Debate 1 :  Land vs. Taxes

 

 

 

A scholarly debate has been going on for the past few decades over exactly what the terms of barbarian settlement were.  The traditional view (restated most recently by Liebeschuetz, among others), was that the barbarians were given land that was requisitioned from Romans by the Roman government, basically turning them into farmers.  The other side (represented primarily by Walter Goffart, Jean Durliat, and Herwig Wolfram) proposed that instead of land, the barbarians were given tax revenues, which made them more of an occupying mercenary army whose members eventually bought their own land and became settled members of society.

Debate:

 

Team 1:  argue for the Proposition

Team 2:  argue against the Proposition

 

 

 

Assigned questions - Team 1:

1.  Background - Describe the history of the Visigoths between 375 and 420.

2.  Background - What is hospitalitas?  Or rather, what are its possible/various meanings?

3.  Background - What is the history of the debate on settlement?  Who are the authors, when did they publish their pieces?

4.  Presentation of the proposition:  what is the topic?  what is the basis of your argument?

5.  Arguments - provide one argument, preferably based on a primary source mentioned by one of the authors you read, that favors your side, and explain what it means

6.  Arguments - provide one argument, preferably based on a primary source mentioned by one of the authors you read, that favors your side, and explain what it means

7.  Arguments - provide one argument, preferably based on a primary source mentioned by one of the authors you read, that favors your side, and explain what it means

8.  Do the summary, summarizing your team's arguments and state why they are preferable (you can't do this ahead of time).

 

Assigned questions - Team 2:

1.  Background - Describe the history of the Ostrogoths between 486 and 500.

2.  Background - Describe the history of the Lombards between 500 and 600.

3.  Background - What are foederati?  What is the history of the concept in the Roman empire?

4.  Presentation of the proposition:  what is the topic?  what is the basis of your argument?

5.  Arguments - provide one argument, preferably based on a primary source mentioned by one of the authors you read, that favors your side, and explain what it means

6.  Arguments - provide one argument, preferably based on a primary source mentioned by one of the authors you read, that favors your side, and explain what it means

7.  Arguments - provide one argument, preferably based on a primary source mentioned by one of the authors you read, that favors your side, and explain what it means

8.  Do the summary, summarizing your team's arguments and state why they are preferable (you can't do this ahead of time).

 

 

Primary source evidence

 

The primary source evidence for this question is scattered all over the place; rather than having you read the brief references, I suggest that you pay attention to the references made by the authors listed below.

 

Secondary information

I suggest that whatever side you are on, you should read all of the items listed below, as they will give you a comprehensive picture of the debate (and perhaps a taste of the polemic involved).

For a quick overview of the basic concepts (and an exposition on the side of taxes), see a few pages from Wolfram's The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples (1997:  WolframHospitalitas.pdf on Oncourse).

You don't have to read Walter Goffart's book, Barbarians and Romans, A.D. 418-584:  The Techniques of Accomodation (1987)!  But I suggest that you read a review of it by Edward James (jamesongoffart.pdf on Oncourse).  Durliat has written only in French, and since I don't assume that you can all read French, I suggest that you look at Ralph Mathisen's review of the book Kingdoms of the Empire, which contains Durliat's most recent summary of his argument (http://name.umdl.umich.edu/baj9928.0108.006; you don't have to read the whole review, only the part about Durliat's article).  The problem with this review is that Mathisen disagrees with Durliat, so you don't get a favorable account of his theory.

The most comprehensive summary of all the arguments, which comes down on the land side, is that by Wolf Liebeschuetz, "Cities, Taxes and the Accommodation of the Barbarians - The Theories of Durliat and Goffart," in Walter Pohl, ed., Kingdoms of the Empire, pp. 135-151 (1997:  LiebeschuetzTaxes.pdf on Oncourse).

 

 

 

Bibliography

Goffart, Walter, Barbarians and Romans, A.D. 418-584:  The Techniques of Accomodation.  Princeton:  Princeton University Press, 1980.    

Wolfram, Herwig and Schwarcz, Andreas, eds., Anerkennung und Integration.  Zue den wirtschaftlichen Grundlagen der Völkerwanderungszeit 400-600.  Vienna:  Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1988.

Barnish, Sam.  "Taxation, Land and Barbarian Settlement in the Western Empire," Papers of the British School at Rome 54 (1986):  170-95.

Liebeschuetz, Wolf. "Cities, Taxes and the Accommodation of the Barbarians - The Theories of Durliat and Goffart."  In Walter Pohl, ed., Kingdoms of the Empire, pp. 135-151.  Leiden:  E. J. Brill, 1997.

Durliat, Jean. "Cité, impôt et intégration des barbares."  In Walter Pohl, ed., Kingdoms of the Empire, pp. 153-179.  Leiden:  E. J. Brill, 1997.

Wolfram, Herwig.  The Roman Empire and its Germanic Peoples, trans. Thomas Dunlap.  Berkeley:  Univ. of California Press, 1997.  pp. 112-116