Relations of the ancient Germans with neighboring tribes. Ancient Germanic tribes

The territories of the German settlements and the territories of Germany itself changed, becoming wider and narrower. Now this is one of the most compact territories after the 2nd World War.

From the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, iron products appeared. Plow, plow.

The main population of central and southern Germany are Celts. Rivers: Rhine, Main, Weser - Celtic names. The Germanic ethnos originated to the north at the end of the Neolithic. 6th-1st centuries BC. - The Germans evict the Celts to the west and south. Ultimately, they inhabit the territories from the Rhine to the Vistula and from the Oder to the Danube, this is based only on the role of ancient monuments and archeology.

From 1500 - a conventional date - until 1900 - 400 years you can use the same written sources. (It meant that throughout this time the main sources were the same.) Strabo, Velleius Paterculus, Tacitus, Florus, etc.

The very first mention of tribes that were clearly Germanic, but without a name, was a certain Pytheas (Piteus) from Marseille. Around 325 BC e. visited the North Sea coast for merchant purposes to buy amber. He retained information about the tribes that mine amber there. He writes that there are tribes that are unfamiliar and unlike the Gauls.

Encounters with the Germans lead to detailed descriptions. The first two are Pliny the Elder. An essay about the soldiers of Germanicus that has not reached us. This was 6 years after the 9th year - a punitive campaign - to take revenge on the Germans for their defeat. The main work is the Natural History of Pliny the Elder. The fourth book dedicated to the geography of Europe. Detailed sketch of Germany.

98 year after Pliny - Tacitus. Wrote an ethnogeographical essay about the location and population of Germany.

Late 2nd century BC Numerous Germanic tribes from the territory of Jutland first invaded the Roman Empire. They headed towards the Danube, then turned towards Gaul, Spain, and only in 102-101. BC e. under the leadership of Gaius Marius, they were defeated. This fear was recorded in the sources. The name of the Teutonic tribe began to be transferred to all German tribes. Tacitus names different tribes, but in everyday speech all Germans were called Teutons. Even in Russia - the "Teutonic Order". Taliban Germany topos description of the Germans. Features of the natural conditions of Germany. Impenetrable taiga. Huge primary forests. The process of developing these forests was labor-intensive. Intensified struggle for living space.

20th century. Problem: who are the Cimbri and who are the Teutons. Are the Cimbri also Germans? Perhaps this is the general flow of those who went with the Germans - the Celtic tribes. Caesar (another source) writes: "Sevi" tribes who fought the Gauls. Two excursions about who these Suevi are. There are a huge number of them. 100,000 people per year. They are being replaced by 100,000 others.

They don't fight like the Celts. They push the carts forward, stand in front of the carts and fight to the last. Behind the carts are women and children, and the children are shown to the soldiers if they retreat.

Knowledge about the Germans has changed since the end of the 19th century. Tacitus believed that there was not enough iron in Germany. However, over time, remains of smelting furnaces were found. The ore is of poor quality, by today's standards. It was obtained locally. Surveys of large areas of territory confirmed that German settlements were often far from each other. The name "Germany" is still unclear - either from its Celtic neighbors, or from the names of local tribes.

Economic system: already in the 1st century they led a sedentary lifestyle. Migrations - due to foreign policy complications, as well as climate fluctuations and demographic growth. The most developed tribes lived on the borders of the empire, near the Rhine and Danube. As we moved away from the Roman borders, the level of civilization fell.

The main branch of the economy is cattle breeding. Cattle, sheep, pigs. Agriculture was in the background, but was no longer inferior to cattle breeding. The exploitation of cleared and constantly used areas predominated. They used a plow or a plow (depending on whether the soil was rocky or not). Gradually, two-field crops are spreading with alternation of spring and winter crops, less often grains with legumes or flax. Hunting was no longer of great importance (more fishing).

There was no shortage of iron, contrary to the report of Tacitus. Gold, silver, copper, and lead were mined. Weaving, woodworking, leather dressing, and jewelry making are developed. Trade with the Romans was important. Natural exchange predominated. The Germans supplied slaves, cattle, leather, furs, amber, and bought fabrics, ceramics, jewelry, and wine themselves.

"Craft production was relatively poorly developed: Tacitus noted that the weapons of the majority consisted of a shield and a spear with a short tip (frames); swords, helmets and armor were owned by a select few. The Germans, including women, wore a short linen cape, trousers could only the richest could afford it. Clothes were also made from the skins of wild animals. The Swions (inhabitants of Scandinavia) knew how to build sea-going ships, but did not use sails. This information about the Germans dates back to the 1st century.

Archaeological research complements the evidence of ancient historians. The Germans usually used a light plow to loosen the soil, but also by the beginning of the century. e. A heavy plow with a moldboard and a ploughshare appears. German iron tools, according to modern experts, were of good quality. The dwellings were long houses 10-30 m long and 4-7 m wide, including a stall for winter housing of livestock. The walls are made of clay-coated wattle fence supported on pillars.

According to Tacitus, the Germans cannot stand their dwellings touching. They settle at a distance from each other. Population density is low. Dwellings are tall, elongated buildings up to 200 square meters in size. m, designed for 2-3 dozen people. In bad weather they also housed livestock. There were fields and pastures around. When houses were close together, fields or sections thereof were separated by stones, which were removed from the fields when they were plowed.

Continental Germans. A single people of common origin - but in reality there was no linguistic or political unity. Conglomerate of tribes. Suevi, Vandals, Gutons, Bavarians, Cherusci, etc.

The Germans of the time of Tacitus do not know the state and live in a tribal system. Genus is a structure-forming element. Germanic family: 6-7 generations of relatives. 2 aspects: clan - a real social organism, 1-2-3 hundreds of people, but also a virtual concept - ancestors, descendants. Clan membership influenced reputation. The property of archaic communities is the sum of local communities. To know is nobilis. The dignity of a leader is given to either an experienced warrior or a very young man from an outstanding noble family. The ancestral origin was fueled by pagan religion. Traces of totemism are visible in proper names. The name is “fate code”. Very little is known about the religion of the continental Germans. Paganism is not a book religion, it is not systemic, it is a set of individual practices. Gender is the basis of self-awareness. The clan acts as a military unit, as the basis of the militia. Clan as the only guarantor of human life, honor, and property in a society deprived of statehood.

For all the importance of the clan, the institution of family is no less important. The Germans of the era of Tacitus do not represent an indivisible primitive unity. Family - Sippe. Determined by belonging to a single household. The principle of space development is based on the farm. The village presence is extremely small. Wooden fortified settlement. In the first centuries AD. the clan still played a large role in the life of the Germans. Its members settled, if not together, then compactly.

