The period of the Great Migrations was one of the main reasons for the downfall of the Roman empire, though the degeneration of the empire had already started in the period before so the Great Migrations can even partially be seen as the result of this degeneration.
The Great Migrations are often seen as the end of civilization and the beginning of the "dark" Middle Ages; although events were not written down as frequent in the early Middle Ages as it was done under Roman rule it certainly did not mean that there was a decline in culture, technology, or "civilization"; it actually increased contacts between the various peoples of Europe and caused an exchange of culture and technology which eventually influenced the flow of European history.
The main reason for this belief is that the Great Migrations caused a lot of wars, conflicts, government changes, and other tensions which resulted in a "loss" of technology as well as a temporary stagnation of cultural developements, this is something that is inevitable during a time of crisis; this events also took place in earlier times and can still be seen in our modern time, so the theory in which the "low developed culture" of the Germanic peoples is blamed for the decline in cultural and technological developements during the early Middle Ages is not only out of date but also totally laughable because this kind of developements can be seen throughout history; wars, conflicts, and other tensions can cause a degeneration of developements in every culture, whatever their identity may be.
Now that this misunderstanding is out of the way I can start writing about one of the most intriguing events of human history; the Great Migrations.
Roman decline:
Before the Great Migrations the power of Rome was already fading, the stability of the empire had almost disintegrated and Rome was ruled by another emperor almost every year; between 193 and 284 Rome was ruled by over 50 emperors and counter-emperors (a new one every 2 years), most of whom were completely incompetent and unsuited for their job.
At some point emperor Constantine divided the Roman empire into two parts; the Western empire and the Eastern empire, which would later become the Byzantine empire.
During the Great Migrations both empires would suffer attacks from neighbouring peoples, which eventually lead to the destruction of the Western empire.
The first attacks:
In 235AD the Roman empire was attacked; Germanic tribes crossed the rivers Rhine and Danube and invaded Gaul and other Roman border provinces where they started plundering, they did this so fanatically that 31 of the 87 Roman cities in Gallia Belgica were destroyed, around the same time the Persians crossed the river Euphrates into the Roman held territory in the Middle East.
A short time later, in 250AD, the Goths invaded the Balkans and even penetrated into Asia Minor (modern day Turkey), the Alemannians invaded Italy and the Franconians invaded Gaul and Spain, this massive invasions effectively broke the Roman economy and governmental cohesion which prevented them from reacting to most of the threats.
In the years before, the Roman empire had been reorganised and was divided in two parts; the Western and the Eastern empire, this form of ruling proved to be effective but would later cause a rift between the two empires.
After the western part of the Roman empire had been overrun by Germanic tribes the eastern part separated itself, but after the defeat of the Goths the two empires unified themselves again and were reorganized by emperor Diocletianus.
The first invasion of the Huns and the dispersal of the Goths:
In 374AD Europe was invaded by the Huns who defeated the Iranian tribe of the Alanians (or Alanes), after having been defeated by the Huns the Alanians decided to join them and together they attacked the Ostrogoths who had settled north of the Black sea, the Ostrogothic empire was destroyed and the Ostrogoths were forced into an alliance with the Huns, king Ermanarik commited suicide to avoid being enslaved by the Huns.
The Visigoths who lived west of the Ostrogoths did not await their destruction by the Huns and most of them decided to leave the area to look for a safe haven.
100.000 Visigoths retreated to the Danube and requested a strip of land within the Roman borders; emperor Valens did not trust the Visigoths one bit though he eventually agreed with their request, but in return they had to leave their weapons at the border, surrender their young men as hostages to the Romans, and they had to pay cash for their food.
The Visigoths agreed to this terms but would soon regret it since the Romans severely abused and exploited the submissive position in which the Goths were positioned, they asked enormous amounts of money for food which caused a famine that took the lives of many Gothic families.
To "increase the relations between the Romans and the Visigoths" the Roman commanders Lupicinus and Maximus invited the Gothic chieftain Fritigern and his friends to a party, but instead of increasing relations the Romans were planning to assassinate Fritigern and they secretly started to kill his friends while Fritigern was dining in another room, during his dinner Fritigern suddenly heard his friends screaming for help and he realized that the Romans had lured him into a trap; he drew his sword and fought his way out of the banqueting-hall, he saved his friends and together they killed Lupicinus and Maximus after which they escaped the building.
