Rome and the Early Germans: Some Sociolinguistic Observations

Abstract

It is common knowledge that the Roman Empire declined and fell, and that in Western Europe the pieces were picked up by various Germanic nations, such as the Visigoths, whose kingdom in the south of France lasted from 419 to 507 A.D. and then continued in Spain from 507 to 711. It was of the Arian persuasion until shortly after the conversion to Catholicism of King Reccared in 587. The Vandals under Gaiseric crossed from Spain into Northern Africa in 429 and established a kingdom there which lasted until 534 when they were defeated by an imperial army under the command of Belisarius. The Vandals were apparently converted to Arianism shortly before their departure from Spain and kept to this faith until the end. Around 482 Clovis inherited the Frankish kingdom from his father Childeric. Clovis was converted to Catholicism in 498. He extended the kingdom to include most of Gaul and large parts of Germany. The Ostrogothic kingdom which included all of Italy and parts of the Balkans began in 493 with th killing of Odoacer by Theodoric and lasteduntil 553. It also remained Arian. Finally the Langobardic kingdom, which covered most of Italy, lasted from 568 to 774. g It was Arian in religion until shortly after the conversion of Agilulf in 607. In all of the above cases the Germanic conquerors lost their native languages. In the remaining parts of the Germanic world, that is, to the North and East of France, the Germanic languages were maintained, but the syntax, the conceptual framework underlying the lexicon, and most of the literary forms were thoroughly latinized.