History of European Integration in 2500 Years

Ancient Origins Are Renewed In The Present Aeternitas

Roberto Amati, Alessandra Cervetti

• Publisher: Tektime
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9788835434962
• Topic: Storia
• Subtopic: Storia europea

The history of European integration did not begin in the aftermath of the 20th century AD: only the epilogue of a very long political, religious and socio-cultural formation process that started with the great adventure of Alexander the Great and his impromptu universal empire. In the centuries that followed, Europe became a land of immigration of peoples of Asian origin and Indo-European matrix, who found themselves on a continent that had emerged from the ice and occupied their own 'living space'. People still essentially present today who recognise themselves in Europe as an entity that retains its own characteristic identity in political, religious and historical-cultural terms. This book tells the story of the forces and ideas that enabled different 'gentes' to integrate and live together through facts, characters, thoughts, faiths, royal dynasties and power struggles. The text is conceived with a plural thematic structure that aims to reflect the various European 'souls' and offer each specific interpretation. The Introduction sets out principles, concepts, questions, but also the philosophical/cultural paths along which the overall European culture was formed, even if not entirely homogeneous and for long periods dramatically conflicting, highlighting the turning milestones of the common continental thought thanks to an oriental and classical philosophical discourse. Part One, on the other hand, recounts the history of European events, personalities and evolutionary lines, with a Greek historical approach, relating them to the action and function of the Empire (especially the Christian one), which over the centuries 'attracted' the various peoples settled in Europe and trained them in a model of civilisation and socio-political organisation still visible today in every corner of the continent: the formation of the European states and nations now included in the EU is thus the product of the 'budding' of the Empire over two thousand years. Part Two examines the evolution of European legal and political thought using the method of Roman jurist treatises, following the development of the function of auctoritas, from its first configuration in the ancient Res Publica of Rome through the medieval, renaissance and modern eras to demonstrate the continuity of its conceptual reworking in every political and legal form of power established at every latitude of Europe, up to the so-called 'modern states' of today's democratic and constitutional republics. Part Three is a synthesis of the history of Christianity, from the events of the first 'communities' formed in the imperial age and then spread to the whole of Europe thanks to the evangelical action of the missionary monks and the policy of Christianization of the peoples of Europe conducted by the Empire and the institutional Church, under the sign of the biblical eschatological vision of 'salvation for all believers in Christ' which has an evident Jewish matrix and draws strength from the unique figure in human history of Jesus of Nazareth. The story also deals with the events that have marked the history of the Christian Church in every era, from the original conceptual controversies to imperial dogmatism, from the confrontation between the different 'churches' that arose in Europe in the Middle Ages to the struggles between Papacy and Empire, up to the Protest and Reformation that shaped the state of Christian religiosity today. Part Four is a cryptic narrative that seeks to 'unveil' (and thus end the evolutionary process underway) European history by its cultural roots, its founding myths and the journey of the 'European people', inspired by a Celtic metaphysical approach: only by delving into the various 'mysteries' collected in Eastern Greek cosmogony, in ancient Greco-Roman mythology, in the biblical letter and again in the most famous medieval legends narrated by the Chanson de geste, can one reconstruct the whole of European history and understand its unity of orig

PART I )
History of European integration in 2500 years

From classical civilisations to the Roman Empire, from the βάρβαρος to the Sacrum Imperium, from modern states to the European Union: a thousand-year struggle between the drive for unification and the spirit of freedom, which has resulted in the differentiation and historicity of today's nation-states.

The search for the roots of Europe is a Τόπος that has always fascinated historians, philosophers and intellectuals, as well as being one of the central points in the European political debate, especially concerning the process of integration of the continent that began with the establishment of the European Economic Community.

Opinions on the subject are diverse and contrasting, in line with the current knowledge system's ideological opposition³⁴. However, beyond these positions, which by their very nature are difficult to reconcile, it may be helpful to attempt to extend the concept of European integration beyond the conventional temporal limit of the post-World War II period of the twentieth century A.D., aware of the fact that the continent's history is much older and that the events of our day relate to our more remote past. This is an argument that probably finds few supporters. However, I intend to try to prove it: it will be useful to go back in time, to look for the elements of connection or continuity related to those political, social, economic, ethnic or cultural entities that are and have been the necessary and living 'foundation' for the construction of the present integrated continental system. For example, the idea of a politically 'united Europe' was certainly not born in Maastricht in 1992 A.D.: that was the historical moment in which a will that Europeans had held for centuries was sanctioned, and which they have sought to make concrete continuously over time, with different formal and operational modalities.