The Goths became furious and decided that they did not had to hold their part of the deal anymore either; they secretly obtained weapons and rebelled against the Romans, they liberated their young men and within a short time the entire province of Dacia was under their control.
Emperor Valens amassed an army and attacked the Visigoths at Adrianople (see: battles) but the Roman army was utterly defeated by Fritigern who made emperor Valens suffer heavy losses, including his own life.
As a revenge for the emperor's death the Roman general Julius killed all his Gothic prisoners, with this action he hoped to instill fear upon the Goths, but it worked opposite as intended; the Goths were now even more furious and increased their raids on the Balkan.
It took the Romans 7 years to calm down the Goths, eventually the Western Roman emperor Gratianus gave the Visitgoths their own territory in which he allowed them to live in freedom under their own leaders and laws.
The Romans abandon Britain and Gaul:
In 395AD the Eastern Roman empire lost its new emperor Theodocius, he was succeeded by his two sons Arcadius (17) and Honorius (11); this two little boys both gained control over a world empire; Arcadius over the Eastern Roman empire and Honorius over the Western Roman empire, as you can probably imagine this responsability was too big for them, especially for Honorius, who chose to be assisted by Stilicho, a Vandal who had aquired a high rank within the Roman military.
In 400AD the Visigoths started plundering the Balkans once again under their famous king Alarik.
Stilicho, who remained loyal to his little protégé, responded by sending an army to the Balkans to end the Visigothic raids but the Goths simply went somewhere else.
A short time later the Visigoths suddenly appeared in Italy which forced Stilicho to retreat legions from Britain and Gaul to use them to protect Rome, this left an enormous gap in the border defences that allowed the Celtic tribes of Britain (Picts and Scots) to conquer the Roman territories to the south of the island and the Germanic tribes to take huge parts of Gaul; from 406AD and for a long period thereafter they migrated into Gaul where they founded small kingdoms which slowly eroded the Roman influence over the area.
In most history books the Germanic migrations into northern Gaul are depicted as hostile invasions but in most areas the Germans were welcomed as liberators by a happy population who were finally rid of the greedy Roman taxcollectors.
While Gaul was being taken by other Germanic tribes the Visigoths had reached the city of Pollentia where they clashed with the Roman legions, after a heavy battle Stilicho managed to defeat the Visigoths which forced Alarik to retreat from Italy, although the Romans had won the battle they had little to celebrate about because they had just lost some very important provinces, despite this Stilicho and Honorius held a victory parade in Rome shortly thereafter, which would be the last one in Rome's history.
The death of Stilicho:
Due to the loss of Britain and Gaul the Roman nobles lost their faith in Stilicho and started killing his friends and allies one by one, Stilicho's friends advised him to impeach the weak emperor Honorius and take the throne for himself but he hesitated and soon everybody abandoned him out of selfprotection, Stilicho fled to Ravenna where he seeked shelter in a church because in those times it was an unwritten rule that someone who touched a church altar could not be harmed (a custom that was continued into the Middle Ages), the Roman nobles who were waiting outside promised Stilicho that they would not hurt him and with an excuse he was lured outside; as soon as Stilicho came out of the church he was seized by the Romans and decapitated.
Stilicho's biggest enemy had been Olympius, who immediately after his death started to kill everybody who had something to do with him.
Olympius was afraid of Stilicho's popularity under the Germanic troops in the Roman army and he feared a rebellion, therefor he fired all Germanic generals and killed the women and children of all Germanic soldiers who served in the Roman army to show them his authority, with this unnecessary murders he tried to keep them calm but as you can imagine he reached the exact opposite with this action; the Germanic legionaries were outraged when they heard of Olympius' deed and almost every single one of them deserted to the Visigoths, Alarik gratefully formed a new army of them and invaded Italy.
The Visigoths attack Rome:
Alarik's army quickly marched through Italy and reached Rome; emperor Honorius fled to Ravenna while the Romans did nothing to attack the Visigoths, according to the Roman historian Ammianus Marcellinus the Romans had became soft and spoiled because of their exaggerated luxury.
