Definition of Germanic Peoples

The descriptions that have come down to us of the Germanic peoples have been, for the most part, those made since the Roman point of view, who almost always describe them as warlike and ruthless barbarians who performed sacrifices humans.

But, as always, the view from one side is skewed and does not count the whole of reality, which is usually much more complex. Who were the inhabitants of ancient Germania? Where they came from? What happened to them?

The Germanic peoples were a series of tribes that shared a common linguistic stock and culture, although They were independent and with different forms of government and political identities, originating from the north of Europe.

The language original that leads to a diversity of languages, it is called Proto-Germanic, and it is at the origin of modern languages ​​such as German, Dutch, Swedish, Danish or Luxembourgish among others.

Its influence can be denoted up to the Crimean peninsula with the Goths, and they even settled in North Africa (Vandals), after the fall of the Roman empire.

The various Germanic peoples and their culture should not be confused with the area called Germania by the Romans, which would correspond broadly to present-day Germany.

Our knowledge of the Germanic peoples comes, initially, from the Roman chroniclers, although in recent decades it has developed more and out of this biased view (the Romans considered the Germans as barbarians, and explained them as such) thanks to the archeology.

In addition to the Romans, the Germans also fought bitterly with the Slavic peoples, losing ground initially before these in late antiquity (for example, present-day Berlin was founded by Slavs once conquered said territory), and recovering it in the context of the migrations that also ended the Roman Empire.

The origin of the Germanic peoples is found on both sides of the Baltic Sea, on the shores of the Scandinavian Peninsula, present-day Denmark, and the north coast of present-day Germany.

From here, they expand to the south always in search of a better weather and of more fertile areas in which to cultivate and raise cattle, and to the north where they have no opponents who can stop them.

Although it seems that the ancient Greeks came into contact with these peoples, this contact It was more due to travelers, and there was no commercial or other relationship between the two civilizations. It was the Romans who had the most contact, and not exactly peaceful.

Between the years 113 and 101 a. C, Rome suffered a series of invasions by Germanic tribes, the result of their migrations to southern Europe.

These migrations, probably occurred due to the pressure exerted by other tribes on the tribes in displacement, put the Roman troops in serious trouble, although they also acted as a catalyst for a profound reform of the institution Roman military, carried out by Gaius Mario (victor against the Cimbrios and who, in the end, would become dictator).

This reform would have repercussions on the evolution military of the Republic, and would contribute greatly to Roman military greatness.

After the Gallic War, the territories of logical expansion of the Empire passed through Germania. The defeat of the Teutoburg Forest (AD 9) C.) closed the doors of Germania to the Romans.

In this confrontation, a coalition of Germanic tribes led by the leader Arminio defeated and exterminated three Roman legions. They say that the Emperor Augustus wept bitterly, for many years, the defeat, crying out for "Publius Quintilio Varus give me back my legions!”(Varus was the defeated general in the Teutoburg Forest).

The impact The defeat was such that the numbers of the exterminated legions (the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth) were eliminated and were never used again.

From Teutoburg, a border was established (limes) that left Germania outside the area of ​​interest of the Roman Empire. From then on, the only work of the legions with respect to the Germans would be containment, abandoning any desire for conquest.

But centuries later, it would be the pressure exerted by various Germanic peoples that would spill over the border.

In some cases, the Romans fought against these peoples with varying results, and in another they agreed with them providing them with lands in exchange for protection against other tribes, in the form of an alliance.

These invasions, from the 3rd century AD. C, they sank the Western Empire, and transformed Europe into kingdoms that preceded modern states.

For example, the Franks settled in ancient Gaul, eventually giving way to the Kingdom of France.

With the barbarian invasions, the Germans came into contact with Christianity, a religion they adopted.

This process of adoption first passed through the ruling classes, in a clear desire to fit in with the local nobility of the conquered areas, but it ended up reaching all layers and strata of the society.

This also led to a loss of the original Germanic religion and cultural values, and in areas with greater hodgepodge with the Romans, to dilute what the Germans were originally to give rise to a totally new.

Photo: Fotolia. Andrea Izzotti

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