from the Iron Age to theist century A.D.,but then dropped by8 centimeters between the Roman and early medieval periods.
In contrast to this picture of violence and material decline,British
historian Peter Brown offers a“comfortable view”of late antiquity. Brown claims that it was actually a time of economic and cultural growth.Romans accommodated,rather than confronted,Germanic settlers,who were recognized as valuable additions to the Empire's economy and population.These“barbarians”did not violently seize power;instead,power was peaceably delegated to their leaders,who offered what Roman armies no longer could:security.Brown sees traditional views of late antiquity as relying too heavily on contemporary Christian accounts of interactions with pagans,which offered a simplistic,black-and-white view of Roman-Germanic relations.Instead, Brown's interpretation of the5th century draws on research by social and cultural historians regarding Roman values:“It is as if a lunar landscape,whose outlines once stood out with unearthly clarity in standard accounts of the political and administrative changes of the age,has taken on softer tints”
Brown's view of a seamless transition from Roman rule to the
Middle Ages can also be seen as a product of its time.European integration in the late20th century has made Germany and France partners in promoting economic and culturalunity.Moreover,Germany has been rehabilitated as a paragon of peace in a post-nationalist world. The EU cannot promote itself as a logical successor to Rome,since empire building is anathema to Europe's new identity.However,the picture of a post-Roman Europe guided by peaceful northern Europeans provides a past usable for promoting unity in the present.
(35)Why,according to some historians,were the Germanic tribes