But in everyday economic practice, the clan was no longer together; the large family was the main production unit of German society, so neighborly ties prevailed over blood ties, regardless of whether the inhabitants of the settlement descended from a common ancestor or not. The functioning of the community depended little on the organization of agriculture; the reasons were low population density, a lot of free land, and the dominance of primitive farming systems. Collective work and actions were of great importance: protection from enemies, predatory animals, construction of fortifications, etc. But primary education was the work of a community member in his own household. The ancient German community was an association of large family groups independently managing their households.
The head of the family had a decisive voice in all matters. A German was primarily determined by the status of his family, which depended not only on wealth, but on the number, pedigree and general reputation of the family and clan as a whole. The combination of these features determined the degree of nobility. Nobility gave many privileges, although it was not yet a special social status. The difference between free and unfree: a free person acquires full rights with age, and a slave, like a child, even in old age - in the sense of rights. Unlike the Romans, slaves received a separate area for cultivation. The master is paid something like a quitrent. A freedman and a slave are almost the same thing.

Women have many rights. Tacitus is surprised by some customs. Women have the gift of divination. That is, a woman stands higher than in Roman society. Because men are warriors and spend all their time on campaigns; women have more functions and a higher status.

Absence of a state - every full member of the tribe is involved in governance. The highest authority was the tribal meeting (ting), to which all adult men had access. The meeting was convened at least once a year to resolve various issues (issues of war and peace, court, initiation into warriors, nomination of leaders), Tacitus calls the leaders principles. Caesar sees in this a similarity to the Senate. This is similar to the council of elders, only consisting of tribal nobility.

Two major military institutions:

Tribal militia - troops organized along kinship lines
- the main one is described in detail by Tacitus

Along with collective power there was the individual power of tribal leaders. Ancient authors call them differently: princeps, dux, archon, hegemon. It is most often translated into Russian as “king”. The most correct term is king. A king is a well-born, noble, distinguished person, and therefore worthy of respect and obedience, but in no way a ruler or master. The king persuaded by example rather than commanded. The king was the military leader of the tribe, its representative in international affairs, had the right to gifts and advantages in the division of military spoils. But he was not a judge and did not have administrative power. Performed sacred functions. He played an important role in performing fortune telling and sacrifices. The king was chosen by lot or by the conscious choice of those present.

Leaders of squads. A squad is unrelated, random people who joined some successful warrior in order to try their luck in military affairs. There was a hierarchy within the squad; position in it was determined not so much by nobility as by valor. All contradictions in the squad were overshadowed by devotion to the leader. Glory and spoils belonged to him.

All expensive items among the Germans are the result of predatory raids. Tacitus, the Germans join the squad just to eat. The squad expects everything from the leader to arm him and give him war horses. Druzhina gang is a group created for predatory raids. The German elite, trying to maintain a high position, must increase their positive reputation, supporting it with successful military raids. Personal reputation plays a huge role here, the most important thing is good fame.

Vigilantes are not soldiers. Their leaders are not officers. The warrior comes and goes whenever he wants, and only to a leader with sufficient reputation. The power of the leader is built on charismatic foundations. It is considered a disgrace to survive a battle in which a leader has fallen. A leader can lead by personal example.

Military meetings are important to the Germans. The armed men are seated; the meeting is led by priests; the reaction is indicated by shouts and raised frames. The most notable priests, kings, and chief elders speak first. Judicial issues are being resolved. The system, however, does not involve voting, which is evidence of the weakness of government institutions.

Direct contact with the empire would play a significant role in the evolution of the barbarians. Climate change, etc. nature will cause a great migration of peoples.

The name of the Germans aroused bitter feelings in the Romans and evoked dark memories in their imagination. From the time when the Teutons and Cimbri crossed the Alps and rushed in a devastating avalanche onto beautiful Italy, the Romans looked with alarm at the peoples little known to them, worried about the continuous movements in Ancient Germany beyond the ridge fencing Italy from the north. Even Caesar's brave legions were overcome with fear when he led them against the Suevi of Ariovistus. The fear of the Romans was increased by the terrible news of the defeat of Varus in the Teutoburg Forest, the stories of soldiers and prisoners about the harshness of the German country, the savagery of its inhabitants, their high stature, and human sacrifices. Residents of the south, the Romans, had the darkest ideas about Ancient Germany, about impenetrable forests that stretch from the banks of the Rhine for a nine-day journey east to the upper reaches of the Elbe and the center of which is the Hercynian Forest, filled with unknown monsters; about the swamps and desert steppes that extend in the north to the stormy sea, over which there are thick fogs that do not allow the life-giving rays of the sun to reach the earth, on which the marsh and steppe grass is covered with snow for many months, along which there are no paths from the region of one people to the region another. These ideas about the severity and gloom of Ancient Germany were so deeply rooted in the thoughts of the Romans that even the impartial Tacitus says: “Whoever would leave Asia, Africa or Italy to go to Germany, a country of a harsh climate, devoid of all beauty, making an unpleasant impression on everyone, living in it or visiting it, if it is not his homeland? The prejudices of the Romans against Germany were strengthened by the fact that they considered all those lands that lay beyond the borders of their state to be barbaric and wild. So, for example, Seneca says: “Think about those peoples who live outside the Roman state, about the Germans and about the tribes wandering along the lower Danube; Isn’t the almost continuous winter looming over them, the constantly cloudy sky, isn’t the food that the unfriendly, barren soil gives them scanty?”

Family of ancient Germans

Meanwhile, near the majestic oak and leafy linden forests, fruit trees were already growing in Ancient Germany and there were not only steppes and moss-covered swamps, but also fields abundant in rye, wheat, oats, and barley; ancient Germanic tribes already extracted iron from the mountains for weapons; healing warm waters were already known in Matthiak (Wiesbaden) and in the land of the Tungrs (in Spa or Aachen); and the Romans themselves said that in Germany there are a lot of cattle, horses, a lot of geese, the down of which the Germans use for pillows and featherbeds, that Germany is rich in fish, wild birds, wild animals suitable for food, that fishing and hunting provide the Germans with tasty food. I'm going. Only gold and silver ores in the German mountains were not yet known. “The gods denied them silver and gold—I don’t know how to say, whether out of mercy or hostility toward them,” says Tacitus. Trade in Ancient Germany was only barter, and only the tribes neighboring the Roman state used money, of which they received a lot from the Romans for their goods. The princes of ancient Germanic tribes or people who traveled as ambassadors to the Romans had gold and silver vessels received as gifts; but, according to Tacitus, they valued them no more than clay ones. The fear that the ancient Germans initially instilled in the Romans later turned into surprise at their tall stature, physical strength, and respect for their customs; the expression of these feelings is “Germania” by Tacitus. At the end wars of the era of Augustus and Tiberius relations between the Romans and the Germans became close; educated people traveled to Germany and wrote about it; this smoothed out many of the previous prejudices, and the Romans began to judge the Germans better. Their concepts of the country and climate remained the same, unfavorable, inspired by the stories of merchants, adventurers, returning captives, exaggerated complaints of soldiers about the difficulties of campaigns; but the Germans themselves began to be considered by the Romans as people who had a lot of good in themselves; and finally, the fashion arose among the Romans to make their appearance, if possible, similar to that of the Germans. The Romans admired the tall stature and slender, strong physique of the ancient Germans and German women, their flowing golden hair, light blue eyes, in whose gaze pride and courage were expressed. Noble Roman women used artificial means to give their hair the color that they so liked in the women and girls of Ancient Germany.

