Germanic antiquity

The Germanic peoples (also called Teutonic, Suebian, or Gothic in older literature) are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin. They are identified by their use of Germanic languages, which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.

The term "Germanic" originated in classical times when groups of tribes living in Lower, Upper, and Greater Germania were referred to using this label by Roman scribes. The Roman use of the term "Germanic" was not necessarily based upon language, but rather referred to the tribal groups and alliances that lived in the regions of modern-day Luxembourg, Belgium, Northern France, Alsace, the Netherlands, and Germany, and which were considered to be less civilized and more physically hardened than the Celtic Gauls. Tribes referred to as "Germanic" by Roman authors generally lived to the north and east of the Gauls.

The Germanic tribes were chronicled by Rome's historians as having had a critical impact on the course of Europe's history during the Roman-Germanic wars, particularly at the historic Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where Germanic tribal warriors under the leadership of the Cherusci chieftain Arminius routed three Roman legions and their auxiliaries, which precipitated the Roman Empire's strategic withdrawal from Magna Germania.

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