 01:41.227 and who they are. 01:41.233 --> 01:45.773 Which is more of a mystery than it might seem. 01:45.767 --> 01:49.567 Who they are as in, what does it mean to say that someone is 01:49.567 --> 01:51.467 a Visigoth? 01:51.467 --> 01:55.127 How much have I described what that means? 01:55.133 --> 01:58.533 And despite the business about plunder, that's not actually 01:58.533 --> 02:01.333 the only thing they were after. 02:01.333 --> 02:06.003 As we have tried to emphasize, they liked the Roman Empire. 02:06.000 --> 02:10.970 They wanted to share in its advantages, not to destroy it. 02:14.833 --> 02:20.173 We've emphasized accommodation rather than conquest. We've 02:20.167 --> 02:22.797 said that this is the end of a world, not 02:22.800 --> 02:25.130 the end of the world. 02:25.133 --> 02:30.203 It is the end of a certain civilization, perhaps, or 02:30.200 --> 02:33.570 maybe transformation of that civilization, but it's not the 02:33.567 --> 02:35.597 end of civilization. 02:35.600 --> 02:39.370 They're not invaders from outer space. 02:39.367 --> 02:42.527 Where do they come from? 02:42.533 --> 02:43.373 Who are they? 02:43.367 --> 02:45.897 What are these aspects of accommodation? 02:45.900 --> 02:50.470 That's partly what we want to talk about today in discussing 02:50.467 --> 02:54.867 the barbarian kingdoms after the collapse of Rome. 02:54.867 --> 03:00.997 So 476 to 530. 03:01.000 --> 03:03.900 What happens in 530 is that the Eastern Roman Empire 03:03.900 --> 03:07.200 embarks on a reconquest of the West 03:07.200 --> 03:08.830 under the emperor Justinian. 03:08.833 --> 03:10.203 And that will be the subject of our 03:10.200 --> 03:13.070 discussion a week from today. 03:13.067 --> 03:14.297 Any questions in the meanwhile? 03:17.967 --> 03:22.127 Notice that in the Burgundian Code the authors of the code, 03:22.133 --> 03:24.803 the Burgundians, call themselves barbarians. 03:24.800 --> 03:28.100 They distinguish between barbarians and Romans. 03:32.767 --> 03:35.527 Even though they use the word, it's deceptive to think of 03:35.533 --> 03:39.333 barbarians, or tribes, or Germans as if these were 03:39.333 --> 03:44.073 absolute well-defined terms that corresponded to an 03:44.067 --> 03:48.927 absolute well-defined set of realities. 03:48.933 --> 03:50.833 What do we know about these people before 03:50.833 --> 03:53.103 they enter the Empire? 03:53.100 --> 03:57.400 We know something from archaeology. 03:57.400 --> 04:01.170 But as they moved around, as I said they're not nomadic, they 04:01.167 --> 04:05.297 have settlements, but they're not very urban settlements. 04:05.300 --> 04:07.300 They have gravesites. 04:07.300 --> 04:10.130 People who have gravesites with a lot of graves are not 04:10.133 --> 04:11.933 moving around a lot. 04:11.933 --> 04:14.003 So that's one indication. 04:14.000 --> 04:18.170 And the gravesites sometimes have stuff in them, things 04:18.167 --> 04:20.097 buried with them. 04:20.100 --> 04:22.800 And among other things, they show that they had trade with 04:22.800 --> 04:24.530 the Roman Empire because they've got Roman 04:24.533 --> 04:25.873 artifacts in them. 04:25.867 --> 04:27.427 Well, OK. 04:27.433 --> 04:30.503 But we actually don't find out that much about them. 04:30.500 --> 04:38.900 The main written source for pre-invasion, let's call them 04:38.900 --> 04:45.430 Germanic tribes delicately, is Tacitus, the Roman historian 04:45.433 --> 04:49.033 better known, or best known, for his very pessimistic 04:49.033 --> 04:50.933 annals of the history of the Roman Empire. 04:56.767 --> 05:01.997 But also the author of a brief work called Germania about the 05:02.000 --> 05:05.700 German tribes. 05:05.700 --> 05:09.570 For Tacitus, the Germans- that is the peoples living beyond 05:09.567 --> 05:16.627 the Rhine frontier- are both childlike and noble. 05:16.633 --> 05:17.873 They're warlike. 05:20.167 --> 05:24.527 From the Roman point of view, these Barbarians are intent on 05:24.533 --> 05:27.933 invading the Empire and enjoying its riches. 05:27.933 --> 05:33.403 Hence the defensive kinds of frontiers we've talked about. 05:33.400 --> 05:37.300 The Rhine, or in Britain, Hadrian's Wall, which you can 05:37.300 --> 05:41.030 still see in the north of England, not that far from the 05:41.033 --> 05:42.203 Scottish border. 05:42.200 --> 05:46.300 That to guard not against Germans, but Celts, Picts, and 05:46.300 --> 05:47.570 Scots, in particular. 05:54.600 --> 05:59.200 Tacitus portrays the Germans as kind of warlike. 05:59.200 --> 06:01.530 Around the year 100 is his description. 06:01.533 --> 06:04.973 But he never visited Germania. 06:04.967 --> 06:08.027 And if you'd asked him, well, if you're going to write about 06:08.033 --> 06:11.803 them, shouldn't you do some field work? 06:11.800 --> 06:16.070 he'd have looked at you as if you were crazy. 06:16.067 --> 06:17.067 Go there? 06:17.067 --> 06:17.927 Me? 06:17.933 --> 06:20.003 Moi? 06:20.000 --> 06:21.230 You've got to be kidding. 06:23.800 --> 06:28.000 The reason he wrote the work was probably not an 06:28.000 --> 06:31.430 anthropological description of the Germans, but as a way of 06:31.433 --> 06:33.703 berating the Romans. 06:33.700 --> 06:37.730 If you describe people who are virtuous but primitive, you 06:37.733 --> 06:43.833 can use that to castigate your own people. 06:43.833 --> 06:47.803 Rousseau's noble savage where the American Indians are used 06:47.800 --> 06:53.230 to attack supposedly civilized societies is an example. 06:53.233 --> 06:58.673 Or descriptions of the South Seas, some of Herman 06:58.667 --> 07:00.597 Melville's earlier works. 07:00.600 --> 07:02.330 Or Robert Louis Stevenson. 07:02.333 --> 07:04.833 Or Gauguin's paintings. 07:04.833 --> 07:12.033 Contrast a beautiful, natural, simple world far superior to 07:12.033 --> 07:18.073 the fatiguing rat race of what passes for civilization. 07:18.067 --> 07:23.297 So Tacitus' Germans are warlike, concerned with 07:23.300 --> 07:27.600 personal bravery and honor. 07:27.600 --> 07:31.630 They have close family ties. 07:31.633 --> 07:32.873 They're heterosexuals. 07:36.000 --> 07:38.030 They treat their women well. 07:38.033 --> 07:42.903 All of these are supposed to contrast with what Tacitus, 07:42.900 --> 07:45.130 who's a bit of a scold, Tacitus 07:45.133 --> 07:48.333 sees as Roman decadence. 07:48.333 --> 07:51.003 The Romans are given to prostitution. 