Eastern society was relatively meritocratic, with officials drawn from loyal, capable members of local urban élites, whereas in the west even the 'new men' appointed by fourth-century emperors rapidly adopted the powers, traditions, and arrogance of the senatorial aristocracy. In the east the propaganda of scholar-bishops and the proselytizing of holy men reinforced allegiance to the ideal of a God-given Christian empire, while in the west Christianity was less firmly established and undermined attachment to the empire by offering an alternative to imperial service. In Constantinople the east possessed a cosmopolitan and strategically sited capital which came to surpass Rome and the other imperial residences of the west in size and splendour.

The most immediate problem in 395 was renewed barbarian inroads. In 376 a horde of Germans, mostly Visigoths, had crossed the Danube frontier in search of refuge from the Huns, a fearsome tribe of steppe nomads. Tensions between the incomers and their Roman hosts led to a battle at Adrianople in 378, in which a Roman army was annihilated and the Emperor Valens killed. The immediate threat was contained, but the Goths were permitted to settle on Roman territory. Under their king, Alaric, they launched devastating raids into Greece, before moving north into modern Yugoslavia. In 401 Alaric invaded Italy and for ten years the peninsula remained at the mercy of Gothic plundering and extortion. The Romans lacked reliable forces to defeat the invaders, and the funds necessary to buy Alaric off. In exasperation at not receiving the money and land which he demanded, Alaric besieged and sacked Rome in 410. The destruction caused was limited but the psychological blow to Roman morale of the first sack of Rome since the Gaulish attack of 390 BC was immense. St Jerome wept on hearing the news in his cell in Bethlehem and a bitter polemic exploded between Christians and pagans. Christian views of society and history were worked out in such influential works as Augustine's City of God in order to counter pagan attacks.

Italy was spared long-term effects from the rampaging of the Visigoths, since they withdrew to Gaul after Alaric's death in 410. More lasting and disruptive were the effects of imperial

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