The Germani

Author: “Germanus”, (2006), “The Germani”, first published in The Imperial Courier, Volume 1, Issue 8, THE RMRS, pp. 4-5.

Early knowledge The Germanic peoples appeared relatively late in the history of the ancient world, with very little being known about them before the 2nd-century BC. Although the Greeks were aware of βάρβαροι (barbaroi; “barbarians”) [1] living in West and central Europe, whom they believed originated on the Danube, the term simply referred to those who did not speak Greek and follow classical Greek customs. In fact, they knew more about the Scythians in Russia than these so-called Keltoi (Celts) [2].

Even as knowledge increased in the 4th-century BC, the Germans were not among the four great barbarian nations known to the Greek historian Ephorus [3]. In c.320 BC, however, Pytheas of Marseilles sailed around Britain, and possibly around Jutland and the western Baltic, becoming in the process the first Mediterranean to differentiate between Germanoi and Keltoi. Poseidonius of Apamea writing his Histories about the same time distinguished the Germans from the Keltoi and Scythians. In the 2nd-century BC this distinction became much clearer when a throng of Cimbri from Jutland, together with Teutones and Ambrones, swept southwards towards the Roman frontier. Between 113 and 101 BC the Roman Republic fought these tribes in the Cimbrian War. The Cimbri were initially successful, particularly at the Battle of Arausio where a large Roman army was routed, after which they raided large areas in Gaul and Hispania. In 101 BC, during an attempted invasion of Italy, the Cimbri were decisively defeated by Gaius Marius, and their king, Boiorix, was killed.

Caesar and the Germans The first coherent picture of Germanic society is provided by Gaius Julius Caesar in his Commentāriī dē Bellō Gallicō (“Commentaries on the Gallic War”). His account reflects his knowledge was limited to only a small part of Germanic territory, describing the tribes within 100 km of the Rhein (for example the Suebi, Tencteri, and Usipetes) or those tribes on the river itself such as the Ubii and Menapi. Of these the Suebi were the largest and most powerful and had been pushing westwards, dominating the smaller tribes close to the Rhein. An adventurous element of the tribe led by Ariovistus had established itself west of the river after being hired as mercenaries by the Sequani [4].

Before the arrival of Caesar in Gaul, the Sequani had taken the side of the Arverni against the latter’s rivals the Aedui and hired the Suebi, led by Ariovistus, to cross the Rhein and help them (71 BC). Although Ariovistus’ assistance enabled the defeat the Aedui, the Sequani were worse off than before. For his part, Ariovistus deprived them of a third of their territory and threatened to take another third, while subjugating the Sequani into semi-slavery. The Sequani appealed to Caesar thereby gifting him the reason and pretext for his intervention in Gallic affairs.

Caesar states the divide between the Gauls in the West and the Germans in the East was the Rhein valley. He states that while the Gauls were a tough and warlike people they were also amenable to the attractions of orderly, civilized life. By contrast, the Germans he portrayed as primitive and following a lifestyle which, to Roman eyes, seemed even more savage than that of other barbarians; they would never be softened by contact with civilized men.

The Germans also posed a serious threat to Gaul. With the Suebi massing in large numbers near the river Rhein, it was feared that should the Germans overrun Gaul, then the Roman provinces or even Italy could be invaded. Caesar used these fears to justify his own actions in Gaul.

The Germans in the early Empire Writing during the reigns of Emperors Augustus and Tiberius, the Greek geographer, philosopher and historian, Strabo, was well aware of what Caesar had said about the Germans. He too knew that the Suebi were the largest threat and that they had already forced some of the smaller Germanic tribes to migrate across the Rhein into Gaul. He took particular note of the Cimbri, partly because of their famous raid a century earlier, but also because they had gifted Augustus a revered cauldron which was the talk of Rome. Strabo had a good knowledge of people to the river Elbe, but specifically states that those areas beyond to the ocean (the Baltic) were unknown to the Romans.

The Germanic identity At the time of Strabo’s writing, Roman knowledge of the Germans was steadily increasing. As they attempted to expand the empire, pushing into the regions of the Elbe and Bohemia, they encountered more and more tribespeople. Roman expansion, however, was dealt a deadly blow, and their fear of the Germans further enhanced, when Publius Quinctilius Varus and his legions were defeated in AD 9 in Teutoburg forest [5]. Velleius Paterculus, an officer serving on the Rhein frontier shortly afterward, wrote that the Germans were inhuman savages (feri) and that they could not be governed by laws, much less taught civilized arts. His view is somewhat extreme, but probably reflects his encountering the Germans in a time of crisis. Yet, Paterculus is not alone as many later writers expressed similar views. Their writing reveals not only what a dire threat the Germanic peoples represented but just how terrifying these tall, ferocious northerners were even to the professional soldiers of the best army in the ancient world.

It is from the Roman authors that we derive much of our understanding of the German tribes. Such a source was Pliny the Elder's Bella Germaniae, an account of the Roman campaigns in the southern Germanic lands in the mid-first century AD. Having served on both the upper and lower Rhein, Pliny’s curiosity would have undoubtedly led him to record much about Germanic life. Sadly, however, his descriptions are lost to us. All we can now rely on are the many statements made by Tacitus in his later work, Germania, which are believed to have been extracted from Pliny's account. There is no evidence that the various tribes referred to themselves as "Germani" or their land "Germania". These terms, like "Keltoi", was coined by Mediterranean writers to refer to a host of peoples from those areas of northern Europe beyond the imperial frontier. Even the origin of the word "Germanus" (presumably meaning a “German man”) is uncertain, seemingly dating to Poseidonius, and while Caesar happily used the term, he felt no need of further explanation.

The written evidence attributable to the Germans themselves is limited to a few fragmentary inscriptions often only naming an individual or a god. We are left with little idea of the Germanic language and how it was spoken. It can only be hoped that further research and future archaeological discoveries will bring evidence to light enhancing our understanding of the early years of the peoples who, at the time, represented one of the greatest threats to Rome.

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Endnotes:

1. Greek: βάρβαρος barbaros; pl. βάρβαροι barbaroi. ▲

2. In the 5th-century BC, the Greek historian Herodotus referred to Κελτοί (Keltoi) living around the head of the Danube and in the far west of Europe. The name Keltoi and Celtae is thus used by Greek and Latin authors, respectively, for the people of the La Tène culture who populated the region of the upper Rhein and Danube rivers during the 6th- to 1st-centuries BC. ▲

3. Ephorus of Cyme (c. 400 BC - 330 BC) was an ancient Greek historian known for his universal history. ▲

4. The Sequani were a Gallic tribe dwelling in the upper river basin of the Arar river (Saône), the valley of the Doubs and the Jura Mountains during the Iron Age and the Roman period. ▲

5. Publius Quinctilius Varus (born 46 BC in Cremona, died September 15th, AD 9 near Kalkriese, Germany) was a Roman general and politician serving Emperor Augustus. Varus is generally remembered for having lost three Roman legions (XVII, XVIII and XIX) when ambushed by Germanic tribes led by Arminius in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, whereupon he took his own life. ▲

(For reference on the Germanic peoples see "The early Germans" by Malcolm Todd (2nd Edition).)