07:51.000 --> 07:56.170 None of that in the German realms. The Romans are given 07:56.167 --> 08:00.527 to same sex love. 08:00.533 --> 08:02.873 Oh, no, no, no. 08:02.867 --> 08:06.767 The Germans know that that is really evil. 08:06.767 --> 08:08.897 They don't practice divorce, according to Tacitus. 08:11.567 --> 08:11.767 Now this is not-- 08:11.767 --> 08:17.027 This is a moralistic rather than an ethnographic treatise. 08:17.033 --> 08:19.603 He does condemn them for certain vices. 08:19.600 --> 08:24.270 The vices typically ascribed to so-called primitive peoples 08:24.267 --> 08:25.027 by the civilized. 08:25.033 --> 08:27.233 They're lazy. 08:27.233 --> 08:29.973 They tend to get drunk. 08:29.967 --> 08:31.827 They quarrel. 08:31.833 --> 08:33.073 They gamble. 08:36.067 --> 08:41.327 In several respects Tacitus, however, describes things that 08:41.333 --> 08:46.273 are true of later German practices visible in the 08:46.267 --> 08:48.597 Burgundian Code, for example. 08:48.600 --> 08:51.170 And that he does not make up for any 08:51.167 --> 08:54.397 particular moralistic purpose. 08:54.400 --> 08:56.870 Two of these things are the comitatus. 08:59.867 --> 09:08.027 The comitatus is the important men surrounding the leader, 09:08.033 --> 09:13.133 his entourage, but his military 09:13.133 --> 09:16.203 entourage, his armed men. 09:16.200 --> 09:20.230 Not just bodyguards, but members of a gang, I guess 09:20.233 --> 09:22.433 would be the closest simile. 09:22.433 --> 09:28.233 People who are loyal to their superior, but who have a 09:28.233 --> 09:30.203 certain amount of autonomy. 09:30.200 --> 09:34.700 They're not just sort of paid, as I said, bodyguards. 09:34.700 --> 09:38.430 They are his followers. 09:40.967 --> 09:45.127 An anachronistic word would be "vassals" anachronistic 09:45.133 --> 09:47.473 because it's not used at this time. 09:47.467 --> 09:49.897 His military followers. 09:49.900 --> 09:51.700 Armed military followers, the comitatus. 09:54.333 --> 09:58.873 Tacitus describes the feud. 09:58.867 --> 10:01.527 Feud between clans. 10:01.533 --> 10:04.603 Feuds are generally characteristic of societies 10:04.600 --> 10:09.700 without a strong central government and with fairly 10:09.700 --> 10:12.700 generous definitions of kinship. 10:12.700 --> 10:15.000 A generous definition of kinship means you know who 10:15.000 --> 10:18.030 your second cousin is, maybe your third cousin, maybe your 10:18.033 --> 10:20.033 third cousin twice removed. 10:20.033 --> 10:24.873 And that cousin is going to consider your interests to be 10:24.867 --> 10:28.267 his or her interests as well. 10:28.267 --> 10:35.097 You might expect your children or parents to support you, but 10:35.100 --> 10:42.830 you probably don't expect your great uncles or second cousins 10:42.833 --> 10:45.333 to do much for you. 10:45.333 --> 10:51.703 So in terms of vengeance, which is also protection, in 10:51.700 --> 10:54.270 other words, I am protected by the fact that if somebody 10:54.267 --> 10:58.927 kills me, my clan will take vengeance on their clan. 10:58.933 --> 11:03.773 In terms of protection and vengeance, extended kinship is 11:03.767 --> 11:09.497 related to a feud and to keeping order in a society 11:09.500 --> 11:14.430 that doesn't have a very powerful central government. 11:14.433 --> 11:20.633 One way of avoiding feuds that killed too many people is 11:20.633 --> 11:21.803 compensation. 11:21.800 --> 11:25.200 And this compensation is mentioned by Tacitus and is 11:25.200 --> 11:29.830 what appears in the Burgundian Code and elsewhere as wergeld. 11:29.833 --> 11:34.233 Wergeld is the money paid in compensation for hurting or 11:34.233 --> 11:35.503 killing someone. 11:39.467 --> 11:41.597 I killed your brother. 11:41.600 --> 11:44.500 We have a drunken brawl. 11:44.500 --> 11:47.800 I don't like the way he describes my mother. 11:47.800 --> 11:49.430 And I kill him. 11:49.433 --> 11:53.903 I'm sorry, but that's just the way things go. 11:53.900 --> 11:56.430 What are you going to do about it? 11:56.433 --> 11:58.873 Are you going to kill me? 11:58.867 --> 12:02.767 Are you going to kill a cousin of mine? 12:02.767 --> 12:08.127 Or maybe you'll accept compensation based on, say, 12:08.133 --> 12:09.533 what kind of guy he was. 12:09.533 --> 12:10.503 Was he a silversmith? 12:10.500 --> 12:11.670 In which case I'm going to have to pay a 12:11.667 --> 12:14.767 huge amount of money. 12:14.767 --> 12:15.867 Or was he just some guy? 12:15.867 --> 12:18.097 Some random guy, random Burgundian? 12:18.100 --> 12:20.030 Or free Burgundian? 12:20.033 --> 12:23.903 Or freed, formerly slave? 12:23.900 --> 12:25.600 All of these are tariffs. 12:25.600 --> 12:30.600 They're sliding scales of compensation. 12:30.600 --> 12:32.130 Tacitus mentions this. 12:35.600 --> 12:38.500 So we're looking at the Burgundian Code, and there are 12:38.500 --> 12:43.100 other barbarian law codes, for clues as to how the society 12:43.100 --> 12:43.630 functioned. 12:43.633 --> 12:46.233 But of course, it's a society that's already 12:46.233 --> 12:47.773 in the Roman Empire. 12:50.733 --> 12:53.633 It looks like before they entered the empire, they lived 12:53.633 --> 12:55.233 in little villages. 12:55.233 --> 13:00.633 They cultivated grain, but they were more cattle-raisers. 13:00.633 --> 13:03.573 They're skilled at iron working. 13:03.567 --> 13:08.127 They also supplemented their income by a spot of raiding 13:08.133 --> 13:10.173 and warfare. 13:10.167 --> 13:13.167 Opportunistic warfare. 13:13.167 --> 13:15.097 Ties of kinship are very important. 13:15.100 --> 13:18.800 When we're talking about a clan, extended kinship group, 13:18.800 --> 13:24.670 we're talking about maybe 50 households. 13:24.667 --> 13:25.797 And we'll see this again. 13:25.800 --> 13:27.170 We'll see this with the Bedouins in 13:27.167 --> 13:30.027 the desert, for example. 13:30.033 --> 13:34.103 Within the clan you're not supposed to feud. 13:34.100 --> 13:36.530 Not supposed to. 13:36.533 --> 13:39.533 Above the clan level is some kind of 13:39.533 --> 13:43.903 confederation or tribe. 13:43.900 --> 13:47.330 And this is where things get kind of difficult, because we 13:47.333 --> 13:52.833 don't really know how one clan considered another clan to be 13:52.833 --> 13:55.003 part of something larger. 13:57.667 --> 14:00.327 That is, we know that the Romans call the people who 14:00.333 --> 14:03.833 defeated them at Adrianople the Visigoths. 14:03.833 --> 14:04.873 "Oh, my gosh. 14:04.867 --> 14:05.727 Here I am. 14:05.733 --> 14:06.573 Adrianople. 