The millenary struggle for the unification of Europe, both political and religious, has shaped the complex political framework of today, determining the differentiation of modern nation-states, often arising from a movement for freedom and independence of some European peoples against the 'totalitarian' ecumenical entities that, for centuries, dominated the European political and cultural scene. Thus, the intentions to build large unitary systems, on the one hand, and the drives towards independence and freedom, acted as opposing forces that marked the course of events in Europe, initiating a centuries-long confrontation that produced the current geopolitical framework. It was the dominant figure of the Empire, conceived in ancient Persia and then spreading from the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea to the heart of continental Europe, that acted as a pole of attraction and repulsion for all those peoples who passed through its sphere of influence. The Empire, therefore, as a significant element of political and cultural continuity and, above all, a unifying and generative force for the whole of Europe, throughout all the historical eras in which it has existed in its various forms.

Since this subject is inextricably linked to history, as a source of data and facts and as an instrument of investigation, it is from it that the search for the elements practical to provide a plausible answer to the τόπος on the roots of Europe begins.

BEGINNING OF HISTORY: THE CLASSICAL GREEK AGE

Conventionally, History began with the chronicles Thucydides wrote about the Peloponnesian Wars [431-404 BC], which pitted the Greek city-states (πόλις), now commonly regarded as the point of origin of Western classical civilisation, against each other in an ongoing political and economic competition: the free Greek cities, which colonised the northern coasts of the Mediterranean Sea ('Magna Graecia'), regularly fought each other in order to impose their hegemony on their rivals. It was an anarchic political framework in which, often, the independent πόλις organised themselves in political-military alliances (League of Delos, League of Peloponnesus) in order to defeat their rivals, demonstrating how already then, the survival of every city-state, small or big, was necessarily linked to that of the others and depended on the regime of the international political system of the time, which was very unstable. However, the times of the freedom wars against the Persian menace were not far off [Persian Wars, 499-479 BC]: on that occasion, all πόλις had allied themselves against the common enemy (referred to by the Greek term βάρβαρος because of the incomprehensible language) and succeeded in defeating several times (battles of Thermopylae, Salamis and Plataea) a much more powerful and numerous opponents. In that case, the external threat had driven the Greek city-states to give up part of their independence to survive. Nevertheless, once the enemy had been repelled, they began to rechallenge each other for hegemonic power over the Aegean and the Mediterranean.

However, the era of the free πόλις ended abruptly when the Macedonians led by King Philip II succeeded in definitively defeating the league that brought together all the other cities [battle of Chaeronea, 338 BC] and subjugating them to their kingdom. Shortly afterwards, Alexander 'the Great' continued his father's work and conquered the Persian Empire, which included all the lands between the Indus and Nile rivers, to find the Hellenic Empire: it was a brief but fundamental step for the future of Europe. In just a few years, Αλεχανδρος had unified in a single political and cultural system a vast geographical area, which in previous millennia had seen the prosperity of opposing and very different empires, kingdoms and civilisations (Egyptians, Hittites, Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Mitanni, Phoenicians, Hebrews, Mycenaeans, Achaeans, Lydians, Medes, Persians). The 'Hellenistic' experiment of fusion between the cultures of the Western-Greek and the Eastern-Persian civilisation (οίκουμένη) came to an end with the death of the Macedonian βασιλεύς [323 BC]. Although short-lived, it was an attempt that left its mark on the political and cultural consciousness of Europeans in the centuries to follow in fact, the first to imitate the Alexandrian example was the διάδοχοι, the generals of the Macedonian leader who inherited parts of his empire and divided it up by establishing several independent kingdoms (Ptolemy in Egypt, Antigonus in Asia, Seleucus in Syria, Antipater in Greece and Lysimachus in Thrace). For decades, they fought each other for absolute dominance, but none of them managed to prevail over all the others. Thus, the Hellenic Empire was never reconstituted, and the extraordinary task of reconstituting the immense common multi-ethnic and multi-cultural political entity, bringing together civilisations, religions and political systems of all kinds dreamed of by Αλεχανδρος, was only to be achieved by the Romans towards the end of the pre-Christian era.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