The citizens of Rome were too cowardice to attack the Goths and vented their fear and anger upon a defenceless woman named Serena, who was the widow of Stilicho; they accused her of espionage for the Goths and strangled her without a trial.
After some weeks the foodsupplies of Rome were exhausted and chaos had broken out within the walls, 60.000 Germanic slaves took advantage of this and freed themselves after which they started a rebellion from the inside, now the Romans did not only had an enemy to fight on the outside but also one on the inside, as a last resort the Roman senate decided to send two envoys to the Goths to discuss a peace treaty.
The envoys approached Alarik and proudly told him that they came to sign an honourful treaty and that if he did not cooperated with them they would let their weapons decide the outcome...
Alarik and the other Visigoths who were present at the meeting bursted out in derisive laughter and the Roman envoys quickly tempered their attitude and asked what they had to do to avoid a Gothic attack, Alarik told the Romans that he wanted all of Rome's gold and silver and that all Germanic slaves had to be freed and brought to him.
The Romans started collecting their gold and silver but soon they found out that it was not enough so they even had to melt their gold and silver statues.
All Germanic slaves were released and under loud cheers they walked out of the gates of Rome to team up with their liberators, the Visigoths loaded the gold and silver onto their wagons and even offered the Romans a permanent peace treaty in exchange for some lands in Italy, but this was refused; the Visigoths assembled their troops and left.
The death of Alarik:
A short time later Alarik invaded Italy for a second time and this time he decided to take Rome without giving them the opportunity to buy off the attack; he allowed his men to plunder for 3 days and they completely emptied the city.
After 3 days of looting Alarik continued his campaign into southern Italy from where he planned to cross the Mediteranian into northern Africa, however, he could never carry out this plan because in 410AD king Alarik suddenly died.
His men prepared a spectacular funeral for him; near the city of Cosentia (or Consenza) they ordered their Roman prisoners to divert the river Busento and dig a grave in its former bed, after that Alarik was placed into the grave with his weapons and many valuables after which the dam was broken and the river started following his own route again, the Goths brought their great king a last honour and watched how the river closed itself above Alarik's grave.
The Goths then killed all Roman prisoners who had built the grave so that they could never tell where Alarik was buried and even today the location of his grave remains a mystery.
The Visigoths move westwards:
After Alarik's death the Visigoths were so shaken by the loss of their leader that they decided not to invade northern Africa, they elected Alarik's brother-in-law Athaulf (or Athavulf) as their new king after which they turned around and travelled through Italy towards southern Gaul.
In 415 Athaulf was murdered by Euervulf who was one of his own men, he was succeeded by Segerik but only a short time later he was also killed by a conspiracy of his own men.
The next king was Wallia, who decided to ally himself with the Romans who asked him to retake Spain for them, which they had lost to the Alanians, Vandals, and Suebians in the years before.
The Visigoths invaded Spain and defeated the Vandals and Suebians who retreated to the northwest, the Iranian tribe of the Alanians was completely destroyed and the Goths took Spain.
The Romans were thankful that the Visigoths had retaken Spain for them and gave them a huge part of southern Gaul between the rivers Garonne and Loire, the Visigoths founded their empire there with Tolosa (Toulouse) as its capital and made a wealthy country of it.
After the Visigoths had handed over Spain to the Romans the Vandals and Suebians took their chance; they quickly recaptured their lost lands and around 425AD the whole of Spain was under their control again, now the Romans had not only lost Spain again, but also southern Gaul, which they had given to the Visigoths.
The Visigoths couldn't care less about the loss of Spain since it wasn't their territory anymore so the only provinces that remained of the western Roman empire were Italy and northern Africa.
For the years to come both the Western and Eastern Roman empire were ruled by incompetent emperors, this changed when the Roman general Aetius gained control over Western Rome.
The Huns:
During the wars between the Visigoths and the Romans the Huns had advanced further westwards into Europe, the Ostrogoths and small groups of Visigoths who had stayed behind in the area were scattered throughout Eastern Europe and the Balkans where they lived in small kingdoms and tribal groups that were mostly subordinate to the Huns, eventually the Huns became so powerful that even the Romans had to pay tribute to the most powerful Hunnic kings.