14:06.567 --> 14:07.797 The Visigoths are winning. 14:07.800 --> 14:09.500 What am I going to do?" 14:09.500 --> 14:12.630 But who are the Visigoths? 14:12.633 --> 14:16.703 One theory is that they're just groups of people who come 14:16.700 --> 14:20.500 together in contact with the Roman Empire, in part because 14:20.500 --> 14:22.970 the Roman Empire calls them something. 14:22.967 --> 14:26.597 It gives them a name and they develop what's 14:26.600 --> 14:29.130 called fictive kinship. 14:29.133 --> 14:30.973 From a common ancestor. 14:30.967 --> 14:35.997 They invent the notion that they all come from one place 14:36.000 --> 14:37.900 and one ancestor. 14:37.900 --> 14:44.200 This process of sort of fictitious ethnic invention is 14:44.200 --> 14:49.730 called "ethnogenesis." Ethnogenesis means the birth 14:49.733 --> 14:52.233 of an ethnicity. 14:52.233 --> 14:55.673 Rather than some kind of biological fact that you could 14:55.667 --> 14:58.897 confirm with DNA, e.g.-- 14:58.900 --> 15:04.300 all Visigoths have some sort of biological thing in common. 15:04.300 --> 15:07.430 These people are not really related, but they invent a 15:07.433 --> 15:08.673 common ancestor. 15:12.967 --> 15:24.467 And this question of who forms a real group remains both 15:24.467 --> 15:26.397 important as a real thing. 15:26.400 --> 15:30.230 For example, American Indian tribes. 15:30.233 --> 15:34.303 There are some whose claims to existence are indisputable. 15:34.300 --> 15:37.000 They have treaties with the United States. 15:37.000 --> 15:39.170 They've had reservations for many years. 15:39.167 --> 15:45.527 But now with the inducements for tribes, the tax free 15:45.533 --> 15:48.203 status, the ability to have casinos and things like that, 15:48.200 --> 15:52.630 there are petitions for tribes to be recognized as such. 15:52.633 --> 15:55.133 And here the question of ethnicity. 15:55.133 --> 15:59.803 Ethnic identification becomes extremely important. 15:59.800 --> 16:05.030 A more sinister and much more widespread modern aspect of 16:05.033 --> 16:09.603 ethnogenesis is precisely the use of the Germanic barbarians 16:09.600 --> 16:12.970 as the origins of the Germans. 16:12.967 --> 16:17.427 It's no accident that in the late nineteenth and early 16:17.433 --> 16:21.573 twentieth century, culminating but not limited to the Nazis, 16:21.567 --> 16:27.027 the idea of the Germans as a racial group; as a group with 16:27.033 --> 16:37.803 a common Aryan- with a "y"- ancestry; As manly and as pure 16:37.800 --> 16:42.530 in the sense that Tacitus portrays them becomes a 16:42.533 --> 16:44.873 polemical idea. 16:44.867 --> 16:47.467 A fighting idea. 16:47.467 --> 16:50.827 An invented idea of great force. 16:50.833 --> 16:54.573 Just because something is false, it does not necessarily 16:54.567 --> 16:56.127 lack historical importance. 16:59.233 --> 17:03.203 So the idea of ethnogenesis, of the invention of a group 17:03.200 --> 17:07.600 called the "Visigoths", is one way of 17:07.600 --> 17:09.300 approaching who they are. 17:09.300 --> 17:11.270 On the other hand, there's not a whole lot of evidence that 17:11.267 --> 17:12.127 they're doing this. 17:12.133 --> 17:14.603 There's not a whole lot of evidence that they are 17:14.600 --> 17:17.530 developing this notion of a common ancestor. 17:17.533 --> 17:18.933 Much of the evidence, or seeming 17:18.933 --> 17:22.473 evidence, for that is Roman. 17:22.467 --> 17:25.297 A lot of this ethnogenesis comes from 17:25.300 --> 17:29.770 contact with the Romans. 17:29.767 --> 17:33.897 Certainly peoples who come in contact with those who are 17:33.900 --> 17:38.630 more civilized than they are, and by civilized I mean 17:38.633 --> 17:42.473 peoples who have writing, who live in cities, who have 17:42.467 --> 17:45.627 extensive trade and administration. 17:45.633 --> 17:49.033 The so-called barbarian peoples are going to want to 17:49.033 --> 17:52.073 define themselves against the Romans. 17:52.067 --> 17:56.727 Hence, among other things, many of these invaders are 17:56.733 --> 18:03.203 Arian, with an "i." They use religious difference as part 18:03.200 --> 18:04.530 of their identity. 18:11.200 --> 18:17.600 So they have come into the empire and, as we said last 18:17.600 --> 18:21.130 time, they come into the empire first as allied troops, 18:21.133 --> 18:23.973 as refugees, as federati. 18:23.967 --> 18:29.867 Federati, that is to say armies of the Roman Empire. 18:29.867 --> 18:35.497 They are supported by a system with the bland name of 18:35.500 --> 18:37.030 hospitality. 18:37.033 --> 18:43.933 Hospitality meaning that they're settled on the land of 18:43.933 --> 18:47.703 Romans and they share in the revenue of that land. 18:50.433 --> 18:52.133 That's how the Romans pay them. 18:52.133 --> 18:53.833 They don't pay them cash. 18:53.833 --> 18:56.033 They don't pay them in plunder. 18:56.033 --> 18:59.373 They pay them in a portion of the tax revenue. 18:59.367 --> 19:03.697 So you owe a reasonably powerful but not quite 19:03.700 --> 19:07.630 powerful enough senator in Burgandy. 19:07.633 --> 19:12.173 You settle some friendly Burgundian 19:12.167 --> 19:14.327 troops on your land. 19:14.333 --> 19:20.173 And you give them hospitality, that is to say one third of 19:20.167 --> 19:22.967 the tax revenue that you're collecting for the empire. 19:22.967 --> 19:24.667 Or maybe one third of just your 19:24.667 --> 19:28.767 regular old private revenues. 19:28.767 --> 19:31.467 This is a kind of accommodation then. 19:31.467 --> 19:38.227 It's accommodation that costs money, but it is part of a set 19:38.233 --> 19:43.203 of ways that the Roman elite figures out how to deal with 19:43.200 --> 19:47.900 these invaders. 19:47.900 --> 19:49.030 Collaborate with them. 19:49.033 --> 19:52.703 So the Roman aristocratic land owners and the barbarian war 19:52.700 --> 19:56.300 leaders come to various kinds of accommodation. 19:56.300 --> 19:59.970 Now, the accommodation differs depending on where we're 19:59.967 --> 20:00.597 speaking of. 20:00.600 --> 20:05.400 And now we come to the point of having to describe the 20:05.400 --> 20:08.200 barbarian kingdoms. 20:08.200 --> 20:12.300 I've given you two maps, one of which you're not to show 20:12.300 --> 20:14.570 people who are not in the class. 20:14.567 --> 20:15.227 This one. 20:15.233 --> 20:17.303 The one with the arrows. 