Germanic Sources
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Edictum Rotharis, the appendix of (!)
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Einhard: see Life of Charlemagne
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Ekkehard of St Gall (9th century): Waltharius: inspired by the Aeneis, adapting the materials of national sagas.
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Eligius: (588 to 660) Vita Eligii, (The Life of St. Eligius) ed. Levison, MGH SS Mer. 4, 669-742 Translation and notes by Jo Ann McNamara
p. 707: It is here apropos to call attention to another instance of Martin's characteristic mildness. Nowhere in his sermon or in the Capitula did he order the trees, stones and fountains - reminders of a bygone paganism - to be destroyed. This tolerance is in striking contrast to that of Caesarius and Eligius, who insisted upon the removal or destruction of these "sacred" places.
From: Medieval Sourcebook: The Life of Eligius, bishop and confessor, was written by Dado, bishop of Rouen (his friend and contemporary). Book I. 10. He (Eligius) grew more in vigils, in fasts, and in charity. For the king's (Dagobert) use, he made many utensils from gold and gems. He sat fabricating in a mine opposite Thille, his vernaculus from the Saxon tribe who followed in his master's footsteps and led a venerable life.
Wherever he understood that slaves were to be sold he hastened with mercy and soon ransomed the captive. The sum of his captives redeemed rose from twenty and thirty to fifty and finally a hundred souls in one flock when they were brought in a ship, of both sexes and from different nations. He freed all alike, Romans, Gauls, Britons and Moors but particularly Saxons who were as numerous as sheep at that time, expelled from their own land and scattered everywhere. If it should happen that the number of people for sale outweighed his means, he gave more by stripping what he had on his own body from his belt and cloak to the food he needed and even his shoes so long as he could help the captives. And often it was pilgrims of Christ that he rescued. Oh, daily did he wish to be a debtor that his own debts might be forgiven? Daily did he not rip golden bracelets, jewelled purses and other gold and gems from himself so that he might succor the miserable? Let me briefly comprehend how many multitudes of captives over successive periods of time he freed from the harsh yoke of dominion and how much alms he distributed to people of both sexes, diverse churches and monasteries, though no orator, however studious or eloquent, could tell the tale. Standing directly in the presence of the king, redeemed captives threw the denarius before him and he gave them charters of liberty. To all of them he gave three choices: since they were now free, they could return to their own country and he would offer them what subsidy they required; if they wished to remain he would accommodate them willingly and include them not among his servants but as his brothers; and, if he could persuade them to embrace the venerable life of monks and take the cloister of a community, honoring those marked for the lord, he would supply clothing and whatever else was needed for their care. He had several vernaculos in his contubernio helping him with these needs. One was Bauderic, his countryman, who took care of his things with all honesty. Tituin of the Suevi tribe was a faithful lay cubicularius who achieved the highest reward when he was later killed.
Book 2
2. So the unwilling goldsmith was tonsured and constituted guardian of the towns or municipalities of Vermandois which include the metropolis, Tournai, which was once a royal city, and Noyon and Ghent and Courtrai of Flanders. They made him pastor in these places because the inhabitants were still caught in the errors of the gentiles. Given over to vain superstition, they were wild peasants who could in no way comprehend the word of salvation.
3. With the care of a solicitous pastor, he cast his eye over the towns or municipia committed to him and their surroundings. But in Flanders and Antwerp, Frisians and Suevi and other barbarians coming from the seacoasts or distant lands not yet broken by the plow, received him with hostile spirits and averse minds. Yet a little later after he gradually began to insinuate the word of God among them by the grace of Christ, the greater part made truce and the barbarian people left their idols and converted, becoming subject to the true God and Christ.
8. Beyond this he labored much in Flanders. He joined the struggle at Antwerp where he converted many erroneous Suevi; with apostolic authority. Protected by the shield of Christ, he destroyed many fanes. Wherever he found any sort of idolatry, he destroyed it at the foundation. And all the while he kept to the sober discipline of religious virtue, frequently assailed and often even provoked to contumely by an ingrate and perfidious people, he was at no point moved from his original teaching, but ever more gentle, patient, humble, and kindly himself, he prayed the Lord for them. Thus he scoured and composed the land around him smoothly with ineffable subtlety. With hope for the future, he solicitously put his faith in words softly studied enough to stimulate the idle minds of the barbarians and lift them to love of the eternal fatherland. He preached peace to the troubled, quiet to the violent, gentleness to the ferocious, teaching all to gather as one in the church, to build monasteries and to serve God sedulously with good works. Not a few barbarians were converted by this oratory, suddenly springing up as fecund crops and a fruitful harvest in a dry and barren field. You would see many people hurry to repent, give up their wealth to the poor, free their slaves and many other works of good in obedience to his precepts. Oh, how many gentiles did Eligius industriously pluck from error to join them to the venerable flock of Christ.