In peaceful relations, the ancient Germanic tribes inspired respect in the Romans with courage, strength, and belligerence; those qualities that made them terrible in battles turned out to be respectable when making friends with them. Tacitus extols the purity of morals, hospitality, straightforwardness, loyalty to his word, marital fidelity of the ancient Germans, their respect for women; he praises the Germans to such an extent that his book about their customs and institutions seems to many scholars to have been written with the aim that his pleasure-loving, vicious fellow tribesmen would be ashamed when reading this description of a simple, honest life; they think that Tacitus wanted to clearly characterize the depravity of Roman morals by depicting the life of Ancient Germany, which represented the direct opposite of them. And indeed, in his praise of the strength and purity of marital relations among the ancient Germanic tribes, one can hear sadness about the depravity of the Romans. In the Roman state, the decline of the former excellent state was visible everywhere, it was clear that everything was leaning towards destruction; the brighter the life of Ancient Germany, which still preserved its primitive customs, was pictured in Tacitus’s thoughts. His book is imbued with a vague premonition that Rome is in great danger from a people whose wars are etched in the memory of the Romans more deeply than the wars with the Samnites, Carthaginians and Parthians. He says that “more triumphs were celebrated over the Germans than victories were won”; he foresaw that the black cloud on the northern edge of the Italian horizon would burst over the Roman state with new thunderclaps, stronger than the previous ones, because “the freedom of the Germans is more powerful than the strength of the Parthian king.” The only reassurance for him is the hope for the discord of the ancient Germanic tribes, for the mutual hatred between their tribes: “Let the Germanic peoples remain, if not love for us, then the hatred of some tribes for others; given the dangers threatening our state, fate cannot give us anything better than discord between our enemies.”

The settlement of the ancient Germans according to Tacitus

Let us combine the features that Tacitus describes in his “Germania” as the way of life, customs, and institutions of the ancient Germanic tribes; he makes these notes fragmentarily, without strict order; but, putting them together, we get a picture in which there are many gaps, inaccuracies, misunderstandings, either of Tacitus himself, or of the people who provided him with information, much is borrowed from folk tradition, which has no reliability, but which still shows us the main features of life Ancient Germany, the germs of what later developed. The information that Tacitus gives us, supplemented and clarified by the news of other ancient writers, legends, considerations about the past based on later facts, serves as the basis for our knowledge of the life of the ancient Germanic tribes in primitive times.

Hutt tribe

The lands to the northeast of the Mattiacs were inhabited by the ancient Germanic tribe of the Hutts (Chazzi, Hazzi, Hessians), whose country extended to the borders of the Hercynian Forest. Tacitus says that the Chatti were of a dense, strong build, that they had a courageous look, and a more active mind than other Germans; judging by German standards, the Hutts have a lot of prudence and intelligence, he says. Among them, a young man, having reached adulthood, did not cut his hair or shave his beard until he killed an enemy: “only then does he consider himself to have paid the debt for his birth and upbringing, worthy of his fatherland and parents,” says Tacitus.

Under Claudius, a detachment of German-Hattians made a predatory raid on the Rhine, in the province of Upper Germany. Legate Lucius Pomponius sent vangiones, nemetes and a detachment of cavalry under the command of Pliny the Elder to cut off the retreat of these robbers. The warriors went very diligently, dividing into two detachments; one of them caught the Hutts returning from the robbery when they took a rest and got so drunk that they were unable to defend themselves. This victory over the Germans was, according to Tacitus, all the more joyful because on this occasion several Romans who had been captured forty years earlier during the defeat of Varus were freed from slavery. Another detachment of the Romans and their allies went into the land of the Chatti, defeated them and, having collected a lot of booty, returned to Pomponius, who stood with the legions on Tauna, ready to repel the Germanic tribes if they wanted to take revenge. But the Hutts feared that when they attacked the Romans, the Cherusci, their enemies, would invade their land, so they sent ambassadors and hostages to Rome. Pomponius was more famous for his dramas than for his military exploits, but for this victory he received a triumph.

Ancient Germanic tribes of Usipetes and Tencteri

The lands north of Lahn, along the right bank of the Rhine, were inhabited by the ancient Germanic tribes of the Usipetes (or Usipians) and Tencteri. The Tencteri tribe was famous for its excellent cavalry; Their children had fun with horseback riding, and old people also loved to ride. The father's war horse was inherited by the bravest of his sons. Further to the northeast along the Lippe and the upper reaches of the Ems lived the Bructeri, and behind them, east to the Weser, the Hamavs and Angrivars. Tacitus heard that the Bructeri had a war with their neighbors, that the Bructeri were driven out of their land and almost completely exterminated; this civil strife was, in his words, “a joyful spectacle for the Romans.” It is probable that the Marsi, a brave people exterminated by Germanicus, formerly lived in the same part of Germany.

Frisian tribe

The lands along the seashore from the mouth of the Ems to the Batavians and Caninefates were the area of settlement of the ancient German Frisian tribe. The Frisians also occupied neighboring islands; these swampy places were not enviable to anyone, says Tacitus, but the Frisians loved their homeland. They obeyed the Romans for a long time, not caring about their fellow tribesmen. In gratitude for the protection of the Romans, the Frisians gave them a certain number of ox hides for the needs of the army. When this tribute became burdensome due to the greed of the Roman ruler, this Germanic tribe took up arms, defeated the Romans, and overthrew their power (27 A.D.). But under Claudius, the brave Corbulo managed to return the Frisians to an alliance with Rome. Under Nero (58 AD) a new quarrel began due to the fact that the Frisians occupied and began to cultivate some areas on the right bank of the Rhine that lay empty. The Roman ruler ordered them to leave there, they did not listen and sent two princes to Rome to ask that this land be left behind them. But the Roman ruler attacked the Frisians who settled there, destroyed some of them, and took others into slavery. The land occupied by them became desert again; soldiers of neighboring Roman detachments allowed their cattle to graze on it.

Hawk tribe

To the east from the Ems to the lower Elbe and inland to the Chatti lived the ancient Germanic tribe of the Chauci, whom Tacitus calls the noblest of the Germans, who placed justice as the basis of their power; he says: “They have neither greed for conquest nor arrogance; they live calmly, avoiding quarrels, do not provoke anyone to war with insults, do not devastate or plunder neighboring lands, do not seek to base their dominance on insults to others; this best testifies to their valor and strength; but they are all ready for war, and when the need arises, their army is always under arms. They have a lot of warriors and horses, their name is famous even if they love peace.” This praise does not fit well with the news reported by Tacitus himself in the Chronicle that the Chauci in their boats often went to rob ships sailing along the Rhine and neighboring Roman possessions, that they drove out the Ansibars and took possession of their land.