20:17.300 --> 20:21.630 Yale University is home to one of the great historians of our 20:21.633 --> 20:24.133 time, Walter Goffart. 20:24.133 --> 20:26.603 And I can't believe that I'm talking about all sorts of 20:26.600 --> 20:29.400 people like Wickham and Goffart in something that's 20:29.400 --> 20:34.930 going to be widely available, but, anyway let me express my 20:34.933 --> 20:40.233 admiration to him, great early Medieval historian who could 20:40.233 --> 20:42.133 certainly run rings around me. 20:42.133 --> 20:43.473 He's retired. 20:43.467 --> 20:45.597 He taught at the University of Toronto. 20:45.600 --> 20:48.800 And among his many works is one that completely destroys 20:48.800 --> 20:52.630 the notion of having invaders with arrows. 20:52.633 --> 20:56.803 This whole idea, like they've got this path; we know where 20:56.800 --> 21:00.130 they are; they come from somewhere. 21:00.133 --> 21:03.873 See up where what is now southern Sweden, Skandia? 21:03.867 --> 21:06.427 A lot of these histories, or what purport to be histories, 21:06.433 --> 21:08.273 say they came from Skandia. 21:08.267 --> 21:12.797 And you can still read in not very old textbooks, oh, the 21:12.800 --> 21:14.370 Visigoths came from Skandia. 21:14.367 --> 21:16.367 And then they went here, and then they went there, and 21:16.367 --> 21:18.467 they're migrating all round. 21:18.467 --> 21:21.567 And you have little arrows that show their progress. 21:21.567 --> 21:23.167 You're not supposed to do that. 21:23.167 --> 21:25.197 I'm not sure what you're supposed to do though, as a 21:25.200 --> 21:26.100 substitute. 21:26.100 --> 21:28.500 And as always with historically misleading 21:28.500 --> 21:31.430 things, once you get rid of the misleading thing, you're 21:31.433 --> 21:35.203 kind of helpless if you're trying to teach this. 21:35.200 --> 21:37.630 So I'm asking you to look at this really closely and not 21:37.633 --> 21:38.803 take it seriously. 21:38.800 --> 21:42.100 I'm asking you to memorize everywhere they went, but not 21:42.100 --> 21:44.070 to tell anybody. 21:44.067 --> 21:46.567 Once they enter the Empire then those arrows start to 21:46.567 --> 21:47.297 make sense. 21:47.300 --> 21:51.170 We know that the Visigoths were in the Balkans at the 21:51.167 --> 21:52.767 time of the battle of Adrianople in 278. 21:52.767 --> 21:53.467 [correction: 378] 21:53.467 --> 21:55.727 We know that they sacked Rome in 410. 21:55.733 --> 21:58.233 We know that they go down to Italy to try to get to the 21:58.233 --> 21:59.673 granaries of North Africa. 21:59.667 --> 22:03.197 We know they discover, "OMG, I can't build a boat," so then 22:03.200 --> 22:06.830 they come up the other side of Italy. 22:06.833 --> 22:08.503 They settle in southern France. 22:08.500 --> 22:10.670 They're kicked out of southern France by the Franks 22:10.667 --> 22:11.567 for the most part. 22:11.567 --> 22:15.227 And they settle in Spain, where the Arabs get them. 22:15.233 --> 22:19.073 Four weeks from now, I think. 22:19.067 --> 22:21.597 So the arrows are not completely deceptive, and 22:21.600 --> 22:25.300 that's why I've given these to you. 22:25.300 --> 22:29.430 And it's hard to tell which arrows apply to which tribes, 22:29.433 --> 22:32.473 so hence map two. 22:32.467 --> 22:35.067 Map two, a lot calmer. 22:35.067 --> 22:36.997 This is the situation in 506. 22:37.000 --> 22:38.270 Why 506? 22:38.267 --> 22:41.197 Because in that year the Franks, whom we're going to be 22:41.200 --> 22:48.000 following more closely, the Merovingian Franks defeat the 22:48.000 --> 22:53.030 Visigoths and start pushing them out of southern France. 22:53.033 --> 22:56.233 So this is a map, I guess, before that defeat. 22:56.233 --> 22:59.503 You see the Visigoths in southern France and 22:59.500 --> 23:03.030 northeastern Spain with the Basques kind 23:03.033 --> 23:04.303 of in between them. 23:07.967 --> 23:12.097 So this is the situation in 500. 23:12.100 --> 23:14.900 There's no more Roman Empire of the West. Or there is a 23:14.900 --> 23:18.600 fictitious Roman Empire of the West. All of these people to 23:18.600 --> 23:20.900 varying degrees-- 23:20.900 --> 23:26.400 well, not all of them, most of them-- acknowledge some kind 23:26.400 --> 23:30.870 of suzerainty of Constantinople. 23:30.867 --> 23:35.867 You'll read about Clovis, King of the Franks in the beginning 23:35.867 --> 23:40.827 of the 6th century, who gets some sort of gift from the 23:40.833 --> 23:42.733 emperor Anastasius in Constantinople. 23:45.267 --> 23:51.227 A letter of appointment, some robes, various trinkets, and, 23:51.233 --> 23:54.603 according to Gregory of Tours, the historian of Clovis, the 23:54.600 --> 23:59.630 title of consul And he is very pleased with this. 23:59.633 --> 24:01.133 He dons these robes. 24:01.133 --> 24:06.473 He scatters coins just like a newly appointed emperor. 24:06.467 --> 24:08.867 But is he obeying the emperor Anastasius? 24:08.867 --> 24:12.027 Did the emperor Anastasius start sending orders to him? 24:12.033 --> 24:14.273 Or have any kind of administration? 24:14.267 --> 24:15.467 No. 24:15.467 --> 24:19.127 This is really just symbolic. 24:19.133 --> 24:21.673 We will talk about the relationship between the 24:21.667 --> 24:24.767 Eastern empire and the barbarians, because it's going 24:24.767 --> 24:28.467 to change in the sixth century as the Eastern empire fends 24:28.467 --> 24:32.497 off its opponents and becomes more concerned to take back as 24:32.500 --> 24:36.230 much as possible of the lost Western empire. 24:40.900 --> 24:44.300 In the year 500, the most impressive of these barbarians 24:44.300 --> 24:47.700 would've been the Ostrogoths because they are occupying 24:47.700 --> 24:53.730 Italy, which is the most Roman, the most prosperous, 24:53.733 --> 25:04.433 the most intact economically and culturally of the former 25:04.433 --> 25:08.503 Roman Empire of the West. 25:08.500 --> 25:12.970 The Ostrogoths had been in the-- 25:12.967 --> 25:15.097 if you look at the arrows, they had been maybe in the 25:15.100 --> 25:17.870 Crimean area, around the Black Sea. 25:17.867 --> 25:19.497 They came into the Balkans. 25:19.500 --> 25:24.030 They tried to attack Constantinople in the late 25:24.033 --> 25:30.033 fifth century, and they were defeated. 25:30.033 --> 25:33.503 And they were encouraged to move into Italy by the 25:33.500 --> 25:38.230 Byzantine emperor to get rid of Odoacer, that military 25:38.233 --> 25:42.333 leader whose takeover of Italy in 476 is conventionally 25:42.333 --> 25:50.333 understood to be the end of the Roman Empire in the West. 25:50.333 --> 25:51.733 The Ostrogoths had an 25:51.733 --> 25:53.103 impressive ruler named Theodoric. 