30.9. 9. A just Application of the Law of the Burgundians, and of that of
the Visigoths, in relation to the Division of Lands.
It is to be
considered that those divisions of land were not made with a tyrannical
spirit; but with a view of relieving the reciprocal wants of two nations
that were to inhabit the same country.
The law of the Burgundians ordains that a Burgundian shall be
received in an hospitable manner by a Roman. This is agreeable to the
manners of the Germans, who, according to Tacitus,
[18]
were the most
hospitable people in the world.
By the law of the Burgundians, it is ordained that the Burgundians
shall have two-thirds of the lands, and one-third of the bondmen. In
this it considered the genius of two nations, and conformed to the
manner in which they procured their subsistence. As the Burgundians kept
herds and flocks, they wanted a great deal of land and few bondmen, and
the Romans, from their application to agriculture, had need of less
land, and of a greater number of bondmen. The woods were equally
divided, because their wants in this respect were the same.
We find in the code of the Burgundians
[19]
that each Barbarian was
placed near a Roman. The division therefore was not general; but the
Romans who gave the division were equal in number to the Burgundians who
received it. The Roman was injured least. The Burgundians as a martial
people, fond of hunting and of a pastoral life, did not refuse to accept
of the fallow grounds; while the Romans kept such lands as were
properest for culture: the Burgundian's flock fattened the Roman's
field.
Footnotes
[18]
"De Moribus Germanorum," 21.
[19]
And in that of the Visigoths.
