Germanic Kingdoms: Notable Groups (inc. Civilizations, Tribes, etc.)

Ambrones (All Facts) 

• Possible Ancient Germanic tribe from the Jutland that migrated into the eastern Alps around 113 BCE 

• They invaded Rome in the Cimbrian War, winning the Battle of Noreia in 113 BCE and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE losing the war in 101 BCE 

• When they tried to enter Spain after defeating Rome in the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE, they were swiftly expelled from there by the Celtiberians

Teutons (All Facts)

• Possible Ancient Germanic tribe from the Jutland that migrated into the eastern Alps around 113 BCE 

• They invaded Rome in the Cimbrian War, winning the Battle of Noreia in 113 BCE and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE but losing the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BCE to Marius and the Romans and losing the war and being destroyed in the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BCE  

• When they tried to enter Spain after defeating Rome in the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE, they were swiftly expelled from there by the Celtiberians

Cimbri (All Facts) 

• Possible Ancient Germanic tribe from the Jutland that migrated into the eastern Alps around 113 BCE 

• They invaded Rome in the Cimbrian War, winning the Battle of Noreia in 113 BCE and the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE but losing the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102 BCE to Marius and the Romans and losing the war and being destroyed in the Battle of Vercellae in 101 BCE  

• When they tried to enter Spain after defeating Rome in the Battle of Arausio in 105 BCE, they were swiftly expelled from there by the Celtiberians

• They travelled around the Alps and entered Italy from the Northeast

Sugambri (All Facts)

• Germanic people who lived in the area between the Rhine, Lippe, and Wupper rivers, in what is now Germany, near the border with the Netherlands

• They were first reported by Julius Caesar, who encountered them in 55 BC

• They became a significant opponent of Roman imperial power in the Rhine region

• After a major defeat by the Romans in 9 BCE, many of them moved into Roman territory

• Were defeated by Nero Claudius Drusus and his Roman forces in 9 BCE

Frisii (All Facts)

• Ancient Germanic Tribe that neighbored Rome and lived in the low-lying coastal region between the Rhine and the Ems rivers, in what what is now the northern Netherlands

• Were defeated by Nero Claudius Drusus and his Roman forces in 9 BCE

Chatti (All Facts) 

• Germanic people that lived during the times of the Roman Empire in a region approximately corresponding to the modern German federal state of Hesse

• They were a highly organized Germanic people who lived in the region of the Upper Weser River and the Diemel 

• Were defeated by Nero Claudius Drusus and his Roman forces in 9 BCE

• Were defeated by Caligula and the Roman Empire in 39 CE

• Were defeated by Domitian and the Roman Empire in 83 CE 

• Were definitively conquered by Clodius Albinus and the Roman Empire in 187 CE

  • Up to that point, they had been threatening the Agri Decumates region, which included the “Black Forest” region

Cherusci (All Facts)

• Germanic Tribe that inhabited parts of the plains and forests of northwestern Germania in the area of the Weser River and present-day Hanover from the 0s BCE to the 0s CE

• Led by Arminius, they defeated the Romans in the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest in 9 CE

Batavi (All Facts)

• Germanic people that lived in Batavia in the eastern Rhine delta in the area that is now the Netherlands, they were contemporaries of Rome

• Were led by

  • Gaius Julius Civilis, who

    • led his namesake revolt against the Romans called the “War of Liberation” in 69 and supported by Gallic tribes including the Treveri and Lingones

Marcomanni (All Facts)

• Germanic people who lived close to the border of the Roman Empire, north of the River Danube

• Were led by

  • Maroboduus

• They saved the Dacian Kingdom from total destruction by Domitian and the Romans, forcing Domitian to sign a humiliating peace treaty with the Dacians and their king Decebalus 

• Fought in the Marcomannic wars with the Quadi against Rome 

  • Prompted by their land being invaded by Goths, Burgundians, and Vandals, they fled west into Roman territory 

