This is one of the two chief reasons why the Prankish
power was permanent. The other reason was that the
Pranks did not wholly leave their old homes as
the other Germans did when they set out on their con-



70 THE STOBY OF THE MIDDLE AGES

quest. The Franks kept what they already had, while

adding to it the neighboring lands which they had con-

why the quered. So their increase in power was a

F^rSs^wM* growth, as well as a conquest; and this

permanent. jjisLde it morc lasting.
When the barbarians conquered portions of the

Eoman Empire they did not kill or drive out the people

who already lived there. Usually they con-

Relations of

Franks and tcutcd themsclves with taking some of the

Romans.
lands for themselves, and making the
people pay to them the taxes which they had before
paid to the Roman emperors. So it was with the
Franks. The people of Gaul were allowed to remain,
and to keep most of their lands; but the Franks,
although they were not nearly so numerous as the
Romans, ruled over the state. The old inhabitants
were highly civilized, while the Franks were just
taking the first steps in civilization.
** We make fun of them," wrote one of these Romans,
**we despise them, — ^but we fear them also.''-

As the years went by, the differences between the
conquerors and the conquered became less. The
Romans found that times were changed, and they had
to adopt the habits of the Franks in some respects.
