FROM TRIBE TO PROVINCE TO STATE

in the 5th century as auxiliary troops under the control of the same Roman Empire (Burgundians), then as the new military élites and finally as the new ruling class (Ostrogoths and Langobards), revealing how the cultural evolution of the new sites appears to be strictly correlated to different situations and often common to the new Germanic element and to the local Romanised components. Interesting and stimulating concepts that underscore the formation of a shared culture are presented in this contribution along with a refreshing new perspective of certain aspects, such as the evolution of clothing and funerary rituals, already considered expressions of simple ethnic preservation.