Tuesday, September 30, 2008
root words
I was interested in the words that are mentioned (vandalism, chapels, hermits) and how they got their meaning today. First off, vandalism: the vandals were going around destroying and sacking all the towns. Chapels: the story of St. Martin tearing his cloak and giving half to the naked beggar. And then hermits: the desert dwellers which were considered holy men. Hermits have such a negative view today so it's interesting that hermits were admired people back then. I also was interested in how colonies, called 'coloni' back then, originally formed. The people were given land to farm, they couldn't be sold, they got protection from the land owner, and they couldn't be separated from their families. The rich noble got free slave labor. Pretty good deal for both sides. I kinda feel like the noble got the better deal though since the family could never leave and the son would have to follow in his father's footsteps. I wonder what happened if they ever tried to leave or if the son decided he didn't want to do what his father did. Are there any accounts or stories of this happening? I looked and couldn't find any.
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2 comments:
We have indirect evidence, at least. We know that this particular legislation (issued first by Diocletian in the 290s) was both repeated and extended over the ensuing centuries. Repetition of laws is one indicator that the law isn't being followed very well.
We also know that in the West, imperial authority pretty much evaporated in the 400s, so it's unlikely that coloni legislation was at all effective. My guess is that what happened when a son followed a different career path was: nothing much, because the local authorities were uninterested or unable to enforce it. I'm sure there were other cases where they did enforce it, via fines or confiscations.
It would make a good story to have accounts of sons wanting to leave the land they were tied to and being persecuted by the authorities. It would make great Hollywood :)
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