16. I ask you dearest brothers and admonish you with great humility to command your intent spirit to listen to what I wish to suggest to you for your salvation.
Before everything, wherever you are, at home or on the road or at table, let no foul and lustful language drop from your mouth because the Lord announced in the Gospel: "For all the idle words which men speak while on earth, they will give account on the judgment day." Diabolical games and dancing or chants of the gentiles will be forbidden. No Christian will do them because he thus makes himself pagan. Nor is it right that diabolical canticles should proceed from a Christian mouth where the sacrament of Christ is placed, which it becomes always to praise God. Therefore, brothers, spurn all inventions of the enemy with all your heart and flee these sacrileges with all horror. Venerate no creature beyond God and his saints. Shun springs and arbors which they call sacred. You are forbidden to make the crook which they place on the crossroads and wherever you find one you should burn it with fire. For you must believe that you can be saved by no other art than the invocation and cross of Christ. For how will it be if groves where these miserable men make their devotions, are felled and the wood from them given to the furnace? See how foolish man is, to offer honor to insensible, dead trees and despise the precepts of God almighty. Do not believe that the sky or the stars or the earth or any creature should be adored beyond God for he created and disposes of them all. Heaven is high indeed, and the earth vast, and the sea immense and the stars beautiful but more immense and more beautiful by necessity is he who created them.
20. Once when the diocese was celebrating the natal day of the most blessed Peter the Apostle in the town of Noyon, Eligius went to the vicus and preached as was his constant custom, the word of God with skillful constancy, denouncing all demonic games and wicked leapings and all remnants of inane superstitions as things to be thoroughly abominated. Some of the leading people in that place bore his preaching most grudgingly, resenting that he would upset their feasts and weaken their customs, which they deemed legitimate. Chief among these depraved ones were the servants of Erchenwald who, as praepositus of the palace at the time, emulated Eligius but not to the good. They decreed together that, if Eligius should again attack their frivolities, they would kill him boldly. When Eligius learned of this, stimulated by the desire for martyrdom, he swiftly rose and ordered all his people that none should follow him but two priests and a deacon. So he went into the middle of a crowd of people and stood on a high place before the basilica where he began to preach urgently. Heatedly, he abjured the people that by turning their backs on his admonitions to salvation, they would be extremely threatened by diabolical phylacteries. Violently moved by this exhortation, the crowd answered him with shameful and impudent words, threatening him: "Never, Roman, however hard you try, shall you uproot our customs but we will attend our solemnities always and forever as we have done till now nor can any man forbid us our ancient and gratifying games." When he saw that he was getting nowhere and further games were being organized, he was moved with indignation and called forth to Lord Jesus from his heart, saying: "Lord, I seek your divine clemency. May you permit these, who dare to contradict your holy admonitions with such pride and audacity and prefer the seductions of demons to your precepts, be given an example of such ferocity and terror that they shall know whose work they are and your Holy Name shall be glorified by men who believe in you." As soon as he spoke these words, many people were suddenly possessed by unclean spirits, particularly Erchenwald's partisans who, despising divine mandates, had been prepared to raise their hands against him and they began to rave. The whole crowd except those who were with [Eligius] were filled with terror and began to lick his footsteps showing reverence lest they suffer the same fate, each one begging to be enrolled among his sincere followers.
43. At that time [660], a terrible plague devastated many of the cities of Frankland. We thought that the liquor might be a cure from a watchful divinity so that if an invalid who appeared to be in danger of death could obtain that medicine soon, he might healed with all evil repelled.