Cherusci Germans

To the south of the Chauci lay the land of the ancient Germanic tribe of the Cherusci; this brave people, who heroically defended freedom and their homeland, had already lost their former strength and glory during the time of Tacitus. Under Claudius, the Cherusci tribe called Italicus, the son of Flavius and nephew of Arminius, a handsome and brave young man, and made him king. At first he ruled kindly and fairly, then, driven out by his opponents, he defeated them with the help of the Lombards and began to rule cruelly. We have no news about his further fate. Weakened by strife and having lost their belligerence from a long peace, the Cherusci during the time of Tacitus had no power and were not respected. Their neighbors, the Phosian Germans, were also weak. About the Cimbri Germans, whom Tacitus calls a tribe of small numbers, but famous for their exploits, he only says that in the time of Marius they inflicted many heavy defeats on the Romans and that the extensive camps left from them on the Rhine show that they were then very numerous.

Suebi tribe

The ancient Germanic tribes who lived further east between the Baltic Sea and the Carpathians, in a country very little known to the Romans, are called by Tacitus, like Caesar, by the common name Sueves. They had a custom that distinguished them from other Germans: free people combed their long hair up and tied it above the crown, so that it fluttered like a plume. They believed that this made them more dangerous to their enemies. There has been a lot of research and debate about which tribes the Romans called Suevi, and about the origin of this tribe, but given the darkness and contradictory information about them among ancient writers, these questions remain unresolved. The simplest explanation for the name of this ancient Germanic tribe is that "Sevi" means nomads (schweifen, "to wander"); The Romans called all those numerous tribes who lived far from the Roman border behind dense forests Suevi, and believed that these Germanic tribes were constantly moving from place to place, because they most often heard about them from the tribes they drove to the west. The Romans' information about the Suevi is inconsistent and borrowed from exaggerated rumors. They say that the Suevi tribe had a hundred districts, from which each could field a large army, that their country was surrounded by desert. These rumors supported the fear that the name of the Suevi had already inspired in Caesar’s legions. Without a doubt, the Suevi were a federation of many ancient Germanic tribes, closely related to each other, in which the former nomadic life had not yet been completely replaced by a sedentary one, cattle breeding, hunting and war still prevailed over agriculture. Tacitus calls the Semnonians, who lived on the Elbe, the most ancient and noblest of them, and the Lombards, who lived north of the Semnonians, the bravest.

Hermundurs, Marcomanni and Quads

The area east of the Decumat region was inhabited by the ancient Germanic tribe of the Hermundurs. These loyal allies of the Romans enjoyed great confidence and had the right to trade freely in the main city of the Rhaetian province, present-day Augsburg. Below the Danube to the east lived a tribe of Germanic Narisci, and behind the Narisci there were Marcomanni and Quadi, who retained the courage that the possession of their land had given them. The areas of these ancient Germanic tribes formed the stronghold of Germany on the Danube side. The descendants of the Marcomanni were kings for quite a long time Maroboda, then foreigners who received power through the influence of the Romans and held on thanks to their patronage.

East Germanic tribes

The Germans who lived beyond the Marcomanni and Quadi had tribes of non-Germanic origin as their neighbors. Of the peoples who lived there in the valleys and gorges of the mountains, Tacitus classifies some as Suevi, for example, the Marsigni and Boers; others, such as the Gotins, he considers to be Celts because of their language. The ancient Germanic tribe of the Gotins was subject to the Sarmatians, extracted iron from their mines for their masters and paid them tribute. Behind these mountains (Sudetes, Carpathians) lived many tribes classified by Tacitus as Germans. Of these, the most extensive area was occupied by the Germanic tribe of the Lygians, who probably lived in present-day Silesia. The Lygians formed a federation to which, besides various other tribes, the Garians and Nagarwals belonged. To the north of the Lygians lived the Germanic Goths, and behind the Goths the Rugians and Lemovians; the Goths had kings who had more power than the kings of other ancient Germanic tribes, but still not so much that the freedom of the Goths was suppressed. From Pliny and Ptolemy we know that in the northeast of Germany (probably between the Wartha and the Baltic Sea) lived the ancient Germanic tribes of the Burgundians and Vandals; but Tacitus does not mention them.

Germanic tribes of Scandinavia: Swions and Sitons

The tribes living on the Vistula and the southern shore of the Baltic Sea closed the borders of Germany; to the north of them, on a large island (Scandinavia), lived the Germanic Swions and Sitons, strong in addition to the ground army and fleet. Their ships had bows at both ends. These tribes differed from the Germans in that their kings had unlimited power and did not leave weapons in their hands, but kept them in storerooms guarded by slaves. The Sitons, in the words of Tacitus, stooped to such servility that they were commanded by the queen, and they obeyed the woman. Beyond the land of the Svion Germans, says Tacitus, there is another sea, the water in which is almost motionless. This sea encloses the extreme limits of the lands. In the summer, after sunset, its radiance there still retains such strength that it darkens the stars all night.

Non-Germanic tribes of the Baltic states: Estii, Pevkini and Finns

The right bank of the Suevian (Baltic) Sea washes the land of the Estii (Estonia). In customs and clothing, the Aestii are similar to the Suevi, and in language, according to Tacitus, they are closer to the British. Iron is rare among them; Their usual weapon is a mace. They are engaged in agriculture more diligently than the lazy Germanic tribes; they also sail on the sea, and they are the only people who collect amber; they call it glaesum (German glas, “glass”?) They collect it in the shallows of the sea and on the shore. For a long time they left it lying between other objects that the sea throws up; but Roman luxury finally drew their attention to it: “they themselves do not use it, they export it unprocessed and are amazed that they receive payment for it.”

After this, Tacitus gives the names of the tribes, about which he says that he does not know whether he should classify them as Germans or Sarmatians; these are the Wends (Vendas), Pevkins and Fennas. He says about the Wends that they live by war and robbery, but differ from the Sarmatians in that they build houses and fight on foot. About the singers, he says that some writers call them bastarns, that in language, clothing, and the appearance of their dwellings they are similar to the ancient Germanic tribes, but that, having mixed through marriage with the Sarmatians, they learned from them laziness and untidiness. Far in the north live the Fenne (Finns), the most extreme people of the inhabited space of the earth; they are complete savages and live in extreme poverty. They have neither weapons nor horses. The Finns eat grass and wild animals, which they kill with arrows tipped with sharp bones; they dress in animal skins and sleep on the ground; to protect themselves from bad weather and predatory animals, they make themselves fences from branches. This tribe, says Tacitus, is not afraid of either people or gods. It has achieved what is most difficult for humans to achieve: they do not need to have any desires. Behind the Finns, according to Tacitus, lies a fabulous world.