  • By 169, they got as far as the plains of north Italy, causing panic in Rome 

  • In 172, they made peace with Marcus Aurelius, in which a strip of land almost five miles wide to the north of the Danube River became forbidden to them

  • In 177, they declared war against Rome again

  • However, they were defeated by Tarrutenius Paternus and his Roman forces at the Battle of Vindobona in 179 

  • Initially fought against Commodus on the upper Danube River, but he eventually abandons plans for conquering them and makes peace with them by 180 

Quadi (All Facts)

• Germanic people during the Roman era, who had a kingdom centered in the area of present-day western Slovakia, north of the Roman border on the Danube river

• They saved the Dacian Kingdom from total destruction by Domitian and the Romans, forcing Domitian to sign a humiliating peace treaty with the Dacians and their king Decebalus 

• Fought in the Marcomannic Wars with the Marcomanni against Rome 

  • Prompted by their land being invaded by Goths, Burgundians, and Vandals, they fled west into Roman territory 

  • By 169, they got as far as the plains of north Italy, causing panic in Rome 

  • In 172, they made peace with Marcus Aurelius, in which a strip of land almost five miles wide to the north of the Danube River became forbidden to them

  • In 177, they declared war against Rome again

  • However, they were defeated by Tarrutenius Paternus and his Roman forces at the Battle of Vindobona in 179 

  • Initially fought against Commodus on the upper Danube River, but he eventually abandons plans for conquering them and makes peace with them by 180 

Alamanni / Alemanni (All Facts) 

• Confederation of Germanic tribes on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium

• They successfully fought against Emperors Alexander Severus and Maximinus and the Roman Empire 

• Their military efforts include

  • 235 - Raided the frontier of the upper Rhine and an area called the Agri Decumates 

    • They withdrew after they were bribed or paid tribute by the Romans 

  • 253 - Invaded Gaul

  • 269 - Invaded Rome but was defeated by Emperor Claudius II and the Romans

  • 275 - Pillaged Gaul

  • 276 - Defeated by Emperor Probus, who liberated Gaul

  • 355 - Crossed the Rhine River and wreaked havoc in eastern Gaul

  • 357 - Defeated by Emperor Julian in the Battle of Strasbourg, who drove them back behind the Rhine River

  • 368 - Defeated by Emperor Valentinian at Trier

  • 496 - Defeated by Clovis and the Franks in the Battle of Tolbiac

• They never ended up establishing their own barbarian successor state / kingdom

Suebi / Sueves (All Facts) 

• Germanic People

• In 406, they worked together with the Vandals, Burgundians, and the Iranian Alani to take advantage of the exceptional cold to cross the frozen Rhine River and open up the frontier of Gaul for pillaging

• In 409 - With the Vandals, Burgundians, and Alani, they then pillaged Spain

• They served as auxiliaries for the Roman army

• In the 560s, they were converted to Nicene Christianity (Catholicism) by St. Martin of Braga

Gepids (All Facts)

• They were famous for being a Germanic vassal of the Huns, and a Germanic tribe most favored by the Huns

  • Along with other Germanic tribes, they rebelled against Atilla’s sons and defeated them in Pannonia, leading to the dissolution of the Hunnic Empire

• East Germanic tribe who lived in the area of modern-day Romania, Hungary, and Serbia, roughly between the Tisza, Sava, and Carpathian Mountains

• They shared the religion and language of the Goths and Vandals

• They were led by

  • Ardaric

• They served as auxiliaries for the Roman army

• Were defeated by a Lombard-Avar alliance, in which their territory along the middle Danube River was taken over by them by 567  

“Barbarian” Successor Kingdoms (All Facts) 

• Includes the

  • Goths - Visigoths and Ostrogoths

  • Vandals

  • Burgundians

  • Franks

  • Anglo-Saxons 

• These groups

  • Were partly prompted to invade Rome because they were fleeing the Huns, who had invaded and occupied their own territories within Europe by 375 CE 

