THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY I 153
The Institutions of Romano-Gothic Society
10-8. The Institutions of Romano-Gothic Society
The social economy proceeded, on the whole, on the same lines as before, i.e. through coloni and slaves, from whose toil the owners derived their principal support, at least in so far as it was a question of food. For the Goths, whose favourite occupations were warfare and the chase, had no inclination to devote themselves to arduous agricultural toil.
They only wanted to control directly the rearing of cattle, as they did of old; animal food seems to have been provided principally by means of large herds of swine. The revolution which the partition of land brought about in the habits of the Goths was too powerful not to exert the deepest influence on all the conditions of life. The rich revenues led to the display of a wanton and indolent way of living; the close contact with the Romans, who were for the most part morally decadent, was bound to affect injuriously a people so famous in earlier times for its austere manners. The old national bonds of union, besides having been relaxed through the migration, now from the scattering of the mass in colonisation lost more and more of their original importance, since kinsmen need no longer be companions on the farmstead in order to obtain a living. The adoption of the Roman conditions of land-holding obliged the Goths to accept numerous legal arrangements which were foreign to their national law and altered its principles considerably.
Nevertheless the national consciousness was strong enough to prevent it from merging itself quickly and completely in the Roman system; in contrast to the Ostrogoths who did nothing but carefully conserve the Roman institutions which they found, the Visigoths are remarkable for an attitude in many respects independent towards the foreign organisation. The entire power of government lay in the hands of the king, but the several rulers did not succeed in making their power absolute.
Outwardly the Visigoth king was only slightly distinguished from the other freemen; like them he wore the national skin garment, and long curly hair. The raised seat as well as the sword appear as tokens of royal power, the insignia such as the purple mantle and the crown do not come till later. The succession to the throne follows the system peculiar to the old German constitution of combined election and inheritance. After the death of Alaric I his brother-in-law Ataulf was chosen king; thus a kindred connexion played an important part in this choice. Ataulf 's friendliness to Rome had placed him in opposition to the great mass of the people, therefore his successor was not his brother, as he had wished, but first Sigerich and then Wallia, who both belonged to other houses. The elevation of Theodoric I is also an instance of free election; the royal dignity remained in his house for over a century. Thorismud was appointed king by the army; the succession of Theodoric II, Euric, and Alaric II, on the other hand, was only confirmed by popular recognition.
Just as the people regularly took a part in the choice of the successor to the throne, so their influence was often brought to bear on the sovereign's conduct of government. After the settlement in Gaul there could certainly no longer be any question of a national assembly in the old sense of the word, especially after the great expansion of territory under Euric. Meetings of all the freemen had become impossible on account of the expansion of the Gothic colonies. The circle of those who could obey the call to assemble became, therefore, smaller and smaller, while in carrying out the principal public functions, such as the coronation of the king, only those of the people who happened to be present at the place of election or who lived in the immediate neighbourhood, could as a rule take part. The importance which the commonalty hereby lost was gained by the nobility, an aristocracy founded on personal service to the king. It was only in the army that the greater part of the people found opportunity of expressing its will.
It is certain that among the Visigoths, as among the Franks, regular military assemblies were held, which at first served the purpose of reviews and were under the command of the king. In these assemblies important political questions were discussed; but the decision of the people was not always for the welfare of the State. The kingdom was subdivided very nearly on the lines of the previous Roman divisions into provinciae, and these again into civitates (territoria).
At the head of the province was the dux as magistrate for Goths and Romans. He was also, as his title implies, in the first place the commander of the militia in his district, and he provided also the final authority and appeal in matters of government, corresponding to the Praefectus Praetorio or vicarius of imperial times. The centre of gravity of the government lay in the municipalities whose rulers were provincial governors, so that the city-districts also appear under the title of provinciae. Their authority extended even to the exercise of jurisdiction with the exception of such cases as were reserved to the civic magistrates, and included control of the police and the collection of taxes. The dux could at the same time be comes of a civitas in his district. At the head of the towns themselves were the curiales who, as hitherto, were bound by oath to fill their offices ; and they were personally responsible for collecting the taxes. The most important official was the defensor, who was chosen from among the curiales by the citizens and only confirmed by the king. He exercised, in the first instance, jurisdiction in minor matters, but his activity extended over all the branches of municipal administration. Side by side with this Roman magistrature existed the national system which the Goths had brought with them.
The Gothic people formed themselves into bodies of thousands, five hundreds, hundreds, and tens, which also remained as personal societies after the settlement. The millenarius, as of old, led the thousand in war and ruled over it jointly with the heads of the hundreds both in war and in peace. The comes civitatis and his vicar originally only possessed jurisdiction over the Romans of his own circuit, but in Euric's time that had so far changed that he now possessed authority to judge the Goths as well in civil suits in conjunction with the millenarius : thus the later condition was prepared in which the millenarius appears only as military official. On the other hand the defensor remained a judiciary solely for the Romans.
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