When one of those kings died he was succeeded by his two nephews Attila and Bleda, Attila was an ambitious fellow who hungered for power and conquest and he secretly assassinated his brother Bleda after which he took over control of one of the most powerful Hunnic groups, he quickly succeeded in uniting the other Huns and even managed to subject many Slavonic, Sarmatian, and Germanic tribes to his rule.
In many Germanic sources Attila was named "Etzel" or "Atli", interesting information about him can be found in the Nibelungenlied and the Hlöðskviða.
According to Roman historians the Huns had a very fearsome appearance; they artificially flattened their skulls (like the Aztecs did), wore drooping moustaches, and their faces were covered with scars because the Huns always cut up their children at a young age since they believed that a child first had to endure pain before it was allowed to have the pleasure of drinking its mother's milk.
They also said that the Huns ate children but that information has proven to be exaggerated, the rest was not...
The Huns also introduced new inventions to Europe like an improved version of the short bow, new cavalry tactics, and an unusual form of armour; wide silk cloathing that could slow down the velocity of impacting arrows to make them less deadly.
The Huns were a nomadic people who lived off the land and did not knew farming or other forms of cultivation, they were mainly supported by their cattle and their allies who provided them with food, weapons, and supplies.
They did not build houses or villages but instead lived in trailers and tents that they called "yurts", the Huns did not leave anything behind and after they had disappeared from Europe they also vanished from recorded history.
The Hunnic invasions were connected to the expansion of the Mongols in Asia, eventually the Mongols created one of the biggest empires the world had ever seen and their Hunnic allies also added many European lands to their empire.
Although the Huns were obedient to the Mongols they were not an Asian people, the Huns were nomadic peoples of Turkish origin who came from central Asia, the people from modern Turkey are also descendants of the central Asian Turks, another name for this people was "Tartars", the Huns also had many Sarmatian, Slavonic, and Germanic allies, even Mongols from eastern Asia have campaigned with them.
The second invasion of the Huns:
In 446 and 447AD the Huns invaded the Eastern Roman empire and destroyed at least 70 Greek cities, the Romans could do nothing and were forced to sign a peace treaty under humiliating terms.
The Western Roman empire had managed to stay out of trouble for a long time because Aetius had signed an alliance with the Huns, in 451 this came to an end when Attila decided to conquer Gaul and invaded western Europe with an enormous army of half a million men, they marched trough Germania and crossed the Rhine into Gaul, most Germanic tribes decided not to resist and allowed the Huns to travel trough their territory peacefully to avoid problems, only the Burgundians resisted and were utterly defeated, which is described in the Eddan text "Hlöðskviða", after some time the Huns arrived in Gaul where they started besieging the important city of Orléans.
In the meantime the Western Roman empire and several Germanic tribes had decided to team up to defeat the Huns and had amassed an enormous army under the Roman general Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodorik I, they quickly marched to Gaul and arrived at Orléans; when Attila saw the Roman/Germanic army approaching he decided to retreat because his horsemen were in a disadvantage on the current terrain they were positioned on; Orléans was saved.
The battle on the Catalaunian fields:
Aetius and Theodorik pursued the Huns to the Catalaunian fields, in 451AD, near the modern French city of Châlons-súr-marne the two armies clashed (see: battles); the Roman/Germanic army was lead by Aetius and the Visigothic king Theodorik while the Hunnic army was lead by Attila and the Ostrogothic king Walamir.
Between the two armies were hills that were immediately occupied by the Visigoths at the start of the battle, which gave them an important advantage over the Huns, the Huns sent their Germanic allies the Ostrogoths and Gepides to retake the hill but even after numerous stormings the Visigoths managed to keep the hills under their control.
Aetius tried to save his own men where he could and let the Visigoths take the blows, the losses on both sides were terrible and a river that ran through the battlefield was coloured red with blood, around 160.000 men lost their lives, including king Theodorik who had bravely fought side by side with his men; he was killed by the spear of an Ostrogoth.
