Western Civilization

The Later Roman Empire page 5 of 5

The reforms of the 3rd and 4th centuries left the empire -- particularly its western portion -- looking much like a medieval society. 1. The Christian church was the official religion and no others were permitted 2. The church was a agency of the imperial government, administering all social services and under the control of the government 3. The emperor was semi-divine and claimed that his power was granted to him by God 4. Military power was in the hands of Germans. 5. Town life had decayed, and commerce was dwindling because of the lack of a middle class. 6. With the decay of cities, formal education, particularly a knowledge of the Greek language, vanished in the western empire except among clerics and wealthy aristocrats 7. Roads and bridges were decaying, sea traffic was endangered by pirates, and communications were ever more difficult. 8. Power in the countryside was in the hands of great landowners living in fortified villas and surrounded by a peasantry dependent upon them for protection, law and order, and economic aid. 9. The state was no longer able to protect its frontiers or maintain civil order, and the Pax Romana had vanished. Conclusion Nevertheless, taxes were collected to maintain an imperial government that no longer served the needs of the people. The Roman government in the West had become superfluous. In addition, the western empire no longer had the money or manufactured goods to trade with the German kingdoms that had grown up along its frontiers. The Germans had become accustomed to the use of Roman goods and the profits of trade with the Romans. When those goods ceased to be available and their profits disappeared, the Germans crossed the imperial frontiers in search of them.