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John Herzfeld

Prof. Barker

HST 349

How the Romans Influenced Charlemagne’s Frankish Kingdom

In Two Lives of Charlemagne two accounts of the Frankish King Charlemagne’s life are

presented, one by Einhard and the other by the Monk of St. Gall. Each writer’s account includes

the various wars he fought, the administration of his kingdom, and his personal life. It is clear

from this source that Charlemagne and his kingdom were influenced significantly by the Roman

Empire and have many connections to it; this is evident based on Charlemagne’s actions in

warfare, the administration of his kingdom, and his personal life. This primary source analysis

will present the evidence of this Roman influence and connection through textual examples and

in-depth interpretation.

The military campaigns and expansion of the Frankish Kingdom under Charlemagne

share similarities to that of the Romans before them. The first such similarity and point of

influence has to do with confederations and federates. Einhard’s account discusses this when he

discusses the surrender of the Saxons to Charlemagne. 1 He states that the conditions of the

surrender were that the Saxons would convert to Christianity and then be “joined to the Franks,

to make one people with them.” 2 This event was influenced by the Roman norm of expansion in

that the Romans would invite outside groups to become federates of their empire. These groups

of people often ended up seeing themselves as Romans. Charlemagne is expanding in a similar

fashion by joining the Saxons to his own people. Individual Saxons may have seen themselves as

Franks after this, or it at least seems that it was his intention in joining the groups together.
1
Einhard, “Part I,” in Einhard and the Monk of St. Gall, Two Lives of Charlemagne, trans.
Arthur James Grant (Scotts Valley: CreateSpace, 2016), 25.
2
Einhard, “Part 1,” 25.
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Something else to note is that Charlemagne had conquered peoples resettled within his kingdom.

Einhard states that “ten thousand of the inhabitants of both banks of the Elbe” were “planted” in

many different areas within Gaul and Germany. 3 Charlemagne allowing a conquered a group of

people to settle within his kingdom again shows a connection to Roman politics. Federates of the

Roman Empire were often allowed to settle along the border territories to aid in defense, such as

with the Visigoths. It is the same here with groups such as the Saxons, which were in effect

federates of the Frankish Kingdom. The Saxons also aided in defense, in commonality with what

federates of Rome did. In another war which Charlemagne fought against the Wilzi, a Slavic

people, the Saxons along with other Frankish allies fought with him; however “their loyalty was

feigned and far from sincere”. 4 While these allies stood alongside the Franks in this war, similar

to how Roman federates acted, the fact that their actions were considered to be insincere reveals

that they had ulterior motives and still viewed themselves as separate from the Franks. This

suggests a possible decentralized rule of conquered groups. Roman federates also had autonomy

on some level as they were ruled by the leaders of barbarian confederations and not directly by

the emperor of a governor.

Another example of Charlemagne’s and the Frankish Kingdom’s connection to Rome in

regards to warfare is the expansion of territory. The Roman Empire constantly expanded to

increase revenue and continue to operate. Charlemagne acted no differently and during his whole

reign was expanding his kingdom. He conquered Saxony, the “country of Spain as far as the

Ebro”, much of Italy “from Augusta Praetoria as far as lower Calabria” and “both provinces of

Pannonia and Dacia” among others. 5 Aggressive expansion was an important way for the

Frankish kingdom to enrich itself through plundering neighboring areas. This focus on
3
Einhard, “Part I,” 24, 25.
4
Einhard, “Part I,” 28.
5
Einhard, “Part I,” 31.
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expanding his empire suggests a Roman influence because they invaded and conquered large

territories and then incorporated the conquered areas into their empire just as Charlemagne and

the Franks have done in this case.

The administration of Charlemagne’s empire was also influenced by the Roman Empire

before him. The clearest example of this occurs when Charlemagne reorders the Frankish legal

system in a seemingly Roman style. Before this reordering the Franks had two systems,

“differing in many points very widely from one another, and he, therefore, determined to add

what was lacking, to reconcile the differences, and to amend anything that was wrong or wrongly

expressed.” 6 This suggests a move away from the Salic law system the Franks had previously

employed in favor of a Romanized version. It is important to note that according to Einhard,

Charlemagne “noticed many defects” in the Frankish legal system after he had traveled to Rome

and had been given “the imperial title” by Pope Leo. 7 The fact that this revamp of the legal

system occurs after the giving of this title and his visit to Rome indicates that Charlemagne felt

as though he was the continuation of the Roman Empire in the west and thus wanted to include

aspects of Roman law into his domain. If the Frankish Kingdom is a continuation of the Roman

Empire it makes sense that Charlemagne would reorganize the legal system to go along with it.