25:58.767 --> 26:07.397 And they ruled from Ravenna, the old last Roman capital in 26:07.400 --> 26:09.130 northeastern Italy. 26:09.133 --> 26:12.703 And the tomb of Theodoric can still be seen in Ravenna. 26:12.700 --> 26:14.470 Very impressive monument. 26:20.200 --> 26:23.170 Roman education survived in Italy. 26:23.167 --> 26:29.897 It would reach its last flowering with two figures: I 26:29.900 --> 26:35.600 mentioned one of them last time, Boethius and 26:35.600 --> 26:36.830 Cassiodorus. 26:41.033 --> 26:43.533 These are two key figures in the preservation 26:43.533 --> 26:45.533 of classical learning. 26:45.533 --> 26:51.633 Boethuis, not perhaps literally the last person in 26:51.633 --> 26:57.903 the west who knew Greek, but certainly the last person who 26:57.900 --> 27:02.470 tried to make Greek knowledge known to people who could only 27:02.467 --> 27:04.097 read in Latin. 27:04.100 --> 27:07.270 He conceived the project of translating all of Plato and 27:07.267 --> 27:11.197 Aristotle into Latin. 27:11.200 --> 27:16.330 He started by doing a kind of introductory textbook. 27:16.333 --> 27:19.873 Like a lot of great projects, this one was not completed. 27:19.867 --> 27:23.197 In fact, this one barely got off the ground because he was 27:23.200 --> 27:28.730 accused by Theodoric of conspiring with the Byzantine 27:28.733 --> 27:32.403 Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire, to overthrow him. 27:32.400 --> 27:34.970 He was imprisoned for a year. 27:34.967 --> 27:38.867 In prison he wrote one of the most magnificent works of 27:38.867 --> 27:46.867 philosophy, of why we are alive and why we die. 27:46.867 --> 27:48.597 The Consolation of Philosophy. 27:52.733 --> 27:55.473 And then he was executed. 27:55.467 --> 27:59.827 Cassiodorus lived to be ninety. 27:59.833 --> 28:03.433 So one of the differences between these two figures of 28:03.433 --> 28:07.603 the last gasp of Roman culture in Italy is Cassiodorus's 28:07.600 --> 28:09.730 relative longevity. 28:09.733 --> 28:12.003 They're both figures of the sixth century. 28:12.000 --> 28:16.130 Boethius dies in the 530s, Cassiodorus much, much later. 28:16.133 --> 28:21.273 Cassiodorus also conceives of a program of education, but it 28:21.267 --> 28:25.827 is more oriented towards Latin learning. 28:25.833 --> 28:29.733 And Cassiodorus in some way is the founder, or at least the 28:29.733 --> 28:34.003 transmitter to us, of the idea of the liberal arts. 28:34.000 --> 28:36.470 Cassiodorus is a religious figure. 28:36.467 --> 28:39.127 Boethius is a Christian and he wrote on Christian topics, but 28:39.133 --> 28:42.973 The Consolation of Philosophy, interestingly enough, is a 28:42.967 --> 28:48.867 stoical work, has very little explicitly about Christianity. 28:48.867 --> 28:52.427 Cassiodorus, on the other hand, is the guy who invented 28:52.433 --> 28:55.833 the idea that monks should copy manuscripts. 28:55.833 --> 29:01.173 That the preserve of culture, the place where it seeks 29:01.167 --> 29:05.897 refuge and is protected in barbarian times, should be 29:05.900 --> 29:06.970 monasteries. 29:06.967 --> 29:08.767 This seems so self-evident to us. 29:08.767 --> 29:11.067 Because if there's one thing we know about monasteries, 29:11.067 --> 29:15.527 it's guys hunched over and writing stuff and the 29:15.533 --> 29:16.603 preservation of learning. 29:16.600 --> 29:20.530 But, in fact, monasteries start out as just 29:20.533 --> 29:25.273 anti-intellectual institutions where you pray and you don't 29:25.267 --> 29:27.097 spend a lot of time reading, let alone 29:27.100 --> 29:29.430 copying, let alone thinking. 29:29.433 --> 29:30.603 You're supposed to have visions. 29:30.600 --> 29:32.500 You're supposed to be inspired. 29:32.500 --> 29:36.300 You're supposed to fast and become ecstatic. 29:36.300 --> 29:40.230 It's Cassiodorus who conceives of this as a contemplative and 29:40.233 --> 29:41.603 learned project. 29:44.300 --> 29:49.370 The liberal arts means here things that are not 29:49.367 --> 29:52.697 immediately practically useful, but that help 29:52.700 --> 29:58.170 illuminate the person seeking after knowledge. 29:58.167 --> 30:00.727 And what kind of knowledge is a person seeking after in the 30:00.733 --> 30:03.473 6th century A.D.? 30:03.467 --> 30:06.697 They're seeking after knowledge of God and knowledge 30:06.700 --> 30:09.600 of the divine. 30:09.600 --> 30:11.000 Why not just read the Bible? 30:14.600 --> 30:17.370 I'm sure many of you have read the Bible or read parts of it. 30:17.367 --> 30:21.827 The Bible is not an immediately evident document 30:21.833 --> 30:27.233 in terms of its view of the world is total, but it's full 30:27.233 --> 30:28.003 of mysteries. 30:28.000 --> 30:30.830 It's full of obscurities. 30:30.833 --> 30:34.033 It's a strange work that requires knowledge and 30:34.033 --> 30:35.973 explication. 30:35.967 --> 30:39.427 Or to celebrate divine services, for example, 30:39.433 --> 30:41.603 requires a certain kind of knowledge. 30:41.600 --> 30:43.000 To know when Easter is. 30:43.000 --> 30:44.770 To know the phases of the moon. 30:44.767 --> 30:47.097 To know what day it is. 30:47.100 --> 30:50.300 These monks, or just anybody out in the countryside, can't 30:50.300 --> 30:56.830 just look at their phone and see what time it is. 30:56.833 --> 31:01.103 There's a need for some practical knowledge, but that 31:01.100 --> 31:02.670 involves abstract concepts like the 31:02.667 --> 31:03.727 movements of the planets. 31:03.733 --> 31:07.503 This is what the liberal arts are and this is what's being 31:07.500 --> 31:10.400 preserved in the Ostrogothic kingdom. 31:10.400 --> 31:14.430 But the fate of Boethius shows you the sort of duality of the 31:14.433 --> 31:16.603 barbarian patronage of culture. 31:16.600 --> 31:19.670 On the one hand, the Ostrogoths in Italy are as 31:19.667 --> 31:22.297 civilized as these groups get. 31:22.300 --> 31:26.100 On the other hand, of course, Boethius is executed. 31:26.100 --> 31:28.200 On the third hand, you didn't have to be a barbarian to 31:28.200 --> 31:29.900 execute people. 31:29.900 --> 31:33.430 After all, Seneca was forced to commit suicide by Nero. 31:33.433 --> 31:38.073 So the fate of intellectuals in the Roman Empire is not 31:38.067 --> 31:41.097 necessarily so much better than the fate of intellectuals 31:41.100 --> 31:42.670 in the barbarian kingdoms. 