The period of Barbarian Migration which marked the decline and fall of the

Roman Empire covers quite a large period of history, ranging from the 4 th century
right up to the 9th. It is extremely hard to pinpoint exactly where each Barbarian
tribe was at what time during the Migrations, as the written sources are often
contradictory; and establishing an individual sense of any one tribes material
culture is near impossible. Of two things we can be certain however: that the
Invasions were often purely a result of migration rather than a preconceived
attempt to attack the Empire, and that these massive shifts of ethnic populations
had a profound effect on the creation of what we know as modern Europe.
Most infamous of the migrations perhaps, is that of the Visigoths which
concluded in the sacking of Rome itself. The capital of the powerful Roman
Empire had not been sacked for near 800 years, and the impact of the calamity
was felt across most of the known world. The chronicler Jerome remarked that
the city which had taken the whole world was itself taken. The Visigoths were
an ethnic grouping of Germanic tribes within the larger collective peoples
referred to as Goths. In their migrations during this period they settled and
conquered across the Mediterranean, from Spain to Greece. Interestingly they
were the only culture to establish cities from the decline of the Roman Empire to
the establishment of the Carolingian. They also created what is known as the
Visigothic Code, a work that defined the way in which many Christian kingships
were run in the centuries that followed.
The Visigoths are a powerful example of the false dichotomy of barbaric invaders
and Civilized Romans that defines the Migrations. Indeed, on the surface it can
be viewed that the Visigoths and their ilk were simply invading and destroying
the edifice of civilization that Rome represented, when in actual fact the truth is
more complicated. While there was no doubt much destruction and loss of life as
a result of the migrations, there was also a blossoming of new cultures and
empires as populations shifted. Britain became Anglo-Saxon, the Frankish
Kingdom began to emerge paving the way for the Carolingians, and the
Byzantine Empire came into existence.
So we must view the Barbarian Invasions and the Fall of Rome as more a
transition period of migrations, which served as a catalyst for the creation of the
medieval European world centuries later. Similarly the so called Barbarians
themselves were varied and culturally complex, as much a part of the Roman
world as the Romans themselves; to the point where defining them as
significantly less civilized than the Romans is a fallacy.