Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/254

1 82 General History oj Europe association, formed battle units as terrible as any ever seen in the ancient world, and the Romans had good reason to dread them. 286. Whole German Peoples settle in the Empire. The care- fully disciplined Roman legions, which had gained for Rome the leadership of the world, were now no more. Indeed, the lack of men for the army had long since led the emperors to hire the Germans as soldiers. A more serious step was the admission of entire German peoples to live in the Empire, with all their old customs. The men were then received into the Roman army, but they remained under their own German leaders and fought in their old village units. 287. The Huns force the Goths into the Empire. About the year 375 the Huns, a Mongolian folk from central Asia, swept down upon the Goths, who were a German tribe settled upon the Danube, and forced a part of them to seek shelter across the river, within the limits of the Empire. Here they soon fell out with the Roman officials, and a great battle was fought at Adrian- ople in 378, in which the Goths defeated and slew the Roman emperor Valens. The battle of Adrianople may be said to mark the beginning of the conquest of the Empire by the Germans. For some years after the battle of Adrianople, however, the vari- ous bands of West Goths or Visigoths, as they are often called were induced to accept the terms of peace offered by the emperor's officials, and some of the Goths agreed to serve as soldiers in the Roman armies. 288. Alaric takes Rome (4io). Among the Germans who suc- ceeded in getting an important position in the Roman army was Alaric, but he appears to have become dissatisfied with the treat- ment he received from the emperor. He therefore collected an army, of which his countrymen the West Goths formed a con- siderable part, set out for Italy, and finally decided to march on Rome itself. The Eternal City fell into his hands in 410 and was plundered by his followers. Although Alaric did not de- stroy the city, or even seriously damage it, the fact that Rome had fallen into the hands of an invading army was a notable disaster.