No matter how great the number of ancient Germanic tribes was, no matter how great the difference in social life was between the tribes that had kings and those that did not, the insightful observer Tacitus saw that they all belonged to one national whole, that they were parts of a great people who, without mixing with foreigners, he lived according to completely original customs; the fundamental sameness was not smoothed over by tribal differences. The language, character of the ancient Germanic tribes, their way of life and the veneration of common Germanic gods showed that they all had a common origin. Tacitus says that in old folk songs the Germans praise the god Tuiscon and his son Mann, who was born from the earth, as their ancestors, that from the three sons of Mann three indigenous groups originated and received their names, which covered all the ancient Germanic tribes: Ingaevons (Friesians), Germinons (Sevi) and Istevoni. In this legend of German mythology, the testimony of the Germans themselves survived under the legendary shell that, despite all their fragmentation, they did not forget the commonality of their origin and continued to consider themselves fellow tribesmen

Etymology of the ethnonym Germans

“The word Germany is new and has recently come into use, for those who were the first to cross the Rhine and drive out the Gauls, now known as the Tungrians, were then called Germans. Thus, the name of the tribe gradually prevailed and spread to the entire people; At first everyone, out of fear, referred to him by the name of the victors, and then, after this name took root, he himself began to call himself Germans.”

According to known data, the term Germans was first used by Posidonius in the 1st half of the 1st century. BC e. for the name of a people who had the custom of washing down fried meat with a mixture of milk and undiluted wine. Modern historians suggest that the use of the word in earlier times was the result of later interpolations. Greek authors, who were little interested in the ethnic and linguistic differences of the “barbarians,” did not distinguish between the Germans and the Celts. Thus, Diodorus Siculus, who wrote his work in the middle of the 1st century. BC e. , refers to the Celts as tribes that already in his time the Romans (Julius Caesar, Sallust) called Germanic.

Truly an ethnonym " Germans"came into circulation in the 2nd half of the 1st century. BC e. after the Gallic wars of Julius Caesar to designate the peoples living east of the Rhine to the Oder, that is, for the Romans it was not only an ethnic, but also a geographical concept.

Origin of the Germans

Indo-Europeans. 4-2 thousand BC e.

According to modern ideas, 5-6 thousand years ago, in the strip from Central Europe and the Northern Balkans to the northern Black Sea region, there was a single ethnolinguistic formation - tribes of Indo-Europeans who spoke a single or at least close dialects of a language, called the Indo-European base language, from which All modern languages of the Indo-European family then developed. According to another hypothesis, the Indo-European proto-language originated in the Middle East and was carried throughout Europe by migrations of related tribes.

Archaeologists identify several early cultures at the turn of the Stone and Bronze Ages, associated with the spread of Indo-Europeans and with which different anthropological types of Caucasians are associated:

By the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. e. From the ethnolinguistic community of Indo-Europeans, tribes of Anatolians (the peoples of Asia Minor), Aryans of India, Iranians, Armenians, Greeks, Thracians and the most eastern branch - the Tocharians, emerged and developed independently. North of the Alps in central Europe, the ethnolinguistic community of ancient Europeans continued to exist, which corresponds to the archaeological culture of burial mounds (XV-XIII centuries BC), which passed into the culture of the fields of burial urns (XIII-VII centuries BC) .

The separation of ethnic groups from the ancient European community can be chronologically traced through the development of individual archaeological cultures.

The south of Scandinavia represents a region where, unlike other parts of Europe, there is a unity of place names belonging only to the Germanic language. However, it is here that a gap is revealed in archaeological development between the relatively prosperous culture of the Bronze Age and the more primitive culture of the Iron Age that replaced it, which does not allow us to draw an unambiguous conclusion about the origin of the Germanic ethnos in this region.

Jastorf culture. 1st millennium BC e.

Direction of migration of Germanic tribes (750 BC - 1st century AD)

In the 2nd half of the 1st millennium BC. e. throughout the entire coastal zone between the mouths of the Rhine and Elbe, and especially in Friesland and Lower Saxony (traditionally classified as primordially Germanic lands), a single culture was widespread, which differed from both the contemporaneous La Tène (Celts) and Jastfor (Germans). The ethnicity of its Indo-European population, which became Germanic in our era, cannot be classified:

“The language of the local population, judging by toponymy, was neither Celtic nor German. Archaeological finds and toponymy indicate that the Rhine was not a tribal border before the arrival of the Romans, and related tribes lived on both sides.”

Linguists made the assumption that the Proto-Germanic language was separated from Proto-Indo-European at the very beginning of the Iron Age, that is, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e., versions also appear about its formation much later, until the beginning of our era:

“It was in recent decades, in the light of the comprehension of new data coming to the disposal of the researcher - material from ancient Germanic toponymy and onomastics, as well as runology, ancient Germanic dialectology, ethnology and history - in a number of works it was clearly emphasized that the isolation of the Germanic linguistic community from the Western the area of the Indo-European languages took place at a relatively late time and that the formation of separate areas of the Germanic linguistic community dates back only to the last centuries before and the first centuries after our era.”

Thus, according to linguists and archaeologists, the formation of the Germanic ethnic group on the basis of Indo-European tribes dates back approximately to the period of the 6th-1st centuries. BC e. and occurred in areas adjacent to the lower Elbe, Jutland and southern Scandinavia. The formation of a specifically Germanic anthropological type began much earlier, in the early Bronze Age, and continued in the first centuries of our era as a result of the migrations of the Great Migration and the assimilation of non-Germanic tribes related to the Germans within the framework of the ancient European community of the Bronze Age.

In the peat bogs of Denmark, well-preserved mummies of people are found, the appearance of which does not always coincide with the classical description by ancient authors of the tall race of Germans. See articles about the man from Tollund and the woman from Elling, who lived on Jutland in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e.

Genotype of the Germans

Modern ethnic groups are characterized not so much by the predominance of one or another haplogroup (that is, a certain structure of mutation clusters in the male Y chromosome), but rather by a certain proportion of the set of haplogroups among the population. Because of this, the presence of a haplogroup in a person does not determine his genetic affiliation with a particular ethnic group, but indicates the degree of probability of such affiliation, and the probability can be the same for completely different ethnic groups.

Although in Germanic lands it is possible to classify weapons, brooches and other things by style as Germanic, according to archaeologists they go back to Celtic examples of the La Tène period.

Nevertheless, the differences between the settlement areas of the Germanic and Celtic tribes can be traced archaeologically, primarily by the higher level of material culture of the Celts, the spread of oppidums (fortified Celtic settlements), and burial methods. The fact that the Celts and Germans were similar, but not related, peoples is confirmed by their different anthropological structure and genotype. In terms of anthropology, the Celts were characterized by a diverse build, from which it is difficult to choose a typically Celtic one, while the ancient Germans were predominantly dolichocephalic in their skull structure. The genotype of the Celts is clearly limited to haplogroup R1b, and the genotype of the population in the area of origin of the Germanic ethnic group (Jutland and southern Scandinavia) is represented mainly by haplogroups I1a and R1a.

Classification of Germanic tribes

Separately, Pliny also mentions the Gillevions living in Scandinavia and other Germanic tribes (Batavians, Canninephates, Frisians, Frisiavones, Ubii, Sturii, Marsacians), without classifying them.

