Germania
For alternate meanings see Germania (disambiguation) |
Map of the greater Roman Empire and 'the free Germania',
'Magna Germania' in the early 2nd century. |
|
Map showing the distribution of the Germanic tribes in Proto-Germanic times, and stages of their expansion up to 50 BC, AD 100 and AD 300. The extent of the Roman Empire in 68 BC and AD 117 is also shown. |
Dating back to the
Roman era,
Germania was the
Latin name for a geographical area that stretched from the west bank of the
Rhine to a vaguely-defined eastern frontier with the forest and
steppe regions of modern
Russia and
Ukraine (
Sarmatia).
Germania was inhabited by different tribes, mostly
Germanic but also including
Celtic,
Baltic,
Slavic and
Scythian, or steppe elements. Though Germanic tribes were in the majority, the ethnic makeup was complex and changed over the centuries as a result of
migrations. The Germanic people spoke
Proto-Germanic dialects.
The Classical world knew little about the people who inhabited the north of Europe before the second century BC. In the fifth century BC the Greeks were aware of a group they called
Celts (
Keltoi).
Herodotus also mentioned the Scythians, but no other barbarian tribes. At around 320,
Pytheas of
Massalia sailed around
Britain and along the northern coast of Europe, and what he found on his journeys were so unbelievable that later writers refused to believe him. He may have been the first Mediterranean to distinguish the Germanic people from the Celts.
Caesar described the cultural differences between the Germanic tribesmen, the Romans and the Gauls. He said that the Gauls, although warlike, could be civilized, but the Germanic tribesmen were far more savage, and were a threat to Roman Gaul, and so had to be conquered. His accounts of barbaric northern tribes could be described as an expression of the superiority of Rome.
The most complete account of Germania that has been preserved from Roman times is
Tacitus'
Germania.
Germania was defined by Rome as having two regions: 'the inner Germania', west and south of the Rhine, occupied by the Romans, and 'the big Germania' (
Magna Germania) east of the Rhine.The occupied Germania was divided into two provinces:
Germania Inferior (approximately corresponding to the southern part of the present-day
Low Countries) and
Germania Superior (approximately corresponding to present-day
Switzerland and
Alsace).
*
Limes Germanicus*
Germania
