Europe
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Barbarians. (2022). In Q-files Encyclopedia, History, Europe. Retrieved from
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/barbarians
"Barbarians." History, Europe, Q-files Encyclopedia, 10 Feb. 2022.
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/barbarians.
Accessed 22 Sep. 2026.
Barbarians 2022. History, Europe. Retrieved 22 September 2026, from
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/barbarians
History, Europe, s.v. "Barbarians," accessed September 22, 2026.
https://www.q-files.com/history/europe/barbarians
Barbarians
The word “barbarian” originally came from the ancient Greeks, who used it to describe anyone who spoke a language they could not understand—a foreigner. The Romans applied the word to the peoples outside their vast empire—for example, the Huns, Goths and Vandals. It was these barbarians who finally brought an end to the Roman Empire. The Huns came from Central Asia, while the Goths and Vandals may originally have come from southern Scandinavia.
Huns, Goths and Vandals
The Goths and Vandals were Germanic tribes. The Huns originated in Central Asia. Some time after AD 370, the Huns attacked eastern Europe, overrunning the Goths, who had occupied much of the region. Under their leader Attila, the Huns went on to attack Gaul (France), a land controlled by Rome. The Huns collapsed following the death of Attila in 453.
The Goths split into two groups: the Ostrogoths ("Eastern Goths") and the Visigoths ("Western Goths"). The Visigoths invaded Italy itself, looting Rome in 410. The Vandals moved across Gaul and Spain. They later invaded northern Africa in 429, taking over the Roman provinces there and established a kingdom which also included Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. From here they sacked Rome in 455. The Visigoths later settled in Spain and Portugal, while the Ostrogoths founded a kingdom in Italy.
The Franks
As the Roman Empire collapsed in the west, new kingdoms emerged. The Franks took over what is now France, Belgium and part of Germany. Jutes, Angles and Saxons overran Britain. The Franks were, like the Goths and Vandals, a Germanic people. Under their leader Clovis, they took over Gaul (modern-day France) in the early 6th century. Clovis was the first Germanic ruler to become a Catholic Christian. Another famous Frankish king, Charlemagne, ruled from 768 to 814, and built up a massive empire.
Barbarian villages
Barbarian peoples were not used to living in towns. They were farming peoples, accustomed to building their houses only out of wood with straw thatch roofs. They lived together in small villages, each ruled by a chieftain, or thane. The Saxons were a barbarian people who settled in northern Germany. Some Saxon tribes settled in Britain in the 5th century.
Consultant: Philip Parker
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