According to Tacitus the names " ingevons, hermions, istevons"Derived from the names of the sons of the god Mann, the progenitor of the Germanic tribes. After the 1st century, these names are not used; many names of Germanic tribes disappear, but new ones appear.

History of the Germans

Ancient Germans until the 4th century.

The ancient world for a long time knew nothing about the Germans, separated from them by the Celtic and Scythian-Sarmatian tribes. The Germanic tribes were first mentioned by the Greek navigator Pytheas from Massalia (modern Marseille), who during the time of Alexander the Great (2nd half of the 4th century BC) traveled to the shores of the North Sea, and even presumably the Baltic.

The Romans encountered the Germans during the formidable invasion of the Cimbri and Teutones (113-101 BC), who, during the resettlement from Jutland, devastated Alpine Italy and Gaul. Contemporaries perceived these Germanic tribes as hordes of northern barbarians from unknown distant lands. In the descriptions of their morals made by later authors, it is difficult to separate fiction from reality.

The earliest ethnographic information about the Germans was reported by Julius Caesar, who conquered by the middle of the 1st century. BC e. Gaul, as a result of which he reached the Rhine and clashed with the Germans in battles. Roman legions by the end of the 1st century. BC e. advanced to the Elbe, and in the 1st century works appeared that described in detail the settlement of the Germanic tribes, their social structure and customs.

The wars of the Roman Empire with the Germanic tribes began from their earliest contact and continued with varying intensity throughout the first centuries AD. e. The most famous battle was the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9, when rebel tribes destroyed 3 Roman legions in central Germany. Rome failed to gain a foothold on the Rhine; in the 2nd half of the 1st century, the empire went on the defensive along the Rhine and Danube rivers, repelling German raids and carrying out punitive campaigns into their lands. Raids were carried out along the entire border, but the most threatening direction was the Danube, where the Germans settled along its entire length on its left bank during their expansion to the south and east.

In the 250-270s, the Roman-German wars called into question the very existence of the empire. In 251, Emperor Decius died in a battle with the Goths, who settled in the northern Black Sea region, followed by their devastating land and sea raids into Greece, Thrace, and Asia Minor. In the 270s, the empire was forced to abandon Dacia (the only Roman province on the left bank of the Danube) due to the increased pressure of Germanic and Sarmatian tribes. The empire held out, consistently repelling the attacks of the barbarians, but in the 370s the Great Migration began, during which Germanic tribes penetrated and gained a foothold in the lands of the Roman Empire.

The Great Migration of Peoples. IV-VI centuries

The Germanic kingdoms in Gaul demonstrated their strength in the war against the Huns. Thanks to them, Attila was stopped on the Catalaunian fields in Gaul, and soon the Hunnic empire, which included a number of East German tribes, collapsed. Emperors in Rome itself in 460-470. the commanders were appointed from the Germans, first the Suevian Ricimer, then the Burgundian Gundobad. In fact, they ruled on behalf of their proteges, overthrowing those if the emperors tried to act independently. In 476, German mercenaries, who made up the army of the Western Empire led by Odoacer, deposed the last Roman emperor, Romulus Augustus. This event is formally considered the end of the Roman Empire.

Social structure of the ancient Germans

Social system

According to ancient historians, ancient Germanic society consisted of the following social groups: military leaders, elders, priests, warriors, free members of the tribe, freedmen, slaves. The highest power belonged to the people's assembly, to which all the men of the tribe appeared in military weapons. In the first centuries A.D. e. The Germans had a tribal system at its late stage of development.

“When a tribe wages an offensive or defensive war, then officials are elected who bear the responsibilities of military leaders and have the right to dispose of life and death [members of the tribe] ... When one of the leading persons in the tribe declares in the national assembly his intention to lead [in a military enterprise ] and calls on those who want to follow him to express their readiness for this - then those who approve of both the enterprise and the leader rise up, and, welcomed by those gathered, promise him their help.”

The leaders were supported by voluntary donations from tribe members. In the 1st century, the Germans began to have kings who differed from leaders only in the possibility of inheriting power, which was very limited in times of peace. As Tacitus noted: " They choose kings from the most noble, leaders from the most valiant. But even their kings do not have unlimited and undivided power.»

Economic relations

Language and writing

It is believed that these magical signs became the letters of the runic script. The name of the rune signs is derived from the word secret(Gothic runa: secret), and the English verb read(read) comes from the word guess. The Futhark alphabet, the so-called “senior runes,” consisted of 24 characters, which were a combination of vertical and inclined lines, convenient for cutting. Each rune not only conveyed a separate sound, but was also a symbolic sign carrying semantic meaning.

There is no single point of view on the origin of Germanic runes. The most popular version is that of the runologist Marstrander (1928), who suggested that the runes developed on the basis of an unidentified Northern Italic alphabet, which became known to the Germans through the Celts.

In total, about 150 items are known (weapon parts, amulets, tombstones) with early runic inscriptions of the 3rd-8th centuries. One of the earliest inscriptions ( raunijaz: "tester") on a spearhead from Norway dates back to ca. 200 year. , an even earlier runic inscription is considered to be an inscription on a bone comb preserved in a swamp on the Danish island of Funen. The inscription translates as harja(name or epithet) and dates from the 2nd half of the 2nd century.

Most inscriptions consist of a single word, usually a name, which, in addition to the magical use of runes, results in the inability to decipher about a third of the inscriptions. The language of the oldest runic inscriptions is closest to the Proto-Germanic language and more archaic than Gothic, the earliest Germanic language recorded in written monuments.

Due to its predominantly cultic purpose, runic writing fell out of use in continental Europe by the 9th century, supplanted first by Latin, and then by writing based on the Latin alphabet. However, runes were used until the 16th century in Denmark and Scandinavia.

Religion and Beliefs

Notes

Strabo, 7.1.2
Tacitus, "On the Origin of the Germans and the Location of Germany"
Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, 1966
Posidonius (135-51 BC): his fragment (fr. 22) about the Germans from the book. 13 is known in a quotation from Athenaeus (Deipnosophists, 4.153).
Schlette F. Frühe Völker in Mitteleuropa. Archäologische Kulturen und ethnische Gemeinschaften des I. Jahrtausends v.u.Z. // Frühe Volker m Mitteleuropa. - Berlin. - 1988.
Diodorus in the book. 5.2 mentions the Cimbri tribe, tribes beyond the Rhine, tribes collecting amber. He classifies them all as Celts and Gauls.
V. N. Toporov. Indo-European languages. Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary. - M., 1990. - P. 186-189
T. I. Alekseeva, Slavs and Germans in the light of anthropological data. VI, 1974, No. 3; V. P. Alekseev, Yu. V. Bromley, On the question of the role of the autochthonous population in the ethnogenesis of the South Slavs. VII International Congress of Slavists. M., 1973
The theory of the ancient European linguistic community was formulated in the mid-20th century by the German linguist G. Krahe based on an analysis of ancient European hydronyms (river names).
Pure toponomics characterizes both the autochthony of the population in a given territory and the seizure of this territory by force, associated with the destruction or expulsion of the indigenous population.
A. L. Mongait. Archeology of Western Europe. Bronze and Iron Ages. Ch. Germans. Ed. "Science", 1974
Periodization of the Early Iron Age of Germany based on materials from excavations in Lower Saxony: Belldorf, Wessenstaedt (800-700 BC), Tremsbüttel (700-600 BC), Jastorf (600-300 BC) AD), Ripdorf (300-150 BC), Seedorf (150-0 BC).
A. L. Mongait. Archeology of Western Europe. Bronze and Iron Ages. Ed. "Science", 1974, p. 331
G. Schwantes. Die Jastorf-Zivilisation. - Reinecke-Festschnft. Mainz, 1950: the emergence of the linguistic community of the Germans dates back to no earlier than the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e.
A. L. Mongait. Archeology of Western Europe. Bronze and Iron Ages. Ed. "Science", 1974, p. 325
" Family Tree DNA R1a Project