  • Managed to settle within the imperial frontiers and carve Western Rome up into a number of independent successor kingdoms 

• They all helped contribute to the fall of the Roman Empire and then established their own namesake entities where 

  • They made use of many Roman traditions and administrative methods 

  • Their leaders saw themselves as successors of Roman Emperors 

• Outside of politics, life primarily went on just as it had for the inhabitants under Rome 

  • The only major difference in life for the average person was they were being ruled by the namesake leader rather than a Roman Emperor 

  • The namesake rulers could not escape the influence of Rome on culture, power, and prestige but they did not necessarily want or need to either 

  • After all, most of these peoples occupied the western half of the empire and had been living in close contact with the Roman world and had even been working inside the empire for centuries 

  • Aside from the Anglo-Saxons in Britain, life continued like before as Roman culture was absorbed 

  • The namesake rulers continued to adopt Roman government procedures, having made use of Roman law and and administrative practices and continuing to use Roman officials 

  • The namesake rulers continued to issue laws that were binding on all of the people living in territories under their control, having compiled law codes 

• All of the settlers within these entities adopted the Latin language except for Anglo-Saxons and these sub-languages of Latin gradually evolved into the modern-day Romance languages

• During the namesake’s hegemony, Rome had reconquered most of the western Mediterranean 

• Smaller versions of the namesake entity were absorbed by larger ones until only the Franks and Anglos were left by the 700s

  • Over the course of time, most of the namesake were assimilated into the classical cultural tradition

• Most of the namesake entities looked like nothing more than small-scale models of the Roman Empire 

• None of the namesake entities had an economy or bureaucracy as complex as those in Rome 

• The namesake rulers often created an origin myth that gave their ruling families the the legitimacy of rule and the luster of great antiquity

Goths (All Facts)

• Germanic People who originated in southern Scandinavia

• They migrated from the Baltic and settled on the shores of the Black Sea

• They were divided between themselves with those from the West being called Visigoths and those in the East being called Ostrogoths, separated on either side of the Dniester River

• They were led by

  • Radagaisus

• Their military efforts include

  • 238 - Took possession of land north of the Black Sea, crossed the Danube River and invaded the province of Moesia 

    • Despite the Romans paying them tribute, they could not persuade them to withdraw from the province of Moesia 

  • 250 - Invaded Moesia

  • 251 - Penetrated Dacia 

  • 251 - Led by Cniva, they defeated and killed Emperor Decius of the Roman Empire and his forces at the Battle of Abrittus

  • 260 - Attacked Italy and Greece

  • 267 - Pillaged Thrace, Macedonia, and Greece

  • 269 - Defeated by Claudius II and the Romans in the Battle of Naissus

  • 276 - Defeated by Tacitus

  • 406 - Led by Radagaisus, they were defeated by Stilicho and the Romans in the Battle of Fiesole

Visigoths (Origins / Rise to Power)

• The Goths from the West on the western side of the Dniester River 

• They originally inhabited Dacia since 225 CE

• Group that had regularly supplied contingents of auxiliaries for the Roman army, they gained access to Roman resources over time

  • They had the Roman stamp of approval on their occupation of Roman territory and readily adapted themselves to Roman practices

• They were the first group of barbarian invaders to settle and maintain their independence on Roman soil, forming the namesake independent kingdom

Visigoths (Relationship with Emperor Valens) 

• They offered Emperor Valens military service in exchange for his provision of deserted land for them to settle in as a result of their flight from the Huns that had invaded Europe at that time

  • This helped resolve two issues for Rome, which involved

    • Finding enough army recruits

    • Bringing more land onto the tax rolls

• Up to this point, the Romans had never brought this many defeated barbarians into their empire before

• When the Emperor accepted this offer, he did so on the conditions that they

  • Turn over their weapons

  • Were only provided food by the Romans until they could harvest their own crops

• They accepted these conditions and settled inside Rome’s borders in order to flee from the Huns