Founded in 753 B.C. by Romulus on the left bank of the Tiber, Rome was the city-state of the Latins and Romans (Civitas), which opposed the dominance of the Etruscans and the expansionist ambitions of the other peoples who inhabited Italy at that time (Taurians, Ligurians, Celts, Veneti, Osco-Piceni, Illyrians, Sabines, Samnites, Bruzi, Lucani, Sicani, Sardinians, etc.), including the southern cities that were colonies of the Greek πόλις. ), including the southern cities that were colonies of the Greek πόλις. Having freed themselves from the Etruscan yoke and established the Res Publica [509 BC], the Romans soon succeeded in subduing and unifying all the Italic peoples, also using alliances and federative peace treaties (Foedus). After that, they defeated the Mediterranean rivals of Carthage [Punic Wars, 264-146 BC], incorporating its possessions in the Iberian and Balearic Islands, Sardinia and Sicily. Subsequently, Roman legions conquered Illyria and the Greek and Macedonian kingdoms [146 BC]. Rome was a militaristic city organised into social castes. It had now annexed by force of the sword and its civic pride all the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea, from Gibraltar to the Dardanelles Strait, maintaining a republican political and legal order.

At that point, it became clear that the Senatus, the political-legislative body at the head of Rome, was no longer able to manage alone the power over dominions that continued to expand in all directions: to the north and west, towards Gaul and Iberia, to the East in Dalmatia and Asia Minor, until the conquest of Syria and Palestine [64 B.C.]. Moreover, there were continuous social conflicts between the Plebeians and the Patricians, the latter belonging to the ancient and glorious aristocratic Gens that had always held power in Rome (Optimates) and dominated over the Populus, the whole of the citizens (Cives) whom Roman law had established as the source of all political and religious power. This class confrontation turned into civil war [from 88 B.C.]. It continued for decades in confrontations between generals and consuls (first Marius against Sulla, then Caesar against Pompey, finally Antony against Octavian), further extending Rome's dominions to Egypt and Anatolia. The epilogue of the prolonged republican crisis was the birth of the Principatus [27 B.C.], an innovative political and legal formula of authoritarian government invented by Augustus, which placed the Princeps at the centre of the system and in a leading position to all other powers (Summa Potestas). In his hands was concentrated the supreme military command (Imperium), exclusive and personal, with political pre-eminence in the Senate (Primus inter Pares in Auctoritas). At the same time, he represented the guarantor of state unity (Curator et Tutelar Res Publica Universae) and the religious head who mediates with the Gods (Pontifex Maximus)³⁵.

This high-imperial political model was preserved for centuries, with the transmission of the title of Imperator Caesar Augustus between members of the Gens Senatorie (I and II centuries A.D. the Julio-Claudi, Flavi, Antonini and Severi dynasties succeeded each other), through the public act of adoptio, followed by the concessio Senatus and the indispensable ancient famous proclamation. In the centuries that followed, the power of the Imperator became increasingly absolute, independent of the caste of the Roman patriciate and the noble families of the Provinciae, united in the Senatus together with the representatives of the wealthiest citizens (Ordo equestre) chosen and elevated by census by the Emperor himself (Dignitas). The Emperor also imposed a bond of loyalty to the imperial bureaucracy (chosen with a personal nomination) and to the military class (Ordo milites), which had always been made up of the popular class. Thus, the Imperator concentrated in his person entire military, diplomatic, legislative and supreme judicial powers (Summa potestas) and was considered superior to the law (legibus solutus), issued money and collected his tribute (Fiscus Caesaris), ruling in a regime of absolute monarchy of a hereditary, deified, totalising... Persian type!

The progressive enlargement of the borders of the Imperium (Limes), which ran along with the courses of the Rhine and Danube rivers to the north, and along the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea to the south and East (now called Mare nostrum), created many difficulties for the Romans: From the inside, it was necessary to integrate the different peoples who lived there, while from the outside, the pressure from the Germanic tribes, who populated the lands north of the border, and from the Slavs, Dacians, Scythians, Goths, Parthians, who settled in the eastern lands, was increasing. Moreover, in the 3rd century A.D., the Empire entered a severe general crisis: of power, marked by successive coups and civil wars between various military commanders who tried to grab the imperial title [an era of 'military anarchy', 235-284 A.D.]; agricultural and economical, which eventually led to the emergence of aristocratic latifundia and the almost total loss of ownership of land and rights by the people; religious-cultural, triggered by currents of pagan thought praising the deified figure of the Emperor and oriental mysticism. The Christian religion, increasingly widespread in the Empire, especially in the popular communities, among the troops and in the patriciate (from which many bishops and Church Fathers emerged), was increasingly perceived as a severe destabilising danger for the imperial political power and was put under pressure (with persecutions).