For many centuries, the main sources of knowledge about how the ancient Germans lived and what they did were the works of Roman historians and politicians: Strabo, Pliny the Elder, Julius Caesar, Tacitus, as well as some church writers. Along with reliable information, these books and notes contained speculation and exaggeration. In addition, ancient authors did not always delve into the politics, history and culture of barbarian tribes. They recorded mainly what was “on the surface,” or what made the strongest impression on them. Of course, all these works give a pretty good idea of the life of the Germanic tribes at the turn of the era. However, in the course of later studies, it was found that ancient authors, when describing the beliefs and life of the ancient Germans, missed a lot. Which, however, does not detract from their merits.

Origin and distribution of the Germanic tribes

The first mentions of the Germans

The ancient world learned about warlike tribes in the middle of the 4th century BC. e. from the notes of the navigator Pythias, who ventured to travel to the shores of the North (German) Sea. Then the Germans loudly declared themselves at the end of the 2nd century BC. BC: the tribes of the Teutons and Cimbri, who left Jutland, attacked Gaul and reached the Alpine Italy.

Gaius Marius managed to stop them, but from that moment on the empire began to vigilantly monitor the activities of dangerous neighbors. In turn, the Germanic tribes began to unite to strengthen their military power. In the middle of the 1st century BC. e. Julius Caesar defeated the Suebi tribe during the Gallic War. The Romans reached the Elbe, and a little later - to the Weser. It was at this time that scientific works began to appear describing the life and religion of rebellious tribes. In them (with the light hand of Caesar) the term “Germans” began to be used. By the way, this is by no means a self-name. The origin of the word is Celtic. "German" is a "close neighbor". The ancient tribe of the Germans, or rather its name - “Teutons”, was also used by scientists as a synonym.

The Germans and their neighbors

In the west and south, the Celts neighbored the Germans. Their material culture was higher. Outwardly, representatives of these nationalities were similar. The Romans often confused them, and sometimes even considered them one people. However, the Celts and Germans are not related. The similarity of their culture is determined by close proximity, mixed marriages, and trade.

In the east, the Germans bordered on the Slavs, Baltic tribes and Finns. Of course, all these nationalities influenced each other. It can be traced in language, customs, and methods of farming. Modern Germans are descendants of Slavs and Celts assimilated by the Germans. The Romans noted the tall stature of the Slavs and Germans, as well as blond or light red hair and blue (or gray) eyes. In addition, representatives of these peoples had a similar skull shape, which was discovered during archaeological excavations.

The Slavs and ancient Germans amazed Roman researchers not only with the beauty of their physique and facial features, but also with their endurance. True, the former were always considered more peaceful, while the latter were aggressive and reckless.

Appearance

As already mentioned, the Germans seemed powerful and tall to the pampered Romans. Free men wore long hair and did not shave their beards. In some tribes it was customary to tie the hair at the back of the head. But in any case, they had to be long, since cropped hair is a sure sign of a slave. The clothes of the Germans were mostly simple, at first rather rough. They preferred leather tunics and woolen capes. Both men and women were hardy: even in cold weather they wore shirts with short sleeves. The ancient Germans believed, not without reason, that excess clothing hindered movement. For this reason, the warriors did not even have armor. Nevertheless, there were helmets, although not everyone had them.

Unmarried German women wore their hair down, while married women covered their hair with a woolen net. This headdress was purely symbolic. Shoes for men and women were the same: leather sandals or boots, woolen windings. Clothes were decorated with brooches and buckles.

ancient Germans

The socio-political institutions of the Germans were not complex. At the turn of the century, these tribes had a tribal system. It is also called primitive communal. In this system, it is not the individual who matters, but the race. It is formed by blood relatives who live in the same village, cultivate the land together and swear an oath of blood feud to each other. Several clans make up a tribe. The ancient Germans made all important decisions by assembling the Thing. This was the name of the national assembly of the tribe. Important decisions were made at the Thing: they redistributed communal lands between clans, tried criminals, settled disputes, concluded peace treaties, declared wars and raised militia. Here young men were initiated into warriors and military leaders - dukes - were elected as needed. Only free men were allowed to the Thing, but not every one of them had the right to make speeches (this was allowed only to the elders and the most respected members of the clan/tribe). The Germans had patriarchal slavery. The unfree had certain rights, had property, and lived in the owner's house. They could not be killed with impunity.

Military organization

The history of the ancient Germans is full of conflicts. Men devoted a lot of time to military affairs. Even before the start of systematic campaigns on Roman lands, the Germans formed a tribal elite - the Edelings. People who distinguished themselves in battle became Edelings. It cannot be said that they had any special rights, but they had authority.

At first, the Germans elected (“raised to the shield”) dukes only in case of military threat. But at the beginning of the Great Migration, they began to elect kings (kings) from the Edelings for life. The kings stood at the head of the tribes. They acquired permanent squads and provided them with everything they needed (usually at the end of a successful campaign). Loyalty to the leader was exceptional. The ancient German considered it dishonorable to return from the battle in which the king fell. In this situation, the only way out was suicide.

There was a tribal principle in the German army. This meant that relatives always fought shoulder to shoulder. Perhaps it is this feature that determines the ferocity and fearlessness of the warriors.

The Germans fought on foot. The cavalry appeared late, the Romans had a low opinion of it. The warrior's main weapon was a spear (frame). The famous knife of the ancient German - the sax - became widespread. Then came the throwing ax and the spatha, a double-edged Celtic sword.

Farm

Ancient historians often described the Germans as nomadic pastoralists. Moreover, there was an opinion that men were exclusively engaged in war. Archaeological research in the 19th and 20th centuries showed that things were somewhat different. Firstly, they led a sedentary lifestyle, engaged in cattle breeding and farming. The community of the ancient Germans owned meadows, pastures and fields. True, the latter were few in number, since most of the territories subject to the Germans were occupied by forests. Nevertheless, the Germans grew oats, rye and barley. But raising cows and sheep was a priority activity. The Germans had no money; their wealth was measured by the number of heads of livestock. Of course, the Germans were excellent at processing leather and actively traded in it. They also made fabrics from wool and flax.