  • Thousands of them had crossed the Danube River and reached Thrace in order to do this

• However, Roman officials under Valens who were in charge of providing them food had

  • Pocketed much of the food for themselves

  • Accepted bribes to allow them to keep their weapons

• Moreover, local Roman commanders under Valens took advantage of their situation and imposed slavery on a number of their refugees

• As a result of these developments, they suffered a horrible famine and the experiences of Roman slavery 

• As a result of the famine, they rampaged about the Balkans in 

  • Search of food 

  • Revolt against Rome 

• Emperor Valens had assembled the Roman army to suppress their rampaging, having forced them to accept an unfavorable peace treaty after defending themselves against the invasion instigated by Emperor Valens and the Romans in 369

• By 375, they grew to be a major threat to the empire since they were give sanctuary by Emperor Valens, having roamed from Thrace to Illyricum 

• All of these developments led to their King Fritigern and his forces defeating the Romans in the Battle of Adrianople in 378, one of the most humiliating defeats for the Romans in Roman history

• Their military efforts include 

  • 402 - The Siege of Asti, where they began to invade northern Italy and take cities away from the Romans like this one

  • 402 - Battle of Verona, in which they were led by Alaric but defeated by Stilicho and the Romans

  • 410 - Led by Alaric, they sack Rome 

  • Those who joined them after Stilicho and the Romans’ defeat had their families massacred by Emperor Honorius

Ostrogoths (All Facts) 

• They regularly supplied contingents of auxiliaries for the Roman army, gaining access to Roman resources and the roman stamp of approval on their occupation of Roman territory; which led to the formation of their namesake independent kingdom

• Settled in Ukraine during the reign of Emperor Gordian III of the Roman Empire 

• By 375, the Huns had invaded their land and defeated and conquered them 

• Were led by 

  • Ermanaric

  • Theodoric

• In their kingdom, they

  • Owned a third of Italy

  • Were Arian Christians

  • Ran the army

• In their kingdom, Romans

  • Enjoyed traditional powers

  • Were Nicene Christians

  • Ran the civil service

Vandals (All Facts)

• Their military efforts include

  • 260 - Attacked Italy and Greece

  • 279 - Expelled by Emperor Probus of the Roman Empire after their occupation of Rhaetia

  • 406 - Worked together with the Burgundians, Suebi and the Iranian Alani to take advantage of the exceptional cold to cross the frozen Rhine River and open up the frontier of Gaul for pillaging

  • 409 - With the Suebi and Alani, they then pillaged Spain 

  • 410 - Were hired by the Roman Empire to subdue the threat of the Visigoths after they had sacked Rome 

  • 429 - 80K of them crossed the Straits of Gibraltar from Spain into Africa, which they forcibly occupied but were constantly confronted with the possibility of a Roman counter-invasion

  • 430 - Seized Hippo

  • 439 - Seized Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica 

  • 439 - Seized Carthage of Roman Africa, taking with it Rome’s valuable lush wheat fields upon which the empire depended for its bread  

    • After seizing Carthage in 439, they established their successor kingdom there 

  • 468 - Conquered Sicily

Burgundians (All Facts) 

• Their military efforts include

  • 279 - Expelled by Emperor Probus of the Roman Empire from Rhaetia

  • 406 - Worked together with the Vandals, Suebi and the Iranian Alani to take advantage of the exceptional cold to cross the frozen Rhine River and open up the frontier of Gaul for pillaging

  • 409 - With the Vandals, Suebi and Alani, they then pillaged Spain 

  • 413 - Signed a treaty with the Roman Empire in which they were allowed to settle on former imperial land near the Rhine River 

  • 436 - Defeated by Flavius Aetius and the Romans and the Huns at Worms, they fled to the upper Rhine River

  • 443 - Were given imperial land in the Geneva area of the Roman Empire by Flavius Aetius, becoming allies of Rome under a special treaty in which they agreed to serve in the Roman army

