Ancient Germans

Germanic tribes are great ethnic complex of ancient Europe, a basic stock in the composition of the modern peoples of Sweden, Norway, Den-mark, Iceland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, No-rthern Italy, the Nether-lands, Belgium, Luxem-bourg, Northern and Central France, Lowland Scotland and England.

Thus in the 1st century A.D. Germanic languages were only spoken in Germany and in territories adjacent to it and also in Scandinavia. It is considered that they lived in the territory between the rivers Elbe and Odra, on the peninsula Jutland and in the Southern Sweden.

At that time old Germanic tribes were passing through the stage of development which is marked by the term “barbarism”. From archaeology it is clear that the Germans had little ethnic solidarity; by the 7th cent. B.C. they had begun a division into many peoples. They did not call themselves Germans; the origin of the name is uncertain.

Their rise to significance (4th cent. B.C.) in the history of Europe began roughly with the general break-up of Celtic culture in central Europe. From these areas they spread out in great migrations southward, south-eastward, and westward.

Geography made it attractive to the Romans as a potential province to add to the already powerful Roman Empire.

The combination of natural resources, agriculture, and strategic value made the Romans eager to gain acquisition of this territory. The main resources that Germany had to offer came in the form of metals, more specifically, iron. Their iron was of such quality and was acquired in such abundance that it was exported to Rome for use in most everything that was created from iron.

The German agricultural system was vital to the economy in Germany. Most of the Germans were farmers but a large portion of the population was herders.

The Germans were agriculturists from the beginning of their existence. They established agricultural villages based on land plots that were grouped around a central water supply. The main crops that they raised were cereal grains such as wheat, barley, oats, and rye.

Around the North Sea area there was an emphasis on cattle raising. Germany also had a great strategic advantage that was appealing to the Romans. First of all it could be used to protect Gaul north of the Danube which had already come under Rome influence. Germany also provided for a buffer from Gaul. The tribes that eventually settled in the Germanic area were tribes that had for the most part been migrating throughout Europe for many years.

The first testimonies

Our knowledge of the ancient Germans is based on the testimonies by Greek and Roman writers, who for certain reasons were interested in them.

The earliest of them was the Greek traveller and astronomer Pytheas from Massilia (now Marseiilles) who lived in the 4th century B.C. He sailed from his native town through the Gibraltar along the west coast of France to the Baltic. His book has not come down to us, only some pieces of it were preserved by the Greek geographer Strabo (63 B.C. – 20 A.D.).

Pytheas was the first who mentioned the Teutons.

The Roman writer Pliny the Elder (23-79 A.D.) wrote about the Teutons in his great work Natural History. He gave a classification of Germanic tribes.

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