In order to solve all these problems, two leading political solutions were found. The first was the reform of the Empire in an autarchic sense, with the institution of Domination by Diocletian [284 AD]: a model that strengthened imperial power by transforming it into a Hellenistic type of monarchy (the figure of Dominus et Deus) and organising it into a dynastic reign (Tetrarchy), reserved exclusively for members of the imperial family with the strong support of the military power (Duces) and supported by a vast bureaucratic system (Dioecesis). The other operation, on the spiritual level, was necessary to integrate the immense and growing population of the Empire³⁶: by recognising the status licita religio to the Christian cult [Edict of Tolerance, 313 A.D.], completed by conferring on Constantine the role of head of the Ecclesiae Christiana as Pontifex Maximus [Council of Nicaea, 325 AD], the power was reconciled with the power of the Christian Church. This reconciled the absolute and sacred power of the emperor (who now referred directly to the mithraic divine figure of Sol Invictus) with the economic-religious power held by the Bishops in the Dioecesis³⁷, of which they became the regents and depositaries of the benefits and civil-jurisdictional powers, attributed to them in competition with the other imperial administrative and military figures (Duces, Comites, Magister).

With Theodosius, I decided to sanction Christianity as the only religion allowed in the Empire [Edict of Thessalonica 380 A.D.], with the consequent ban on all pagan worship and Arianism. With the Imperium transformed into a theocracy, on the death of the first 'Christian Emperor' the split between the Greek East and the Latin West was consummated: the Pars Occidens was progressively abandoned to the power of the military, landowners and the Western Church, which was headed by the Bishop of Rome, populated by the barbarian tribes already federated and settled for some time within the Limes to counter the continuous invasions of Goths and Huns, which finally determined the final dissolution of Roman power [476 AD. In the East, the Empire survived in the form that had evolved into orientalising, verticist, theocratic and universalistic, later known as the Byzantine Empire, or 'Second Rome'.

ROMAN-BARBARIAN REIGNS AND THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE

The Germans were an Indo-European people (ÜrVolk) of probable Aryan ancestry, semi-nomadic warriors/farmers, bound together by common blood (lineage), language, religion and laws, tribes from northern Europe already known to the Greeks and Romans who classified them as Goths (distributed along the course of the Danube and on the coast of the Black Sea, between Pannonia and Dacia), Franks (having penetrated northern Gaul, on the left bank of the Rhine, they were also present on the other bank and in Germany), Lombards (who first settled east of the Elbe, then moved on to Bohemia and Pannonia), Suebi (who occupied the Swiss Alps, the right bank of the Rhine and south-west Germany), Bavarians and Thuringians (who settled along the upper reaches of the Elbe, in Bohemia and the Austrian Alps). During the pre-Christian centuries, the Goths met and intermingled with other Iranian (Alani, Sarmatians), Mongolian (Huns, Avars) and other nomadic Asian warrior tribes (Reitervolker) in the vast area outside the Imperium to the east of the Danube. Between the 3rd and 5th centuries A.D., there was slow immigration of these 'barbarian' groups³⁸ within the Limes, favoured by the granting of accession/inclusion treaties (Foedus) and by the ancient Roman rules on hospitality to foreigners (hospitalitas), which allowed the enrolment of those among the soldiers and officers of the legions stationed along the border.

This was possible thanks to Rome's policy of 'civilisation' (so-called 'romanisation'), which was inspired by Christian philanthropy and the Roman conception of Felicitas, considered the means of evangelisation and conversion of pagan peoples Catholic-Conciliar Christianity had developed at the time³⁹. In addition, the barbarian tribes were granted economic and fiscal autonomy, political and administrative powers, critical roles in the marshalling of trade and the command of indigenous military units (limitares), placed to defend the borders along the Danube, the Rhine, the North Sea and in Britain, and subject to the control of the bishops at the head of the dioceses and the Roman aristocracy, who managed the city offices. Between the 3rd and 4th centuries A.D., the new provinces of Germania Superior and Inferior were settled by tribes of Alamanni, Suebi, Burgundians, Franks, Batavian...

Table of contents

• PART I )History of European integration in 2500 years
• PART II)The unifying function of the Empire
• PART III)The key role of Christianity and the Church
• PART IV)The culture and thought behind the United Europe
• PART V)The elements of aeternitas