ABSTRACT
Men of the earlier Middle Ages knew what they meant by war and peace. Their definitions are not hard to find, even though, when found, they prove to be inconsistent. It is not easy to distinguish their ancient and traditional views on war and peace from those that came to prevail when they were settled within the Empire. Warrior-classes trained in the mysteries of battle, cut off from their fellows by the exercise of a special craft, were not going to lay down their arms because they had become landowners in a Roman province. Germanic pagan peoples had a clear sense that war was a religious undertaking, in which the gods were interested. At once one thinks of Woden as a God peculiarly, though not exclusively, connected with warfare. Goths and Vandals were well aware that victory depended on the gods and called for sacrifice.