31:42.667 --> 31:44.767 The thing about the intellectuals in the barbarian 31:44.767 --> 31:47.967 kingdoms is they're very few of them. 31:47.967 --> 31:48.967 Seneca's a great man. 31:48.967 --> 31:50.697 It's too bad that he died. 31:50.700 --> 31:51.900 We could have had more works. 31:51.900 --> 31:53.870 But there were lots of other philosophers. 31:53.867 --> 31:55.127 There were lots of other playwrights. 31:59.833 --> 31:59.933 Boethuis we can say-- 31:59.933 --> 32:02.803 Boethius and Cassiodorus, maybe, are the two smartest 32:02.800 --> 32:09.000 people in the sixth century, judging by what they had 32:09.000 --> 32:12.330 access to, what they read, how they wrote. 32:12.333 --> 32:14.503 And that is scary. 32:14.500 --> 32:18.000 If you can say that Isidore of Seville is the smartest man of 32:18.000 --> 32:19.800 the seventh century. 32:19.800 --> 32:22.670 Or Bede and Alcuin are the smartest men 32:22.667 --> 32:26.097 of the eighth century. 32:26.100 --> 32:27.900 It's not just a compliment to them. 32:33.567 --> 32:36.967 If you're rated like the eighteenth best tennis player 32:36.967 --> 32:39.767 in the United States, that's a tremendous accomplishment. 32:39.767 --> 32:43.427 But presumably, there are 200 tennis players who are ranked. 32:43.433 --> 32:45.603 And behind them there are 10,000 32:45.600 --> 32:47.500 very good tennis players. 32:47.500 --> 32:50.000 But what if you were the number one tennis player in 32:50.000 --> 32:53.400 the country, and there was no number four? 32:53.400 --> 32:57.330 No number four through one hundred million. 32:57.333 --> 33:00.303 Tennis would be an endangered game. 33:00.300 --> 33:03.000 It would mean a lot, but supposing nobody followed 33:03.000 --> 33:04.230 tennis anymore? 33:08.033 --> 33:12.033 I don't know enough about antiquated games, but some 33:12.033 --> 33:15.603 medieval game that only five people know how to play. 33:15.600 --> 33:16.970 I could be the fourth ranked. 33:20.600 --> 33:24.170 But here we're not talking about sports, 33:24.167 --> 33:25.167 important though they are. 33:25.167 --> 33:26.497 We're talking about the 33:26.500 --> 33:30.870 fundamental aspects of knowledge. 33:30.867 --> 33:31.327 Theodoric. 33:31.333 --> 33:34.133 Theodoric is a great ruler, but he had a problem that is 33:34.133 --> 33:37.233 typical of many of these barbarian groups: He had to 33:37.233 --> 33:41.033 hold his minority together. 33:41.033 --> 33:45.603 The thing that made Italy the wealthiest, the most 33:45.600 --> 33:48.870 important, the biggest prize for the barbarians, is its 33:48.867 --> 33:52.367 Roman population, its Roman wealth, the preservation of 33:52.367 --> 33:53.497 its cities. 33:53.500 --> 33:56.100 But that also meant that the Ostrogoths were a tiny 33:56.100 --> 33:58.400 proportion of the total population. 33:58.400 --> 34:02.230 He needs to hold them together, but he also needs to 34:02.233 --> 34:03.803 mollify the Romans. 34:09.167 --> 34:11.297 So it's a dangerous place for barbarian rulers. 34:11.300 --> 34:14.570 Odoacer had already been overthrown. 34:14.567 --> 34:16.797 It's too valuable to the Eastern Empire. 34:16.800 --> 34:22.900 And indeed after Theodoric died in 535, very shortly 34:22.900 --> 34:25.600 thereafter the Byzantine Empire, the Eastern Roman 34:25.600 --> 34:29.800 Empire, would invade Italy and devastate it in the course of 34:29.800 --> 34:33.930 conquering it in a twenty years' war. 34:33.933 --> 34:36.273 Now if you look at the map again and turn to North 34:36.267 --> 34:40.697 Africa, you'll see we've got the Vandals in what's now 34:40.700 --> 34:44.000 Tunisia and eastern Algeria. 34:44.000 --> 34:48.470 And then Moorish kingdom and Roman Empire. 34:48.467 --> 34:49.627 Ignore Roman Empire. 34:49.633 --> 34:52.703 I don't know what they're talking about. 34:52.700 --> 34:56.930 Moorish kingdoms, what does that mean? 34:56.933 --> 35:00.933 We don't really know who these people are either. 35:00.933 --> 35:01.833 They're not invaders. 35:01.833 --> 35:04.273 They're desert peoples who have now taken over what was 35:04.267 --> 35:07.427 formerly the Roman Empire, and they're pressing the Vandals. 35:07.433 --> 35:12.503 The Vandals were less accommodating than the 35:12.500 --> 35:13.770 Ostrogoths. 35:16.733 --> 35:21.503 They were more fiercely Arian. 35:24.967 --> 35:28.627 They persecuted the elite of the Roman population, 35:28.633 --> 35:30.503 including the Roman bishops. 35:33.100 --> 35:35.470 But they were very effective rulers. 35:35.467 --> 35:37.427 They had a navy. 35:37.433 --> 35:39.273 They were able to plunder Rome several 35:39.267 --> 35:40.727 times in the 5th century. 35:46.333 --> 35:50.503 But they were beleaguered by these Moorish groups, in other 35:50.500 --> 35:54.130 words native peoples of the North African desert. 35:54.133 --> 35:59.033 And so by 506, their kingdom has shrunk. 35:59.033 --> 36:02.703 They were also a minority in what had been a very populous 36:02.700 --> 36:04.500 part of the Roman Empire. 36:04.500 --> 36:09.830 And they tended to fight among each other. 36:09.833 --> 36:11.503 They had internecine feuds. 36:11.500 --> 36:14.030 And so we're talking about things that are common to many 36:14.033 --> 36:18.203 of these barbarian kingdoms. Disorganization. 36:18.200 --> 36:21.400 Internal fighting. 36:21.400 --> 36:24.230 Alien religious beliefs, particularly the Arian heresy. 36:26.733 --> 36:30.133 And once they've done the plundering, inability really 36:30.133 --> 36:33.773 to start making the economy work very effectively. 36:33.767 --> 36:36.867 The Vandals would be driven out of North Africa, or 36:36.867 --> 36:42.027 obliterated actually, by the Eastern Roman Empire, in the 36:42.033 --> 36:49.533 late 520s, early 530s. 36:49.533 --> 36:51.433 Now I'm not going to go through every one of these, 36:51.433 --> 36:54.933 but I want to give you some examples of accommodation. 36:54.933 --> 36:57.403 Go up to the British Isles. 36:57.400 --> 37:00.370 You'll see it says British kingdoms, that means Celtic 37:00.367 --> 37:07.097 kingdoms whose remnants would later be Wales, Scotland. 37:07.100 --> 37:10.770 And then the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms. The Anglo-Saxons are 37:10.767 --> 37:13.127 invaders who come from the continent 37:13.133 --> 37:15.433 beginning in the 440s. 37:15.433 --> 37:19.873 This is the first place that Rome abandons. 