Who were the Germani and where did they come from? page 7

Who were the Germani and where did they come from?

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Who, then, were the Germani? The word refers to a large number of tribes that lived in Central and Northern Europe prior to the Christian Era, who freely exchanged their features, but who had no consciousness of a common identity. But within this variety, there are certain commonalities in their agricultural way of life, their religion and culture, and, above all, in their evolving language. This latter similarity set the Germani off from the Celts and the Scythians. Slowly they expanded into the territories of the Celts, which speaks to their war-making ability. But they were attracted to the richer and more highly developed Celtic world, just as they would be to Rome in the coming years. Many of the early Germani saw no difficulty in living as the Celts lived, in speaking the Celtic language, and, in fact, in completely becoming Celts. If Caesar had not succeeded in subjugating and Romanizing the free Celts in Gaul, the Germani would probably have gradually become Celtic. But the fact is that the Roman Legions put an end to the Celtic culture in Gaul, and the Germanic tribes lost any reason for their evolution toward the Celtic culture. At the same time, they gained a new direction. Roman influence now becomes decisive for the development of the many tribes of the North.

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