The dichotomy of friendship and enmity in the Roman-Visigoth ethnosocial relations as a strategy of adaptation: Torismund and Theodoric II

The article is devoted to the period of 451-466 in the history of the Visigoths and the Roman Empire. This period was marked by rapid changes in the relationship between the Visigoths and the Roman state and society, the transition from a friendly mutual support to an open military confrontation and vice versa. Several researchers explained this by growing expansionist ambitions of the Visigoths. It seems that such an explanation simplified and schematized the multifaceted situation of interaction of the Roman and barbarian elements in the twilight years of the Western Empire. The problem of cooperation and hostility between the Visigoths and Romans are viewed through the prism of social and ethnic mutual adaptation in the given article. The research is based on the data sources and historiography and explains the logic of changing the methods and priorities of the Visigoths in their relations with the Roman institutions. Primary shock migration and the clash of cultures were reflected directly on the generation of immigrants. However, the next generations of both the barbarians and the Romans were experiencing the same difficulties with mutual adaptation. Despite the co-developed mechanisms of ethno-social and ethno-psychological integration, partly by artificial, partly by natural way, the integration was not actually achieved throughout the empire. Attempts to find common ground as a variety of behavioral strategies determined contradictions and seeming incoherence in relations between barbarian chieftains and Roman officials. An example of such contradictory policies was the policy of both Torismund and Theodoric II, Visigoth leaders of the 5th c. AD. In a short period of 451-466, within one generation, the Visigoths tried two strategies of interaction with the Roman society and state. These strategies clearly differed in their methods, in the tactical implementations, but were aimed at the same goal successful adaptation of the Visigoths to the conditions of the Roman Empire. You cannot say that this goal was not achieved at all, but stable and full integration into the Roman social, political, economic, religious institutions was not observed. A state close to the equilibrium optimum in the relationships between the barbarians and the Romans was reached only at certain moments, but it was short-lived, collapsing because of miscommunication. This was aided by the unstable situation in the structure of the empire associated with the decay of the system of administration because of the power crisis and factional strife. Adaptation of the crisis required high dynamics strategies from the Visigoths, which, in turn, were the cause of frequent change of leaders and sharp turns in the relations with the Romans.

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