By the 4th Century, about 15% of the empire was Christian, mostly in cities, while the countryside was still overwhelmingly pagan. Later, the cities started adopting the Arian heresy, which was widespread until the 6th century. During this time, most of the barbarian tribes either converted to Christianity or were killed, like the Vandals, who were defeated in battle against the Byzantines in 534, and the Ostrogoths, who were beaten in 554. In 517 the Burgundians abandoned Arianism after being conquered by the Franks in 534. 

The Visigoths and Lombards, two of the larger barbarian tribes, were converted by the start of the 7th century. In the mid 5th century, Pope Leo the Great protected Rome from Atilla the Hun, when he convinced Atilla to turn around and leave Italy. Early missionary journeys in Northern Europe converted major tribes like the Franks and eventually the Anglo-Saxons. These groups were usually turned to Christ when their ruler followed God who then baptized his tribe. The Suevians and most of the tribes in the Iberian Peninsula were converted by 500. 

The Frankish tribe originated in modern-day France, Belgium, and Germany. In the 6th century, they conquered much of Francia under King Clovis. As they defeated most of the tribes in Western Europe, they converted the Arian or Pagan tribes to Christianity. Clovis (466-511) was the first king of the Merovingian Dynasty. He baptized his people in 496 and made his capital city Paris in 508, later subduing the Visigoths. Unfortunately, after his death in 511 the dynasty fell into infighting. 

During the 8th Century, the Umayyad Caliphate, a Muslim empire, invaded and conquered most of the Arabian Peninsula, the Middle East, and North Africa. In 732, they took Spain and advanced north towards the Kingdom of the Franks. At the Battle of Tours in 732, the Franks annihilated the Muslims, forcing them to fall back all the way to Africa. After this battle, the Carolingians Dynasty ruled the Franks. As the Frankish Kingdom grew in Western Europe, the Pope of Rome used this to try to get more power and distance themselves from the Byzantine Empire. Before the split of the Eastern and Western Churches in 1054, there were five main Patriarchs of the Church, the Patriarchs of Constantinople, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, and the Pope of Rome. The Pope of Rome was the first among equals with the four other Patriarchates. 

The Pope blessed the Carolingian Dynasty. This angered the Byzantines, who thought they were the continuation of the Roman Empire. The West was also mad because the Byzantine Emperor said he had to consecrate the Pope before he took power. Under Pope Gregory III (731-741), the Lombards invaded the Papal States, taking most of Italy. Under their ruler Aistulf (749-756), the Lombards invaded Byzantine controlled land in Southern Italy. Pope Stephen II negotiated with Aistulf in 753, but he refused to stop sieging Rome. 

In 754, Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, agreed to help the Pope and defeated the Lombards in Italy. He was later crowned by the Pope, further cementing the Pope’s connection to the West. 

Charlemagne (748-814) was the King of the Franks from 768 to 814. In 771, Charlemagne united all the Frankish lands under his power. More than 53 campaigns were fought under his reign and the Lomabards were completely subjugated. Charlemagne defeated and converted the Anglo-Saxons, and conquered as far south as Northern Spain. On Christmas Day 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne “The Holy Emperor of the Romans,” which meant that the Pope thought that they were now the continuation of the Roman Empire, not the Byzantines. The Kingdom of the Franks was changed to the Holy Roman Empire. 

This solidified a divide between the Pope of Rome in the West and the Byzantine Empire in the East. In 812, the Byzantine Emperor officially recognized Charlemagne as the Holy Roman Emperor in exchange for giving part of Southern Italy back to the Byzantines. Charlemagne appointed bishops and convened councils even though he wasn’t a religious leader. He also forced tribes to convert and gave the title of bishop to his political friends as rewards. 

This abuse of power caused people like Saint Boniface to call out Charlemagne, stating that he was only a political ruler and should not have power of the Church. Eastern Christians also were concerned by Charlemagne’s crowning. 

In “Odes,” Horace wanted to apply the old way of Roman life to the Age of Augustus and Julius Caesar. Horace tried to tackle different kinds of human emotions within the poem, stating that death takes everyone. No one can be freed from death’s grip, so you should seek tranquility in this life. He accepted Stoicism and Epicureanism as acceptable ways of thought. 

The poet warned readers not to be too aggressive or too cautious. He said since death is inevitable, fortune and luck do not really exist, their only existence is the devil playing games with men. Horace wrote that both good times and bad times will come and go, adding that there is no such thing as personal sovereignty and that ethics is the leader of most decisions. 

In 35 BC, Horace wrote a series of poems in a book called “Satires,” a satirical book about Greek and Roman philosophy and the gods. According to “Satires,” people who say they are discontented with their lot are not ready to swap conditions with the more fortunate. Horace also said that money doesn’t buy happiness and he did not understand man’s quest for wealth. Horace warned to not equate yourself with your wealth, because it is a path to destruction. 

Five years after the first “Satires” book, Horace released a second part which included many more poems. Horace advised people against being overcritical, and wrote that readers should regard other’s faults as lightly or as harshly as they would regard their own faults. Moreover, “Satires” revealed that punishments should not be too harsh, and should only be as punitive as the crime committed. 

In the second half of Ovid’s book “Metamorphoses,” he stated that the worst curse someone can have is eternal life. The gods are cursed with this, which may be the cause of their cruelty. To punish humans, the gods burdened them with the uncontrollable emotion of sexual passion. Jupiter was continuously unfaithful to his wife and was a rapist, causing him to lose favor with the other gods. Apollo also taunted Cupid because he had no real power. 

Ovid wrote that at the beginning of time there was a set hierarchy: that gods would always be over men. Two women rebelled against this hierarchy, which caused the gods to place negative sanctions on mankind. These sanctions shaped nature and the gods were changed into a fixed, inhuman nature. 

Ovid claimed that man has total pride against the gods and that the fall of man will be because of his pride. The gods, especially Apollo, will punish man ruthlessly for this. Men are under the gods’ authority, since nature is seen as reflecting the sovereignty of the gods. Some will rebel and will be crushed. 

Aeneas was made a god, as were Romulus and his wife. The gods later made Julius and Augustus Caesar divine, as a reward for making the empire strong. Julius and Augustus would become gods after their death because of their fame and fortune. Ovid was confident that his poem “Metamorphoses” would live on as long as Rome survived. He concluded that gods turn people into natural objects and turn great men into gods.