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Emilian;The Holy Martyr Emilian (c. 360 CE)
"In the time of Julian the Apostate, in the town of Dorostolon in Thrace, there lived the young Emilian, a servant of the governor. When the Emperor Julian began to persecute the Christians with fire and the sword throughout the Roman Empire, the imperial delegate arrived in Dorostolon to kill the Christians. But he did not find a single one there. Delighted by this, he gave a great feast for the citizens of Dorostolon and ordered the offering of sacrifices to the idols, and merrymaking day and night throughout the town. That night, holy Emilian went round the temples, squares and streets of the town and, with a hammer, smashed all the idols. On the following day, the whole town was in uproar; everyone was searching for the destroyer of their gods. A villager, who was seen passing near the temples that morning, was arrested and Emilian, seeing that an innocent man would suffer, said within himself: 'If I conceal my action, what sort of use has it been? Shall I not stand before God as the slayer of an innocent man?' He therefore presented himself before the imperial legate and confessed the whole. The legate, in a rage, questioned Emilian, asking him on whose instructions he had done such a thing. Christ's martyr replied: 'God and my soul commanded me to destroy those dead pillars that you call gods.' Then the judge ordered that he be flogged, and, after flogging and other tortures, be burned. Thus St Emilian finished his earthly course and moved to the heavenly life, on July 18th, 362."
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Erchempert: (!) Historiola (between 875-900)
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Erhart: Regesta Historia Westfaliae
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Eunapius of Sardis: (+ commentaries) Fragment 18.6; a not very accurate account of Julian's defeat of the Chamavi. The Fragmentary Classicising Historians of the Later Roman Empire: Eunapius, Olympiodorus, Priscus and Malchus, vol. 2, pp 25-29
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Eusebius: d. 339; bishop of Caesarea in Palestine, protagonist of Constantine I. Wrote a Church History and many other works.
http://www.ccel.org/s/schaff/ecf/npnf201/NPNF2-01-rev.htm
Book 5 Chapter 5
God sent Rain from Heaven for Marcus Aurelius Caesar in Answer to the Prayers of our People
It is reported that Marcus Aurelius Caesar, brother of Antoninus, being about to engage in battle with the Germans and Sarmatians, was in great trouble on account of his army suffering from thirst. But the soldiers of the so-called Melitene legion, through the faith which has given strength from that time to the present, when they were drawn up before the enemy, kneeled on the ground, as is our custom in prayer, and engaged in supplications to God. This was indeed a strange sight to the enemy, but it is reported that a stranger thing immediately followed. The lightning drove the enemy to flight and destruction, but a shower refreshed the army of those who had called on God, all of whom had been on the point of perishing with thirst. This story is related by non-Christian writers who have been pleased to treat the times referred to, and it has also been recorded by our own people. By those historians who were strangers to the faith, the marvel is mentioned, but it is not acknowledged as an answer to our prayers. But by our own people, as friends of the truth, the occurrence is related in a simple and artless manner.
Among these is Apolinarius, who says that from that time the legion through whose prayers the wonder took place received from the emperor a title appropriate to the event, being called in the language of the Romans the Thundering Legion. Tertullian is a trustworthy witness of these things. In the Apology for the Faith, which he addressed to the Roman Senate, and which work we have already mentioned, he confirms the history with greater and stronger proofs. He writes that there are still extant letters of the most intelligent Emperor Marcus in which he testifies that his army, being on the point of perishing with thirst in Germany, was saved by the prayers of the Christians. And he says also that this emperor threatened death to those who brought accusation against us.
Book 8 Chapter 17
"The Emperor Caesar Galerius Valerius Maximinus, Invictus, Augustus, Pontifex Maximus, conqueror of the Germans,
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Eutropius: (+) 370 CE, Historiae Romanae Breviarium (Compendium of Roman History ) in 10 books; ISBN 0853232083;
Flavius Eutropius was a contemporary of Ammianus Marcellinus, and went with him on campaign in Julian's disastrous Persian war. Eutropius later became the court historian for the emperor Valens (364-378), until the latter's tragic death at the hands of the Goths at Adrianople. We know little else about his life, but he should not be confused with Eutropius the Eunuch, his more notorious contemporary, who was an advisor to the Emperor Arcadius and Consul in 399.
During his time at Valens' court, Eutropius wrote a ten-book compendium of Roman history entitled Historiae Romanae Breviarium (A Concise History of Rome). Eutropius was translated into Greek in AD 380 by Paeanius as well as by a certain Capito (whose writings are now lost). Besides Orosius and Bede, Eutropius was used both by Jerome (early 5th century) and Hincmar of Reims (ca AD 806-882).