After the death of king Theodorik the Visigoths became nervous, but while the battle was still raging his son Thorismund declared himself the new king of the Visigoths and with renewed energy they continued the battle; the Huns slowly began losing ground and Attila decided to retreat; for the first time in history the Huns had suffered defeat.
Attila fortified himself in a "wagon-fortess", a circle of wagons that acted as a defensive position, within the wagon-fortress he ordered his men to build a funeral pyre so that he could commit suicide and burn himself when the enemy penetrated into his base.
The final attack that Attila feared did not came; the Romans and Visigoths had also suffered many losses and Thorismund had to leave the battlefield to secure his throne, he marched his army to southern Gaul while Aetius allowed Attila to retreat safely because he feared that without the Huns the Visigoths would take entire Gaul.
The Huns retreated over the Rhine and travelled back to the east; although the Huns had not been defeated western Europe was saved.
The end of Hunnic rule over Europe:
Aetius' irresponsible decision allowed Attila to reorganize his army and replenish his troops, when he heard that the Visigoths had marched back to southern Gaul he decided to take the chance; in 452AD he invaded Italy and while looting and plundering his men advanced southwards, the city of Aquileja resisted against the Huns and was totally destroyed, the Huns killed most of its citizens including women, children, and old people, the survivors of the carnage fled into the marshes of northern Italy where they founded a new city that would later become one of the most beautiful and famous cities of Italy; Venice.
Attila reached Rome and was approached by Roman envoys who were accompanied by pope Leo I who asked Attila to spare Rome.
At that same moment Attila saw an enormous man with a sword standing behind the pope, he quickly looked around and noticed that nobody else saw the man, he considered this a sign from the gods and spared Rome, he accepted a periodical tribute and left.
The real reason for Attila's retreat was probably the plague that had broken out in Rome, though most Christian writers prefered the legend of the man that appeared behind Attila, and turned him into an angel who was sent by their god.
Not soon thereafter (in 453AD) Attila died during his wedding night with the Germanic princess Ildiko (who is named Kriemhild or Gudrun in the saga's), the exact cause of his death remains a mystery, some sources say he was poisoned by his fiancée who sought revenge for her family's death though others believe it was a torn artery.
After Attila's death the Hunnic empire fell apart, the Huns retreated through Russia to the east and disappeared from history as quickly as they had come.
The Vandals conquer northern Africa:
General Aetius was becoming more and more popular among the Roman population, something that troubled the Western Roman emperor Valentinianus III who was afraid of losing his power to Aetius; therefor he lured him to the palace with an excuse, when Aetius bowed before him he pulled a knife and stabbed him, after that the emperor's lackeys finished the murder.
The Roman people became furious when they heard of the murder, but Valentinianus simply ignored them and went on with his daily business as if nothing had happened.
Some time later Bonifacius, the governor of the Roman province of Africa, rebelled against his emperor and asked king Genserik (also known as Geiserik or Geyserik) of the Vandals for support; the Vandals, who were based in Spain (the Spanish province of Andalusia is even named after them), raised an army of 80.000 men and crossed the Mediterranian, with a swift attack they conquered entire northern Africa, including the territory of Bonifacius(!)
On October 19, 439AD the Vandals conquered the mighty city of Carthago after which Genserik lead them to more victories in Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and the Baleares.
The Vandals liked Africa with its sea, palmtrees, and sunny beaches and decided to stay, which was highly against the wish of the Romans whose territory it actually was.
The Romans however, had other things on their minds because emperor Valentinianus III had just been assassinated and was succeeded by Petronius Maximus, this caused internal unrest that prevented the Romans from responding.
The Vandals plunder Rome:
"Offence is the best defence", must have been the thoughts of King Genserik, who did not wait for a Roman attack but instead invaded Italy; he crossed the Mediterranian back into Europe and in 455AD the Vandals appeared before the gates of Rome.
The citizens of Rome were terrified and the city was ruled by anarchy, the senate asked emperor Petronius what should be done; "Run for our lives of course!" the emperor replied, and together with the senate the emperor fled the palace.
When the Roman citizens saw the emperor and his nobles literally running away from their responsibilities they became furious; they killed him and threw his body into the Tiber.
They then sent pope Leo I outside to speak with Genserik just like he had done with Attila, but Genserik was not very impressed by the pope and he refused to agree to a tribute, though he did promise the pope that he would not burn the city or harm its inhabitants.
