AGE OF MIGRATIONS: WHO WERE THE BARBARIANS? WHO WERE THE HUNS? In AD 285 the Roman Empire divided into eastern and western parts, each with its own emperor. Despite this reorganization, by around 400 the western empire could no longer hold out against waves of invading barbarian tribes from northeastern Europe. In 410, Rome itself was attacked. WHO WERE THE BARBARIANS? For the Romans, the Germanic tribes moving across the empire were destructive, disorderly “barbarians.” Over time, these migrant peoples did settle down, eventually giving their names to their new homelands: the Franks in France, the ANGLES AND SAXONSin England, the Lombards in northern Italy, and so on. Table 43. BARBARIAN ATTACKS AD 235Germanic tribes start to invade 410Visigoths capture Rome 435Vandals take Roman North Africa 451Hun invasions 455Vandals destroy Rome 476Last western emperor deposed WHO WERE THE HUNS? The Huns were a nomadic people from today’s Turkestan. Mounted on swift ponies, and armed with bows and arrows, Hun armies rode deep into the Roman Empire in search of plunder. They were not interested in conquering land. ANGLES AND SAXONS Angles and Saxons, who were later known as Anglo-Saxons, lived along the North Sea coast. They began to raid Britain while it was under Roman rule. After 410, when the Roman army left, they arrived in larger numbers to settle, and gradually took over much of eastern Britain. WHO WAS BURIED IN SHIPS? The Angles and Saxons were pagan, seafaring people, and ships played an important part in their culture. They believed that boats could ferry a dead person’s spirit to the next world. People who had been wealthy when they were alive were buried in ships, together with the comforts and treasures they were expected to enjoy in the next world. Poorer Anglo-Saxons were sometimes buried with a few ship’s planks. WHY DID ANGLES AND SAXONS MOVE TO BRITAIN? Around 200, the climate became warmer and sea levels rose, which made life more difficult for the Angles and Saxons living on the North Sea coast. At the same time, they were being squeezed by other westward-moving Germanic peoples. Some of the first Anglo-Saxons in Britain may have been soldiers, hired to protect villages against other raiders.