Elric, Corum & the Merovingians

Reading this history really brings to life what Moorcock managed to do in his Eternal Champion series (of which the first three books of Corum are my favorite). These Long Haired Kings, under Clovis, conquered much of northern Gaul and later Aquitaine and Burgandy. Living there, especially in the south were large populations of Romans, living in their country estates and villas. Many senatorial families survived through the last centuries of the Empire, shades of their ancestor's former greatness. They clung to power through the Church and in some cases serving the Long Hairs as Counts of their home regions. It reminds me of the dwindling power of the Vadhagh as the Mabden spread across that ancient realm.