Around 400 B.C.,
Celtic peoples from Western Europe settled in the eastern
Alps. A Celtic state, Noricum, developed around the region's
ironworks in the second century B.C. The Romans occupied
Noricum without resistance in 9 B.C. and made the Danube
River the effective northern frontier of their
empire. North of the
Danube, various German tribes were already extending their
territory. By the latter half of the second century A.D.,
they were making devastating incursions into Roman
territories. Nevertheless, Roman arms and diplomacy
maintained relative stability until the late fourth century,
when other Germanic tribes, including the Ostrogoths,
Visigoths, and Vandals, were able to establish settlements
in Roman territory south of the Danube. The Roman province
gradually became indefensible, and much of the Christian,
Romanized population evacuated the region in 488. In 493 the
Ostrogoths invaded Italy, seized control of what remained of
the western half of the Roman Empire, and brought the Roman
era in the eastern Alps to an end.
Library of Congress Country Study
Library of Congress Country Study
This document is in the public domain. You may copy, download, print and distribute this work as you see fit.Every effort has been made to present this text accurately and cleanly, but no guarantees are made against errors. Neither Melissa Snell nor About.com may be held liable for any problems you experience with the text version or with any electronic form of the document.