A full text (Latin) of Eutropius is at: http://www.gmu.edu/departments/fld/CLASSICS/eutropius
Partial translations:
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook
http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artsou/
Davis Introduction:
Marcus Aurelius was Emperor from 161 to 180 A.D. No ruler ever came to power with higher ideals and purposes, but the reign was not a very prosperous one. The philosopher in the purple was afflicted by the widespread pestilences in the Empire, and by the dangerous wars on the frontiers. He struggled against the difficulties manfully, and overcame most of them; but his reign marks the beginning of the long slow decline of the Empire.
Historiae Romanae Breviarium (Compendium of Roman History )
7.13
He made war upon Britain, which none of the Romans after Julius Caesar had meddled with; and conquering it by Cnaeus Centius and Aulus Plautius, illustrious and noble gentlemen, he had a famous triumph. He added likewise some islands, lying in the ocean beyond Britain, to the Roman Empire, which are called Orcades; and gave the name of Britannicus to his son.
7.14
He [Nero] attempted no conquest in the military way, and very nearly lost Britain. Under him two very famous towns were there taken and destroyed" [i.e. London and St. Albans, or Colchester]
7.19
[Vespasian] having been sent by Claudius into Germany, and from there into Britain, engaged thirty-two times with the enemy, and added two very potent nations [gentes], twenty towns, and the Isle of Wight [Insulam Vectam], near Britain, to the Roman Empire.
Historiae Romanae Breviarium (Compendium of Roman History ): The Reign of Marcus Aurelius, 161-180 CE
8.12-14,
Under his rule affairs were successfully conducted against the Germans. He himself carried on a war with the Marcomanni, which was greater than any in the memory of man (in the way of wars with the Germans)---so that it was compared to the Punic Wars, for it was exceedingly formidable, and in it whole armies were lost;
With the greatest labor and patience he persevered for three whole years at Carnutum [a strategically located fortress town in Pannonia], and brought the Marcomannic war to an end; a war in which the Quadi, Vandals, Sarmatians, Suevi and all the barbarians in that region, had joined the outbreak of the Marcomanni. He slew several thousand men, and having delivered the Pannonians from bondage held a triumph at Rome. As the treasury was drained by the war, and he had no money to give his soldiers; and as he would not lay any extra tax on the provinces or Senate, he sold off all his imperial furniture and decorations by an auction held in the Forum of Trajan, consisting of gold and cups of crystal and precious stone, silk garments belonging to his wife and to himself, embroidered---as they were---with gold, and numbers of jeweled ornaments. This sale was kept up through two successive months and a great deal of money was raised by it. After his victory, however, he refunded the money to such purchasers as were willing to restore what they had bought, but was by no means troublesome to those who wished to keep their purchase.
8.18
Septimius had his final campaign in Britain, and in order to secure the lines, he had built a palisade stretching 32 miles from sea to sea.
9.21 is the first reference to the Saxons as raiders:
Per haec tempora etiam Carausius qui vilissime natus strenuae militiae ordine famam egregiam fuerat consecutus, cum apud Bononiam per tractum Belgicae et Armorici pacandum mare accepisset, quod Franci et Saxones infestabant. Multis barbaris saepe captis nec praeda integra aut provincialibus reddita aut imperatoribus missa cum suspicio esse coepisset consulto ab eo admitti barbaros, ut transeuntes cum praeda exciperet atque hac se occasione ditaret, a Maximiano iussus occidi purpuram sumpsit et Britannias occupavit.
Translation: 9.21 Throughout these times Carausius, who was born most basely, sought outstanding fame in the ranks of the active army, when he undertook at Bononia (Boulogne) to pacify the sea through the region of Belgica and Armoricus, which the Franks and Saxons were raiding. Since many barbarians were often captured, and no intact plunder was either returned to the provincials or sent to the emperors, when the suspicion arose that the barbarians were allowed in by him, so that he might intercept the ones crossing back with plunder and might enrich himself by this opportunity, having been ordered to be killed by Maximian he assumed the purple [ed. - that is, proclaimed himself an imperial ruler] and occupied the British isles.
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