37:19.867 --> 37:24.067 Here it looks more like a conventional invasion. 37:24.067 --> 37:27.567 The invaders come and the Romans pull back their troops 37:27.567 --> 37:31.467 because they're afraid that Gaul is going to fall next. 37:36.200 --> 37:41.100 And this is an island where the Roman impress, the Roman 37:41.100 --> 37:43.270 impact, was less. 37:43.267 --> 37:46.027 There isn't a large Roman majority and a 37:46.033 --> 37:49.803 small German minority. 37:49.800 --> 37:56.600 There is a Celtic majority that blends with the invaders 37:56.600 --> 38:00.430 or that seeks refuge in these independent British kingdoms, 38:00.433 --> 38:03.233 as they're called on the map, to the west. 38:03.233 --> 38:05.973 We don't know very much about what's going on in Britain at 38:05.967 --> 38:10.497 this time because more than Vandal North Africa, more than 38:10.500 --> 38:17.000 Ostrogothic Italy, the past is obliterated. 38:17.000 --> 38:18.700 There's very little Latin being written. 38:18.700 --> 38:23.500 We have very little knowledge of what is going on. 38:23.500 --> 38:28.270 So this is at one extreme of what might be called 38:28.267 --> 38:31.997 Barbarization verses Roman permanence. 38:35.967 --> 38:40.967 We're going to be talking about the Franks later and 38:40.967 --> 38:42.897 we're going to talk a little bit about the Burgundians in 38:42.900 --> 38:43.970 closing today. 38:43.967 --> 38:45.167 But this leaves really among the 38:45.167 --> 38:48.127 important groups the Visigoths. 38:48.133 --> 38:51.403 The Visigoths, the people who in a way started this with 38:51.400 --> 38:56.630 their invasions of the Balkans in the late 4th century. 38:56.633 --> 39:00.473 In 506 they control much of France, the south and the west 39:00.467 --> 39:03.767 particularly, and are trickling into Spain. 39:03.767 --> 39:07.727 We will be following, in reading Gregory of Tours, the 39:07.733 --> 39:14.173 tremendous success of the Franks against the Visigoths. 39:14.167 --> 39:17.367 And so the Visigoths will be pushed out. 39:17.367 --> 39:18.597 What about the Burgundians? 39:21.700 --> 39:23.630 You've read the Burgundian Code-- 39:23.633 --> 39:24.973 anything strike you about it? 39:28.367 --> 39:28.767 Spencer? 39:28.767 --> 39:32.267 Spencer: Mainly it focused on differences between different 39:32.267 --> 39:35.597 classes and emphasized the free men versus the slaves. 39:35.600 --> 39:37.730 Burgundians versus Romans, et cetera. 39:37.733 --> 39:39.703 PROFESSOR: Very status oriented. 39:39.700 --> 39:41.400 STUDENT: I didn't realize there was 39:41.400 --> 39:42.600 so much hair pulling. 39:42.600 --> 39:43.970 PROFESSOR: Yeah, why? 39:43.967 --> 39:45.667 What's that all about? 39:49.500 --> 39:50.000 Yeah? 39:50.000 --> 39:55.230 STUDENT: Well, it talked about the-- in the book it talked 39:55.233 --> 39:57.173 about how long hair became like a status symbol. 39:57.167 --> 39:57.967 PROFESSOR: Yes. 39:57.967 --> 40:02.727 So the question was, what is all this hair pulling? 40:02.733 --> 40:04.673 It's a status symbol. 40:04.667 --> 40:08.767 We'll see that the Merovingian kings wear long hair, 40:08.767 --> 40:10.567 specially long hair. 40:10.567 --> 40:14.567 And when they're finally deposed by the Carolingians, 40:14.567 --> 40:15.967 that hair is cut. 40:15.967 --> 40:18.627 Now of course, all their hair is cut, they're put in 40:18.633 --> 40:19.903 monasteries. 40:19.900 --> 40:24.330 And monks are what's called "tonsured." If they're not 40:24.333 --> 40:27.003 completely bald, they at least are pretty near. 40:30.767 --> 40:34.027 Like many barbarian, so-called barbarian, people, or like 40:34.033 --> 40:35.973 many people period, they're certain signs 40:35.967 --> 40:37.697 of prestige, symbols. 40:42.333 --> 40:47.533 The Burgundian Code is drawn up between 483 and 532. 40:47.533 --> 40:49.303 It's drawn up in different stages. 40:49.300 --> 40:53.030 The Burgundians were closer to [correction: "than"] 40:53.033 --> 40:56.033 the Ostrogoths in degree of Romanization. 40:56.033 --> 40:59.073 They're a group that wants to be Roman, or at least accepted 40:59.067 --> 41:00.627 by the Romans. 41:00.633 --> 41:05.433 They write their own law code in Latin, like the Visigoths, 41:05.433 --> 41:06.703 for example. 41:10.500 --> 41:14.270 They also write a sort of law code for the Roman population. 41:17.333 --> 41:21.303 This law code is aware of disputes between Romans and 41:21.300 --> 41:21.830 Burgundians. 41:21.833 --> 41:24.673 And if each has a different kind of law, then how do you 41:24.667 --> 41:30.727 settle a problem that arises between members of both 41:30.733 --> 41:33.433 communities? 41:33.433 --> 41:35.773 The Burgundian law in itself shows a 41:35.767 --> 41:36.997 lot of Roman influence. 41:39.933 --> 41:46.673 For example, in chapter eighteen you've seen this 41:46.667 --> 41:51.597 title "Of things that happen by chance" and probably didn't 41:51.600 --> 41:54.600 seem very dramatic. 41:54.600 --> 41:58.430 If any animal by chance or any dog by bite causes death to a 41:58.433 --> 42:01.603 man, we order that among Burgundians the ancient rule 42:01.600 --> 42:05.100 of blame be removed henceforth. 42:05.100 --> 42:06.930 This is an interesting question. 42:06.933 --> 42:11.233 If my dog bites you and you die, am I responsible? 42:15.167 --> 42:17.727 Is your brother going to have to kill me? 42:17.733 --> 42:21.303 That's what the Burgundian tradition would have been. 42:21.300 --> 42:29.300 But here they say if it's an accident, then your brother 42:29.300 --> 42:30.570 can't kill me. 42:36.133 --> 42:37.133 This is the difference between -- this is a tricky problem. 42:37.133 --> 42:39.833 Those of you who have the good fortune to go to law school 42:39.833 --> 42:43.103 are going to study this first year: torts. 42:43.100 --> 42:47.370 A tort is a so-called civil wrong as opposed to a crime. 42:47.367 --> 42:50.227 A crime is where I kill you because I want to. 42:50.233 --> 42:58.303 A tort is I leave a roller skate out on the sidewalk, you 42:58.300 --> 43:00.770 trip and die. 43:00.767 --> 43:07.167 I'm not going to be considered in the same league as someone 43:07.167 --> 43:10.897 who poisoned you, but that roller skate 43:10.900 --> 43:12.500 shouldn't be there. 43:12.500 --> 43:14.200 And of course this is a crucial thing. 