Also simplifying the legal system would make it easier to rule a large empire and the Frankish

Kingdom greatly expanded in size under the rule of Charlemagne. Having two separate system

which are different from each other would prove problematic for a large state. This compilation

of laws is reminiscent of legal changes made in the Eastern Roman Empire under Justinian with

the Justinianic Code. It can likely be inferred that Charlemagne was influenced by Justinian’s

6
Einhard, “Part I,” 42.
7
Einhard, “Part I,” 42.
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legal legacy in the Eastern Roman Empire and by the past Roman legal system in the west,

especially if he carried the title of a Roman emperor.

Charlemagne originally ruled his kingdom as the Frankish king, but later was given the

title of emperor. Pope Leo invited Charlemagne to Rome and gave to him “by the authority of

the apostolic see” the title of “Emperor, Caesar, and Augustus.” 8 This is clearly a connection to

the Roman Empire because those are names and titles often given to the emperors of Rome. The

fact that this title was bestowed on Charlemagne by the Pope also shows that he was seen by

others, not just himself as mentioned in the previous paragraph, as a continuation of Rome. This

new title adds a sense of importance and prestige to the Frankish Kingdom. From the outside the

Emperors in the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium were suspicious at first when

Charlemagne first took on this new title because they felt that he sought to conquer their empire;
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however a treaty was made and “every occasion of quarrel on either side thereby avoided.” The

fact that the emperors in the east felt threatened proves the connection of the Frankish Kingdom

to the Roman Empire because Charlemagne potentially has a claim to their territories as an

emperor, at least according to the Eastern Roman rulers. With the title of a Roman emperor

Charlemagne’s kingdom can be seen as a continuation of the Roman Empire, and truly

connected to it.

The influence of the Roman Empire extended even into the personal life of Charlemagne.

The main point of this influence in his personal life has to do with education. He is said to have

paid “greatest attention to the liberal arts, and showed the greatest respect and bestowed high

honours upon those who taught them.” 10 The liberal arts are associated with classic Roman

8
The Monk of St. Gall, “Book I,” in Einhard and the Monk of St. Gall, Two Lives of
Charlemagne, trans. Arthur James Grant (Scotts Valley: CreateSpace, 2016), 71.
9
Einhard, “Part I,” 32.
10
Einhard, “Part II,” 40.
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education, so it can be inferred that if Charlemagne is educating himself or having the liberal arts

taught to him that he is being influenced by what he is learning. Therefore Roman culture is

becoming engrained in him and had to have some sort of effect on his leadership and how he

operated his empire. He also studied rhetoric and was able to learn to speak Latin as a part of this

liberal arts education. 11 Rhetoric was a major component of a Roman education and evidence

that Charlemagne was studying it as well as learning Latin reveals Roman influence because he

viewed these subjects as important. If he was not being influenced by the Roman Empire and its

culture he would not have placed much value on rhetoric and the study of the Latin language.

More evidence for this influence can be determined by the fact that he had his children

educated in the liberal arts. 12 Charlemagne desired that his descendants be educated in a Roman

manner, again proving this influence and connection because he saw these studies as important.

In fostering Roman education he is spreading Roman influence to future generations thus

preserving it. The Monk of St. Gall explains that Charlemagne asked Pope Stephen to send him

twelve clerks “so learned in all wisdom” to assist in “study of letters.” 13 This request, which the

Pope does fulfill, reveals Charlemagne’s continued support of education within his kingdom.

Education in the liberal arts is carried over from the Roman tradition so Roman influence must

have inspired him to see to it that the studying of these arts continued. It is a true connection to

the Roman Empire in the West.

A final point of Roman influence and connection in Charlemagne’s personal life has to

do with the value he places on the city of Rome. Einhard states that he “strove with all his might

to restore to the city of Rome her ancient authority” and used his own resources to “enrich” the

11
Einhard, “Part II,” 40.
12
Einhard, Part II in Two Lives of Charlemagne, 35.
13
The Monk of St. Gall, “Book I,” 60.
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various churches there. 14 This connection to the city of Rome shows Roman influence because

Charlemagne wished to better the city and return it to prosperity. He was influenced by Rome

because otherwise he would not have cared to improve the city. He felt that it was important to

do so for no reason other than the prestige that the city had or had at a time before, which was

influential to his actions here.

The Frankish Kingdom and Charlemagne himself had many connections to the Roman

Empire and were substantially influenced by it. This influence can be clearly seen in

Charlemagne’s actions in warfare and expansion, in the administration of his empire, and in his

own personal life. The evidence presented reveals deep connections to the Roman Empire and

powerful influence, which affected military, legal, and educational structures within Frankish

society. While this paper explains how Charlemagne was influenced by and connected to the

Roman Empire using only one primary source, a longer paper would require the use of multiple

sources. Other primary sources could be written records from Charlemagne’s reign such as legal

records highlighting his reorganizing of the Frankish legal system as discussed in this paper.

Also primary sources from states conquered by Charlemagne may be important to get a better

picture of the wars he fought as well as artifacts from the Frankish Kingdom.

14
Einhard, “Part II,” 42.