They mastered the mining of copper, silver and iron, but few mastered the blacksmith's craft. Over time, the Germans learned to smelt and make swords of very high quality. However, the sax, the combat knife of the ancient Germans, did not go out of use.

Beliefs

The information about the religious views of the barbarians that Roman historians managed to obtain is very scarce, contradictory and vague. Tacitus writes that the Germans deified the forces of nature, especially the sun. Over time, natural phenomena began to be personified. This is how, for example, the cult of Donar (Thor), the god of thunder, appeared.

The Germans greatly revered Tiwaz, the patron saint of warriors. According to Tacitus, they performed human sacrifices in his honor. In addition, the weapons and armor of killed enemies were dedicated to him. In addition to the “general” gods (Donara, Wodan, Tiwaz, Fro), each tribe praised “personal”, less known deities. The Germans did not build temples: it was customary to pray in forests (sacred groves) or in the mountains. It must be said that the traditional religion of the ancient Germans ( those who lived on the mainland) was relatively quickly supplanted by Christianity. The Germans learned about Christ back in the 3rd century thanks to the Romans. But on the Scandinavian Peninsula, paganism existed for a long time. It is reflected in folklore works that were written down during the Middle Ages (the Elder Edda and the Younger Edda).

Culture and art

The Germans treated priests and soothsayers with reverence and respect. The priests accompanied the troops on campaigns. They were charged with carrying out religious rituals (sacrifices), turning to the gods, and punishing criminals and cowards. The soothsayers were engaged in fortune-telling: from the entrails of sacred animals and defeated enemies, from flowing blood and the neighing of horses.

The ancient Germans readily created metal jewelry in the “animal style,” presumably borrowed from the Celts, but they had no tradition of depicting gods. Very crude, conventional statues of deities found in peat bogs had exclusively ritual significance. They have no artistic value. Nevertheless, the Germans skillfully decorated furniture and household items.

According to historians, the ancient Germans loved music, which was an indispensable attribute of feasts. They played flutes and lyres and sang songs.

The Germans used runic writing. Of course, it was not intended for long, coherent texts. The runes had a sacred meaning. With their help, people turned to the gods, tried to predict the future, and cast spells. Short runic inscriptions are found on stones, household items, weapons and shields. Without a doubt, the religion of the ancient Germans was reflected in runic writing. Among the Scandinavians, runes existed until the 16th century.

Interaction with Rome: war and trade

Germania Magna, or Greater Germany, was never a Roman province. At the turn of the era, as already mentioned, the Romans conquered the tribes living east of the Rhine River. But in 9 AD e. under the command of the Cheruscus Arminius (Herman) they were defeated in the Teutoburg Forest, and the imperials remembered this lesson for a long time.

The border between enlightened Rome and wild Europe began to run along the Rhine, Danube and Limes. Here the Romans stationed troops, erected fortifications and founded cities that still exist today (for example, Mainz-Mogontsiacum, and Vindobona (Vienna)).

The ancient Germans did not always fight each other. Until the middle of the 3rd century AD. e. the peoples coexisted relatively peacefully. At this time, trade, or rather exchange, developed. The Germans supplied the Romans with tanned leather, furs, slaves, and amber and received luxury goods and weapons in return. Little by little they even got used to using money. Individual tribes had privileges: for example, the right to trade on Roman soil. Many men became mercenaries for the Roman emperors.

However, the invasion of the Huns (nomads from the east), which began in the 4th century AD. e., “moved” the Germans from their homes, and they again rushed to the imperial territories.

Ancient Germans and the Roman Empire: the finale

By the time the Great Migration began, the powerful German kings began to unite the tribes: first for the purpose of protection from the Romans, and then for the purpose of capturing and plundering their provinces. In the 5th century the entire Western Empire was conquered. On its ruins the barbarian kingdoms of the Ostrogoths, Franks, and Anglo-Saxons were erected. The Eternal City itself was besieged and sacked several times during this turbulent century. The Vandal tribes especially distinguished themselves. In 476 AD e. the last Roman emperor was forced to abdicate under pressure from the mercenary Odoacer.

The social structure of the ancient Germans finally changed. The barbarians moved from a communal way of life to a feudal one. The Middle Ages have arrived.

The Germans are ancient tribes of the Indo-European language group who lived by the 1st century. BC e. between the North and Baltic Seas, the Rhine, Danube and Vistula and in Southern Scandinavia. In the 4th-6th centuries. The Germans played a major role in the great migration of peoples, captured most of the Western Roman Empire, forming a number of kingdoms - the Visigoths, Vandals, Ostrogoths, Burgundians, Franks, Lombards.

Nature

The lands of the Germans were endless forests mixed with rivers, lakes and swamps.

Classes

The main occupations of the ancient Germans were agriculture and cattle breeding. They also engaged in hunting, fishing and gathering. Their occupation was both war and the booty associated with it.

Means of transport

The Germans had horses, but in small numbers and in their training, the Germans did not achieve noticeable success. They also had carts. Some Germanic tribes had a fleet - small ships.

Architecture

The ancient Germans, who had just become sedentary, did not create significant architectural structures; they did not have cities. The Germans did not even have temples - religious rites were carried out in sacred groves. The dwellings of the Germans were made of untreated wood and coated with clay, and underground storerooms for supplies were dug in them.

Warfare

The Germans mainly fought on foot. There were cavalry in small quantities. Their weapons were short spears (frames) and darts. Wooden shields were used for protection. Only the nobility had swords, armor and helmets.

Sport

The Germans played dice, considering it a serious activity, and so enthusiastically that they often lost everything to their opponent, including their own freedom at stake; in case of loss, such a player became the slave of the winner. One ritual is also known - young men, in front of spectators, jumped among swords and spears dug into the ground, showing their own strength and dexterity. The Germans also had something like gladiatorial fights - a captured enemy fought one on one with a German. However, this spectacle was basically in the nature of fortune-telling - the victory of one or another opponent was considered as an omen about the outcome of the war.

Arts and literature

Writing was unknown to the Germans. Therefore, their literature existed in oral form. Art was of an applied nature. The religion of the Germans forbade giving the gods a human form, so such areas as sculpture and painting were undeveloped among them.

The science

Science among the ancient Germans was not developed and was of an applied nature. The German household calendar divided the year into only two seasons - winter and summer. The priests had more accurate astronomical knowledge, who used it to calculate the time of holidays. Due to their passion for warfare, the ancient Germans probably had quite developed medicine - however, not at the level of theory, but exclusively in terms of practice.

Religion

The religion of the ancient Germans was polytheistic in nature, in addition, each Germanic tribe, apparently, had its own cults. Religious ceremonies were performed by priests in sacred groves. Various fortune tellings were widely used, especially fortune telling with runes. There were sacrifices, including human ones.