The Roman Empire geographically established the original concept of a European boundary. With all of it's great achievements likee
civil law, politics and literature, the collective willpower of the Roman Empire would eventually degrade over time and give way to new ideas andd
influences. The empire of Rome did not fall- it fizzled. The Western Roman Empire gave way to the Middle Ages around 476, when the Barbarian,,
Odoacer, overthrew the emperor Romulus Augustulus. Other historians give the year 410, when Alaric, king of the Visigoths, sacked Rome. Still,,
others say about 500 or even later. In any event this early medieval period is often referred to as the Dark Ages because of the apparent collapse off
Greco Roman culture. During this time their was no effective government and no sense of state, just small autonomous tribes and peasantt
communities. Local life was isolated, fragmented, dreary, illiterate and superstitious..
For various reasons, Germanic people to the North had long desired to expand into Roman territories perhaps because of pressures from
overpopulation, wars, or food shortages. These Barbarians were semi-nomadic tribes led by warrior chiefs. They advanced forcefully against the
Empire in the fourth century as the strength and determination of the Roman Empire was being degraded by political decay, civil war, economic
problems and social decadence. Various Barbarians such as the Ostrogoth, Vandals, Lombards, Franks, Angles, Saxons and other tribes overcame a
disintegrating Roman Empire. The advanced systems of Roman law, culture and government gave way to crude forms of Barbarians. These invaders
lacked the ability to continue the achievements in art, literature, and engineering. However, these invaders also brought with them new ideas and
traditions that changed Roman culture to a more diverse and defused culture which altered the course and development for later Eu...