43:14.200 --> 43:16.970 For example, I've learned, fortunately not from 43:16.967 --> 43:21.997 experience, but from neighbors after Hurricane Irene, that if 43:22.000 --> 43:29.630 a tree in my yard falls on your house, I'm not to blame. 43:29.633 --> 43:32.033 Your insurance is going to have to cover that. 43:32.033 --> 43:33.903 I'm really sorry about that tree. 43:33.900 --> 43:37.500 But if you warned me, "I don't like the look of that 43:37.500 --> 43:38.970 tree in your yard. 43:38.967 --> 43:41.097 It's leaning over like this. 43:41.100 --> 43:43.130 I'm afraid in the next storm it's going to fall in on your 43:43.133 --> 43:45.533 house," and I don't do anything, then my 43:45.533 --> 43:48.103 understanding is that I'm liable for negligence. 43:50.800 --> 43:54.000 This was a present and obvious nuisance. 43:54.000 --> 43:56.800 It was an obvious threat, and my neighbor called my 43:56.800 --> 43:57.730 attention to it. 43:57.733 --> 44:00.403 And I didn't do anything. 44:00.400 --> 44:03.300 So next time it storms and your house is threatened by 44:03.300 --> 44:06.600 somebody else's tree, just as the wind starts to blow go 44:06.600 --> 44:08.600 next door and say, you know, I don't like the look of that 44:08.600 --> 44:11.000 tree on your property. 44:11.000 --> 44:13.000 You better do something. 44:13.000 --> 44:14.230 These are real legal questions. 44:14.233 --> 44:18.003 And they are handled in here with some sophistication. 44:18.000 --> 44:21.500 On the other hand, there is vengeance. 44:21.500 --> 44:23.370 It's OK to practice vengeance. 44:26.267 --> 44:28.597 But there are some limitations. 44:28.600 --> 44:35.800 For example, if I kill you, your relatives can kill me, 44:35.800 --> 44:39.100 but they can't just kill my cousin. 44:39.100 --> 44:42.500 This is sort of individual-directed and not 44:42.500 --> 44:43.770 clan-directed vengeance. 44:47.000 --> 44:51.970 There's a lot of talk about compensation and wergeld for 44:51.967 --> 44:58.467 victims. How much you pay. 44:58.467 --> 45:00.197 Whether you grab them by the hair. 45:00.200 --> 45:03.130 Whether you cut off which finger. 45:03.133 --> 45:07.733 Whether they were free or slave. Whether they were a 45:07.733 --> 45:11.373 skilled artisan or a serf. 45:11.367 --> 45:15.127 I love title ten. 45:15.133 --> 45:18.033 "If anyone kills a slave, barbarian by birth, a trained 45:18.033 --> 45:22.433 house servant or messenger, let him compound 60 solidi. 45:22.433 --> 45:26.973 But 200 solidi if the slave is a skilled goldsmith." 40 45:26.967 --> 45:29.167 solidi for a carpenter, and so forth. 45:31.800 --> 45:35.930 If you cut off someone's arm, it's half of their wergeld. 45:35.933 --> 45:37.433 Wergeld is like murder. 45:37.433 --> 45:39.203 Their murder value. 45:39.200 --> 45:41.870 So I have a murder value of 100 solidi. 45:41.867 --> 45:44.667 Cut off an arm, you've got to pay me 50 solidi. 45:44.667 --> 45:48.267 This seems pretty crude, doesn't it? 45:48.267 --> 45:52.027 How does it strike you? 45:52.033 --> 45:52.473 Yes? 45:52.467 --> 45:57.197 STUDENT: Yeah, it does seem crude, but I think it gives a 45:57.200 --> 45:59.070 solution to something that could cause a total outbreak, 45:59.067 --> 46:00.097 a civil war. 46:00.100 --> 46:03.070 PROFESSOR: It is a maintenance of peace. 46:03.067 --> 46:07.097 And what about victims' compensation? 46:10.067 --> 46:15.767 In the Western legal tradition, if you injure me, 46:15.767 --> 46:21.027 it's a crime against the peace, and the state punishes 46:21.033 --> 46:23.003 the perpetrator. 46:23.000 --> 46:26.270 Only relatively recently has this notions of victims' 46:26.267 --> 46:32.627 rights, victims' compensation, been entered. 46:32.633 --> 46:35.933 Which is like a reversion back to the notion that the crime 46:35.933 --> 46:40.233 really injures not the state or the king or the peace that 46:40.233 --> 46:44.903 we all take for granted, but the 46:44.900 --> 46:47.830 individual who is affected. 46:47.833 --> 46:50.433 But what makes it seem crude is the 46:50.433 --> 46:53.703 specificity of the offenses. 46:53.700 --> 46:58.930 If you look at the Connecticut Criminal Code, it's not quite 46:58.933 --> 47:02.503 so precise about hair pulling. 47:02.500 --> 47:05.170 If anyone seizes a freeman by the hair, the fine is greater 47:05.167 --> 47:07.927 if he's seized with two hands than one. 47:11.867 --> 47:13.267 Maybe that has to do with intent. 47:16.133 --> 47:18.003 One arm might be instinct. 47:18.000 --> 47:19.270 I'm pulling your hair. 47:19.267 --> 47:24.627 But two hands argues of serious intent to do harm. 47:24.633 --> 47:27.733 Or it's more humiliating. 47:27.733 --> 47:33.373 This is a culture in which there's an awful lot of shame 47:33.367 --> 47:38.027 and compensation for public shaming. 47:38.033 --> 47:41.473 A lot of questions of personal status. 47:41.467 --> 47:46.497 In title four about theft, if a slave commits a theft he's 47:46.500 --> 47:49.870 either beaten or killed, end of story. 47:49.867 --> 47:55.267 Freemen, that is to say people who are not slaves, pay fines 47:55.267 --> 47:56.527 and compensation. 47:59.100 --> 48:00.770 It's a violent society. 48:00.767 --> 48:04.097 Course all criminal codes show various forms of violence. 48:04.100 --> 48:05.430 There's a lot of mutilation. 48:05.433 --> 48:07.133 There are a lot of assaults on women. 48:12.300 --> 48:16.100 Compensation for assaults on free women are paid to the 48:16.100 --> 48:20.800 women themselves, but a native freeman who assaults a 48:20.800 --> 48:24.370 maid-servant must pay the master. 48:24.367 --> 48:28.027 Maid-servant, as a slave, is regarded as a commodity. 48:31.733 --> 48:34.673 And then finally, it's a society in which, at least 48:34.667 --> 48:38.127 according to the official law code, men are more valued than 48:38.133 --> 48:42.873 women, or men are less regulated than women. 48:42.867 --> 48:49.167 If a man breaks a marriage, in title thirty four, he's fined 48:49.167 --> 48:51.897 if he goes and runs off with another woman. 48:51.900 --> 48:55.270 If a woman goes off and runs off with another man, she's to 48:55.267 --> 48:56.527 be smothered to death. 48:59.900 --> 49:01.600 On that enlightened note, we'll leave 49:01.600 --> 49:03.600 the Burgundian Code. 49:03.600 --> 49:06.530 And indeed we're going to leave the barbarians only for 49:06.533 --> 49:07.603 a little while. 49:07.600 --> 49:10.670 Next week we're going to talk about the Eastern Roman Empire 49:10.667 --> 49:13.797 and why it survived and even why it flourished.