Franks (All Facts)

• Their military efforts include 

  • 253 - Invaded Gaul

  • 260 - Invaded Gaul again, having swept up into Spain

  • 275 - Pillaged Gaul

  • 276 - Defeated by Emperor Probus, who liberated Gaul

  • 360 - Defeated by Emperor Julian, who restored the Rhine Frontier from them 

Rugians (All Facts)

• Germanic Tribe that originated near the southern coast of the Baltic Sea and migrated in modern-day Austria

• They served as auxiliaries for the Roman army                                            

Heruli (All Facts)

• Germanic Tribe that originated from Scandinavia and migrated near other contemporary Gothic tribes

• They served as auxiliaries for the Roman army

Scirians (All Facts) 

• Germanic Tribe that served as auxiliaries for the Roman army

Saxons (All Facts) 

• One of the three major Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans there, along with the Angles and Jutes

• Were led by 

  • Vortigern

  • Hengest “The Stallion”

  • Horsa “The Horse”

• Their military efforts include

  • 450 - Seized Kent, destroying the local infrastructure of its Roman government after the Romans had left Britain

• Along with the Jutes and Angles, they crossed over to Britain in search of easy money

  • When their demands for more supplies were refused, their mercenaries rebelled and seized Kent

• Since the 400s, they crossed the North Sea and sailed up big rivers, such as the Thames River and Humber River, in search of new lands

  • They lived mainly in the countryside, where they farmed the heavy soil of the river valleys, with the result that they had largely ignored the old Romano-British towns and villas, many of which gradually fell into ruins 

  • Romano-Britons and Celts that had not wished to live alongside them were pushed westward, having migrated to western Britain or Armorica (Brittany) 

  • They referred to the British natives already living there as “Welsh” (foreigners) 

  • Natives and newcomers coexisted reasonably well until the death of King Maelgwyn of Gwynedd

Angles (All Facts) 

• One of the three major Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans there, along with the Saxons and Jutes

• Since the 400s, they crossed the North Sea and sailed up big rivers, such as the Thames River and Humber River, in search of new lands

  • They lived mainly in the countryside, where they farmed the heavy soil of the river valleys, with the result that they had largely ignored the old Romano-British towns and villas, many of which gradually fell into ruins 

  • Romano-Britons and Celts that had not wished to live alongside them were pushed westward, having migrated to western Britain or Armorica (Brittany) 

  • They referred to the British natives already living there as “Welsh” (foreigners) 

  • Natives and newcomers coexisted reasonably well until the death of King Maelgwyn of Gwynedd

Jutes (All Facts)

• One of the three major Germanic tribes who settled in Great Britain after the departure of the Romans there, along with the Angles and Saxons 

• Since the 400s, they crossed the North Sea and sailed up big rivers, such as the Thames River and Humber River, in search of new lands

  • They lived mainly in the countryside, where they farmed the heavy soil of the river valleys, with the result that they had largely ignored the old Romano-British towns and villas, many of which gradually fell into ruins 

  • Romano-Britons and Celts that had not wished to live alongside them were pushed westward, having migrated to western Britain or Armorica (Brittany) 

  • They referred to the British natives already living there as “Welsh” (foreigners) 

  • Natives and newcomers coexisted reasonably well until the death of King Maelgwyn of Gwynedd

Lombards (All Facts) 

• Germanic People named “Langobardi” (longbeards) 

• They conquered most of the Italian Peninsula 

• Their military efforts include

  • 567 - Worked with the Avars to defeat the Gepids and take over ex-Gepid territory on the middle Danube River

  • 568 - Abandoned Pannonia (Hungary) to the Avars and invaded northern Italy instead

Anglo-Saxons (All Facts)

• In terms of their culture, they are known for having produced the epic poem “Beowulf,” which included a hero whose burial featured much treasure on a similar headland “high and broad and visible to those journeying the ocean”

Basques (All Facts)

Mercians (All Facts)