V. Wiped Out By The Slavic Settlement? The Issue Of Continuity Between Antiquity And The Early Middle Ages In The Slovene Area

Abstract

In this chapter the author defines the significance for Slovene history of the Slavic settlement in the Eastern Alps and its river basins during the late 6th century. The sentences written by two leading Slovene medievalists of their time capture the essence of the issue that conditions the answer to the question: Wiped out by the Slavic Settlement?. That issue is the continuity or discontinuity between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages in Slovene territory, and it is an issue of general history. Under the influence of humanists who saw the Migration Period as the violent destruction of the Roman Empire and the culture and traditions of Antiquity, the generally accepted view in the 18th century was that of a total break between Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages, an opinion that was revised only in the past century.Keywords: antiquity; early middle ages; Eastern Alps; Roman Empire; Slavic settlement; Slovene history