The Vandals marched into Rome and started plundering, in their search for valuables they wrecked the entire city and even the golden rooftiles of the Capitol were stolen from the building, for 14 days the Vandals pillaged Rome and trashed the place so severely that the word "vandalism" is still used today for a pointless destruction.
However, it must be said that Genserik kepts his word; he spared the people of Rome and not even a single fire was lit.
After plundering Rome the Vandals travelled back to Africa from where they started to conduct piracy on the Mediterranian, for this they developed a new tactic; they loaded horses on their ships that they used to penetrate deeply into enemy territory after a landing, this allowed them to quickly plunder cities and before a successfull counterattack could be launched the Vandals were already back in their boats.
Because of the continuous attacks on their coastal cities the Western- and Eastern Roman empire decided to team up and organized an invasion to defeat the Vandals and take back northern Africa, they equipped a large fleet and loaded it with soldiers.
When king Genserik heard of the Roman plans he thought out a plan; using a trick he set fire on the wooden Roman ships and the mighty fleet sank beneath the waves.
In the years thereafter Genserik was succeeded by Thrasamund and the Vandal kingdom grew into a powerful and wealthy land, in the centuries before the Germans had only visited northern Africa as Roman slaves but now they had returned as masters; they lived in luxurious villas, learned Latin, and dominated much of northern Algeria, Tunisia, northern Libia, Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, and the Baleares.
The end of the Western Roman empire:
In the meantime the Western Roman empire was lead by yet another emperor; Anthemius, who got a quarrel with Ricimer, who was a Suebian and the commander-in-chief of all Germanic troops in the Roman army, this resulted in a battle that was won by Ricimer and his soldiers.
According to what had almost become a well-established Germanic custom Ricimer and his men plundered Rome yet again to celebrate their victory, and on top of all that the black plague broke out in the city which killed many Roman citizens.
Much to the relief of many Romans Ricimer also died of the plage, which ended at least one of Rome's many problems.
A new problem for the Romans appeared on the horizon in the form of Odoaker (whose Germanic name was probably "Audawakrs"), who had amassed an enormous army formed out of a coalition of Germanic tribes, they wanted to settle in southern Italy but this was forbidden by the current Roman emperor, therefor Odoaker (also known as "Odoacer") decided to take entire Italy.
He defeated the weakened Roman army, impeached Romulus Augustulus, and appointed himself "King of all Germanic peoples in Italy"; in 476AD the Western Roman empire ceased to exist which officially ended the Classical times and started a new era that would later become known as the "Middle Ages."
A short time thereafter Odoaker's Italian empire was invaded by an enormous army of 500.000 Ostrogoths under king Theodorik the Great (whose real name was Þiudareiks), Odoaker was killed and the Ostrogoths established a kingdom in Italy.
Not only the Western Roman empire had been the scene of Germanic migrations, in 449AD the Anglo-Saxons invaded Great Britain from where they would slowly take over control over the island while the Germanic control over eastern Europe faded; many tribes had been driven from their lands in the east and the attacks of the Huns had destroyed the empire of the Ostrogoths and depopulated large areas of land that were settled by Slavonic tribes who even crossed the river Vistula into Germania itself; much of what is now modern Poland was settled by a group of 600 Slavs who even temporarily held areas in what is now eastern Germany.
In the years thereafter most Germanic tribes were Christianized and absorbed into new states like the Franconian empire, which eventually ended the power of the individual tribes, however, some years later another Germanic people started invading Europe; the Vikings.
Conclusion:
After the fall of the Western Roman empire a remnant of the once mighty Roman empire continued to exist for some centuries in the form of the Byzantine empire, however, the control over Europe was now in the hands of Germanic tribes; they founded kingdoms and empires that they even develeloped beyond their level during Roman times, with this they laid the foundations of many modern European countries like France, Germany, and England.
The Romans would not have believed it if someone had told them this some centuries ago; a large area from the Sahara desert to the cold north of Scandinavia was now controlled by a people who they had once called "barbarians"...
The Romans abandon Britain and Gaul:
The Huns:
The end of the Western Roman empire: