First published in Great Brita in in 1982 by

O sprey, an imprint of R eed Co nsumer Books Limited ,

Mi chelin H ouse, 8 1 Fulham R oad ,
London SW3 6RB
a nd Auckl a nd , M elbo urn e, Singapore a nd Toronto

1982 R eed Intern ationa l Books Limited

R eprinted 1984, 1985 , 1986, 1987 (twice ), 1990, ' 99 '
'992, ' 993 ' 994
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British L ibrary Cataloguing in Publication Data

Wilcox, Peter
R ome's enem ies. - (M en-at-arms series; 129)
1. Barba ria n invasions of Rom e
2. Germanic tribes 2. D acians
I. Ti tie II . Series
937 '.09 DG5o4

Filmset in G rea t Brita in

Printed in H ong K ong

Author's Note :

This book does not pretend to origin a l scho larship.

With certain excep tions, such as line a rtwork, it was
compi led from secondary so urces. Its purpose is to
give a general survey of th e German and Dacian
warriors who fought against th e forces of Rom e.

Rome's Enemies: Germanics and Dacians

Clzronology
See Glossary of terms and names on page 38.

3oooB.C.

2ooo B.C.

Indo-Europeans spread into northwest Europe, where th ey settle

a mong ea rlier populations of Neolithi c farm ers and O ld Stone-Age
hunters.
Celto-Ligurian tribes are in co ntro l
oflarge a reas of central and wes tern
Europe. R eprese nted by the 'BellBea ke r Folk', th ey begin moving
into the British Isl es. Othe r IndoEuropeans move east, where the
Thracians and Iranians form two
la rge groups. Th e Baits and Slavs
occupy most of what is now
Germany. Tll yrian tribes occupy an
area of south ern Europ e betw ee n
the Italia n p eninsula and Greece.
(Italic Indo-Europeans had moved
into their peninsula , and warlike
Greek tribes into th e M editerran ean
a rea, from the Danube region. )
The Teu tons of this period are in
possession o f most o f th e Scandinav ia n peninsula, where a raciall y
distinct Germanic Nordic has d eve lo ped fro m a mixture o f invading
Indo-European Nordics and O ld
Stone-Age
survivors .
IndoEuropean tribes now possess most
o f Europ e at the ex pense of th e
ea rlier stoc k who a re now either
pu shed into th e more inaccessib le
pa rts of the contin ent , or beco m e
th e low er strata of society , the
untou cha bles of Europe.

Ger man s, f rom Traj a n 's Column, d edicated in 11 3 A.D .; the ir

impressive physique i s clearly illus trated. One s ports the
Sue bian hair-knot. Two cloak styles a re evident : one is large,
f olded double, with a thic k fringe of tas sels, while the othe r
(top rig ht) i s a circular type with a diagonal head-opening.

T h e s kull of an old man, 1s t century A.D ., found a t E ck e nnfo rd, Schleswig-Hols t ein ; t h e reddis h blonde hair i s combed
and twisted in t o a neat Su e b ian knot. Compare this w ith t h e
carved h ead o f a G erm a n chieftain , possibly of one of the
Danub ian trib es, from the t omb of A. Julius Pompilius, one of
Marcu s Aureliu s's gen erals, 175 A.D . (National Mus eum,
Terme)

6oo B.C.

400 B.C.

350 B.C.
300 B.C.
115 B.C.

The co ntin ental Celts begin th e

H a lstatt phase of their magnifi cent
I ron Age culture; at about this tim e
they over- run ce ntra l Spain.
The second ph ase of Celtic Iron
Age culture evolves; known as the
La Tene, it represents the flow ering
of Celtic abstract art, seen , inter alia,
in the decoration of weapons. Halstall Cel ls mov e into Britain .
La Tene Celts cross the Alps and
take co ntrol of north ern Ita ly.
Etruscan coloni es in the Po va ll ey
are ob literated, a nd Rom e is sac ked
during a protracte d Celtic raid
down the peninsula.
R ome defeats the Celts in Ita ly .
R ome gains fu ll co ntro l oflta ly.
Celtic tribes from the midd le
Danube a rea, th e Cimbri a nd
Tcutones invade Gau l ; during the
exte nsive raid they attract the

Ambrones - a not he r Celtic tribe to their ranks, a nd destroy five

Rom a n a rmi es sent against them
befor e turning towards Italy .
102 B.C.
The Cimbri, T euton es and Am brones a re annihi lated by the new
model R oman army, which had
bee n created , tra ined and was now
led to victory by Marius , a General
of obscure background.
100 B.C.
The Goths cross the Baltic from the
Scandinavian peninsula to north ern
G ermany .
58- 51 B.C. Ju lius Caesar conqu ers most of th e
Celtic tribes of Gau l a nd reportedly
repu lses an attempted invasion by
trans-Rhenian tribes.
27- 12 B.C.
Rom a n forces adva nce in centra l
and easte rn Europe, to the D a nube;
th e river thus form s, for most of its
length , th e north ern fronti er of the
Empire. The expansion of th e
Frontier to the E lb e in th e north is
called off after th e disaster in the
T eutoburg Forest. At about this
tim e Augustus crea tes a standing
army of 25 legions.
A.D. 9
Th e ga rrison of north ern Germanv,
consisting of th e XVII , XVIIl a nd
XIX L egions are wiped out in a n
ambush in the T eutoburg Forest.
These three legions neve r again
appeared on th e army list. The
R hine-Danube nexus now m ar ks
th e north ern limits of the R oman
Empire.
A.D. 43
Rom a n forces in vad e Brita in ,
speedi ly overrunnin g a third of th e
country , from th e so uthern coas t.
A.D. 69- 79. The angle form ed by th e Rhin e a nd
Danube is rounded off. R oman
occupation of th e British low la nd s
is carried up to the highland s. A
furth er two legions a re los t during a
revolt of a uxiliaries on th e Rh ine.
A.D.81 .
Several ca mpa igns a re mounted by
t he R o man a rmy on th e D a nube,
particularly against th e Thracian
kingdom of Dacia.

A.D. 101.

A.D. 150.

A.D. 181.

A.D. 251 .

A.D. 275.

A.D. 28o.

A.D. 358.

A.D. 36o.

A.D. 372.

The Empero r Traj a n begins a

advan cing Go ths, wh o a re overmass ive in vasio n of D acia; in two
whelm ed by th e no m adic hordes.
ca mpa tgns th e Rom a ns break
The Huns a re a bl e to push into
D ac ia n resista nce . Th e conqu es t
Euro pe, wh ere th ey se ttl e as th e
crea tes a tra ns-Da nubia n salient of
overlord s of Slavoni c peasants a nd
th e E mpire. R om a n forces on th e
G epids o n the Hunga rian pla ins.
Th e Goths and Asding V a nd a ls
D a nub e a re reinfo rced by fo ur A.D. 375
a pply fo r sanctu a ry within the
legio ns; Rhin e legions a re redu ced
Empire. They are se ttled alo ng th e
by three.
Danube, wher e they suffer m a n y
Eas tern G erm a n tribes begin driftindignities at th e ha nd s of R o ma n
in g- so uth : so m e of th em ente r into
m ercha nts and officia ls.
perm a nen t fed era tion .
The Visigoths a re in revolt against
A m assive ba rba ri a n assault on th e A.D. 378.
D a nub e provinces led by th e M a rR o m e.
The Emperor of th e East is killed ,
co ma nni a nd Qua di triggers off a A.D. 379
prolonged se ri es of savagely fo ug ht
his a rm y a nnihil a ted at Adria nopl e
ca mpa igns during th e reign of
by the la rgely cavalry a rm y of th e
th e philosopher soldier Marcus
Goths.
Aurelius.
A.D. 380.
G erm a ns, Sarm a ti a ns and Huns a re
Th e Go th s invad e th e Balka ns a nd
taken into Imperia l se rvice; as a
An a to li a; th e Emperor D ec ius
consequ ence, ba rba ri a n leaders
begin to play a n increasingly ac ti ve
(H os tili a nu s) is killed .
role in th e life of the Empire.
Fra nkish a nd Alem a nni c wa r ba nd s
ove rrun G a ul a nd invad e Spain
R econs truction of cut of woollen twill tunic and trousers
a nd Ita ly.
from Ange ln, Denmark, dated t o the 1st century B.C.
R om a n forces a ba ndon both th e
D ac ia n sali ent a nd th e Rhin eD a nube angle in th e face o f increasing press ure along th e north ern
fronti er ; th e G epids and Goths
move into D acia; th e Al ema nni
occupy th e Rhin e-Danube angle
a nd Burgundian tribes th e middl e
Rhin e a rea.
Th e Go ths, led by th eir king
Erm a na ri ch , spread into a la rge
a rea of Eurasia a nd north to the
Ba ltic. ' Anglo-Saxon ' raid s in crease
o n th e eas t coas t of Brita in a nd
,I
nor th ern coas t of G a ul.
Th e Alema nni a nd Franks a re
1\
\\
defea ted by th e Emperor Juli a n in
I
}
G a ul ; so m e Fra nk s remain in northI
wes t Ga u l as a rm ed peasant ma rchmen (foedera tes ) , a llies of R o me.
Th e O strogo th s co m e into co ntac t
with wes twa rd -movin g Huns, a
Turco-Mongo loid people.
~/
Th e Huns of th e V olga attac k th e

u~

A.D . 410.

German cloak brooch es.

A.D. 402.

A.D. 406.

A.D. 407.

A.D. 409

The Goths invad e Italy, where they

suffer d efeat at the hands of th e
R oma no-Vandal Genera l Stili cho .
Sti li cho crushes a mixed army of
Ostrogoths, Quadi and Asding
Vanda ls with an army raised from
the fronti er forces of the Rhin e,
leav in g this sector dangerously
weakened.
A coalition of Asding Vandals,
Si lin g
Vanda ls,
Marco manni ,
Quadi and a clan of Sarmatian
Ala ns cross th e froz en Rhin e near
Mainz into Gaul.
Britain is d enud ed of the Roman
ga rriso n , which crosses th e Channel
in force in a sham effort to pacify
the German inv aders of Gaul. In
fact th ey declare one of th eir
numbe r to be Emperor and see k
recogm t10n from the Franks,
Burgundian s and Alemanni who
have occupied the left bank of th e
Rhin e.
The g rea t barbarian coalition of
Vandals , Suevi a nd Sarmatians
which had ravaged Gau l for three
years crosses th e Pyrenees into
Spain.

Britain fragm ents und er th e local

control of pe tt y Romano-C elti c
magnates. Th e Visigoths , led by
Alaric, sack Rom e.
Th e Visigoths, in Imperial se rvi ce,
A.D. 412.
enter Gau l and d epose yet another
Imperial usurper.
The Visigoths cross into Spain ,
A.D. 414
where th ey exterminate th e se ttl ed
Siling Vandals and Sarmatian
Alans (4 I 6 ) . The Asding Vandals,
Marco manni and Quadi are spared ,
by R oman intervention, in order to
prevent the in crease of Vi sigothi c
power. As th e reward for th eir
exertions th e Visigoths are invited
by Roman authorities to settle in a
large area of south-west Gaul.
A.D. 428.
North Afri ca is invaded by th e
Asding Vandals; th ey bui ld a
pirate Aee t and hold th e Rom a n
co rn supply to ranso m .
Attila th e Hun is born .
A.D. 433
Th e Huns driv e dee p into Germani c
A.D. 436.
territory ; many tribes beco me
Hunnish vassals.
G erman tribes begin th e perman ent
A.D. 449
settlement of Brita in .
Attila leads th e Huns and th e ir
A.D. 45 1
German vassals into Gaul; th ey are
met a nd driven back by Roman
troops , Burgundians , Salian Franks
and Visigoths at th e Campus
Mauriacus . The Huns withdra w to
Hungary.
Atti la in vades Ita ly, but th e Huns
A.D. 452.
are bribed by R oman a uthoriti es to
retire.
Attiladies. The Vanda ls sack Rom e.
A.D. 453
G erman vassals of th e Huns overA.D. 454
throw th eir masters at the battle of
Nedao.
A.D. 469-78. The Visigoths conquer most of
Spain . Th e German ge neral
Odoace r beco m es king of Ita ly and
is recog nised by th e Eastern Roman
Empire.
Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoth s,
A.D. 493
becomes Regent of Ita ly.

A.D . 526.
A.D. 528.

The Fra nks ex pa nd into a large

a rea of Gaul led by their king ,
Clovis.
Theodoric dies.
After d efeating the Gepids th e
Lorn bards, helped by Avar nomads,
invade Italy and make a permanent
se ttl em ent in the north.

Introduction
In th e report se nt to his king from Acre in I 255 the
Franciscan fri ar William ofRubruck, in reference
to his travels in th e Crimea, says: 'All the way from
the Kh erson to th e mouth of th e Tanais there are
hig h mountain peaks along th e coas t, and there
a re forty villages between Kh erson and Soldaia,
of which a lmost every o ne has its own language.
Dwellin g here were m a ny Goths, whos e language
is German ... ' Three centuries later , in about
1554, Augerois d e Busbec k, a French traveller,
ca me across a people he described as Goths on the
shores of the Black Sea in the Crimea. After
careful analysis of their language from examples
surv ivin g at th e tim e of th eir discovery , philologis ts identifi ed it as Gothic, with some alteration
due to Slavonic influence. This people is now no
longer traceable.
These cha nce references to all that remain ed of
the once num erous and powerful Gothic nation
cannot now be verified by the so phistica ted
a nthropological methods available to us today.
Thankfully, however, ex tensive skeletal evidence,
not only of the Goths but of many other ancient
Germanic peo ples from th e migration period ,
does exist. This fact has allowed anthropologists to
establish th e racial id entity of peoples we would
otherwise know by na m e only - colourless wraiths
of the imagination.
During th e thousa nd years before the Christian
era two g reat Indo-E uropean peoples, the Celts
a nd Scythians, ex pa nd ed into central and north ern
Europe - the Celts to th e wes t, th e Scy ths to th e
east. They were follow ed by two more such
gro ups- the Germans to the west, th e Slavs to the
east. Both the latter Indo-European groups were
to have lastin g effec ts on th eir chosen areas of

Celtic i ron s pearheads of the La

T~n e

per iod.

settlement, and, later, throughout the planetespecially the Germans.

The period ofGermanic migration , th e Volkerwandurung, does not begin properly until the grd
century. However, some see in th e eve ntually
abortive invasion of Roman Italy by a marauding
Celtic horde the first southward probe involving
Germanic warriors. These Cimbri and Teutones
ha d d es troyed several Roman armies in a series of
encounters throughout Gaul between B.C . 1 14
and I02. The series of migrations did not end until
the adoption of Christianity by th e Norw egians in
th e I I th century A.D. Germani c homelands
comprised modern Denmark, southern and central
Norway, the north German coas tal strip from th e
mouth of the Elbe to the Baltic shore, and th e
islands of Gotland and Bornholm . It was from
these breeding grounds that warlike trib es, drive n
by press ures brought about by overpopulation ,
bega n their wanderings. Some have lost th eir
na mes, being quickly absorbed into bigger
Germanic groupings during th e ensuing chaos.
Populating the dank and gloomy forests of
north ern Europe, th e German 'barbarians' who
overran th e western Empire were d escendants of
peasants who had taken up arms; at the tim e
Tacitus wrote his Germania in the late 1st century
A.D., a large proportion of th e mal e population
were warriors, tribal structure was in a state of
flux , and their society was moving toward s a
crisis. Successful war leaders , normally elected

onl y for the dura tion o f a single campaign , were

becoming acce pted in a permanent capacity as
chi eftains. Th e success of many leaders attracted
other tribal war bands and, in an era of constant
warfare, th e transition from tribe to supertribe,
grouped und er cunning warlords, was well under
way.
These vigorous northern ' barbarians' were th e
destroyers of th e W es tern Empire ofRom e. It was
they who delivered the coup de grace to the
d ying colossus in th e south , subsequently creating
med ieva l Europe, the feudal system and chivalry.
It was their direc t d esce ndants who were th e
knights and men-a t-a rms. In every sense, th ey
were the creato rs of the mod ern world ; it is ironic
that most of us know virtuall y nothing about them.

The!Mrrior
An essenti al factor in ea rl y Germanic and Celtic
warfare was th e warrior's own large, powerful
frame. The German proper was a variant of th e
earli er No rdi c type introd uced by the IndoE uropea n in vasion ; he was, in general, larger,
due to racia l mixture with th e great north ern

hunters still surv1vmg in north ern Europe from

the last I ce Age. The body was heavier and
thicker than th e pure Nordic type, with a large
brai ncase. H e was charac teristically blond or
rufo us, as seen in his mod ern descendants and
noted by numerou s early writers . The two
exceptions to this general picture were th e
Al emanni and the Franks, who rese mbl ed the
peop llil th ey eve ntu a ll y se ttl ed a mo ng, th e Celt s.
Diet was heavy and rich in protein , broadly
including pork , beef and fi sh (fresh and salted ),
mu tton , venison, game, bread , beer and d airy
produ ce.
Everyday dress varied from group to group.
Th e overall cos tum e, however , was th e same
thro ughout the north - a simpl e tunic, long
trouse rs and cloak , which was usually of a blackish
or dark brown wool. The tuni c reac hed the kn ees
and had eith er long or short sleeves. Severa l
tuni cs could be worn at once, supplem ented with
fur a nd pelts of different kinds in cold weather.
In summer, of co urse, upper garments were often
left off a ltoget her. Lin en was known but was a n
Longbows found at Nydam and dated to the late 4th century
A.D. ; about 2m long and made of yew, they bear a close
affinity to the great English warbow of the Middle Ages. The
arrows, of pinewood and hazel, rneasure between 68cm and
85 em; they were found in bundles. (Not to scale)

expe nsive import from the south, a nd was, for

that reason , on ly worn by the wealthier or fartravell ed trib es men. Trousers were held up by
rawhid e thonging; some tim es cross-thonging held
them into th e lower legs or ankles. Trousers were
mad e in wool , as we ll as fur and skins. Kneelength breeches, wh en worn , were co mbined with
a tight leg cove ring. Belts of varied thickness were
worn at the waist or across th e shoulder, sometim es
both . Straps co uld be used for carrying the shield .
Th e cloak was about five feet across, rectangular
or circular, of woven wool , some times having a fur
lining. C loaks entirely of skins were also worn.
~
T hey were secured with fibula e o r brooch es of
differing kinds, some types being more popular
among so me trib es than o th ers. C lothin g of th e
[]
[]
lower class was of the roughest kind - th e simplest
""'
C>
woven tuni cs or dressed skins. Shoes were of a very
E
c
D
[]
simple design , in so m e ways similar to the
''
moccasins of th e North American Indian , turned
B
up over th e foot fro m the sole and tied at the
ankle.
H a ir was often left lon g, being sometimes plaited ,
gathered into a top-knot or twisted into the curious
knot peculi ar to th e Suebian tribes such as the
Marco manni a nd Qu ad i. Beards were usually
but not a lways worn. Tribesmen normally went Celtic swords and hilts : (A) ' Mus hroom' style pommel, from
a lar ge Halstatt sword (B ) ' Mexican hat' style pommel from
bare headed , but a wooll en or fur cap might be an early Hals tatt sword, ro8cmlong, dated to the 8th century
worn in cold weather . R azors, combs, scissors and B.C . (C ) Late Hals tatt iron sword with ' antler' or ' antennae'
hilt, 72cm long, 7th century B.C. (D ) and (E), La Tene iron
tweeze rs of ea rl y date have been found in s wor ds and scabbards, both 5th to 6th centuries B.C., one
Germani c territory. The rough woollen cloth 90cm and the other 88cm long.
used by th e G ermans was woven in p lain colours,
of striped or other geometric d esign . Dyeing was culture. Roman culture played an ever-in creasing
carri ed out with vege tab le substan ces, a skill part in northern European society after th e Celti c
whi ch ha d existed in th e north since th e Bronze collapse in Gaul. In their role as a source of
Age , if not before. R ed was obtained from madd er wea pons a nd luxury goods, th e Rom a ns began
root, yell ow fro m sa ffron fl owe rs and the stalks or their long involvement with the Germans as th ey
leaves of we ld , blu e from woad , g ree n from what is faced them across th e northern frontiers.
now kn ow n as 'dyers' g ree n weed '. M a ny ga rm ents Of the Warrior
were a lso left in th eir natura l hu e - woo l has a ' ... Who th ese people were a nd from what p a rt of
number of na tura l shad es, ranging from almost th e world th ey had se t out, to fa ll on Gaul and
pure white , thro ug h fawn , brown and grey to I Laly like a thundercloud , no on e kn ew; for th ey
black.
had no con tac t with the so uth ern races, a nd h ad
Bracelets, ea rrin gs, a rmle ts, necklets, beads and a lready travell ed a very g rea t way. Th e likeli es t
rings were wo rn by both sexes, to a grea ter or g uess seem ed to be that th ey were so m e of th e
G erman tribes, whose territory ex tends up to th e
lesser d egree, acco rding to tas te.
Strong influ ences from the ri ch Bronze Age of north ern ocean. This conjec ture was based on
north ern Europe, a nd also th e influence of th e their great size, th e light blue colour of th eir eyes,
Celts and Scy thians, were present in Germanic and th e fact that th e G erman word for plunderers

La Tene s word hilts: (A) Solid cast bronze, from Cumberland,

England (B) Tinned bronze fittings on wood, from Dors et,
England (C) From a b as-relief at Pergamon, Turkey.

is "Ci mbri " .... As for th e barbarians , they were

so full of confid ence in themselves and of contempt
for their enem ies that they went out of their way
to give, quite unn ecessarily , exhibitions of th eir
strength a nd daring. They went naked through
snow-storm s, climbed to th e su mmits of the
mountains, through the ice and snow drifts, and,
from there, came tobogganing down on their
broad shields, sliding over the slippery slopes and
the deep crevasses.' (From the passage on the
Cimbri and T eutons, Fall of the Roman R epublic by
Plutarch. )
' ... The Germans wear no breas t plates or
helmets. Even their shields are not reinforced with
iron or lea th er, but a re merely plaited wickerwork
or pain ted boards. Spears, of a sort, are limited to
their front rank. The rest have clubs, burnt at the
ends or with short metal points. Physically, they
are formid ab le a nd good for a short rush . But they
ca nn ot tand being hurt ... ' (Part of an eve of
battle speec h to hi s troops by Germanicus, 16
A.D. )
' ... In their war with the Emperor Com modus,
the Buri , a small tribe of Germans of the middle
Danube, had to ask th e Emperor on many
occasions for a truce in order to rep lenish their
canty supply of weapons. They are a tall race,
clad in close-fitting garments with a belt round
the waist; they hurl their axes and cas t their spears
with great for ce, never missing their aim. They
manage th eir shi elds with great skill, rushing on

their enemy so fast that they seem to fly fast er than

thei r javelins.' (Agathius, 405 A.D., writing of the
Franks. )
' ... A Gothic horse man 's lance went right
through a Roman cavalryman. The Goth slowly
raised the dripping lan ce, with the armoured
R oman kicking and vomiting on the end of it. '
(Procopius, secretary to the great general of th e
Easte rn Empire, Belisarius , 6th century A.D. )
' ... Vandal cavalry fight with spear and sword.
They have little or no defensive armour, [and]
are not good infantrym en , archers or javelineers.
Their army was very similar to that of the O strogoths, though th e Goths had a large infantry
force .' (Sidonius Apollinaris. 430- 480 A.D. )
' ... Drinking bouts, lasting a day and night,
are no t consid ered in any way disgraceful ...
No one in Germany finds vice amusing, or call s it
'up-to-date' to d ebau ch and be debauched . . .
If they approve, they clash spears. No form of
approval ca n ca rry more honour th a n praise
expressed by arms .... '
' . .. On the fie ld of battle it is a disgrace to th e
chief to be surpassed in valour by his companions
or to th e co mp a nions not to co me up in valour to
their chief. As for leaving th e battle alive after the
chi ef has fa llen , that means lifelong infam y a nd
sha m e. To d efend and protec t him , to put down
one's own acts of heroism to his credit , that is what
they reall y mea n by a llegian ce. The chiefs fi g ht
for victory, the co mpanions for their chief. Many
noble yout hs, if th eir land is stagnating in a
protracted peace, d eliberately seek out other
tribes wh ere some war is afoot. The Germans have
no taste for peace; renown is easier won among
p erils, a nd yo u cannot maintain a large body of
com panions except by violence and war. ... '
' ... You will find it harder to p ersuad e a G erman
to p lough th e land and await its annual produ ce
with p a ti ence than to challenge a foe and ea rn the
prize of wounds. H e thinks it spiritless and slack
to gain by sweat what he can buy with blood. '
(Tacitus. Germania. )
T hese tantalizing glimpses of north European
barbarians, seen through th e eyes of civilized
southerners, are helpful in giving life to the more
immediate relics un ea rthed by th e archaeologist.
I t should be rem em be red that not all had witn essed
G er man warriors at first hand ; most Roman s

wo uld have see n th eir first G erm a ns only if

aux ilia ry troo ps were pos ted nea r th eir town or had
appea red in th e a rena .

Uiapons
Eco no mi ca ll y th e G erm a ni c trib es were peasants,
livin g ma inl y fro m stock-rearing (cattl e, sheep
and goa ts) a nd fa rmin g . As tim e went by , isolated
fa rm s beca me g ro ups of fa rm s, d eveloping into
haml ets and , eve ntu all y, villages. The skills of
ea rl y Germ a n cra ftsm en showed unaccountable
limita tions in so m e direc tions. This was always
evident in th e wea ponry of th e early trib es men.
Roma n assess ment of th e G ermani c peoples was,
above all , as wa rri ors. With a few notabl e
exce ptions, R o ma n writers had no personal
co ntac t with th em, a nd so m e of th eir observations
may be suspec t. Archaeology, however, has
suppli ed a la rge a nd d eta il ed a mount of G erma n
weapon history. Beca use of th e relative paucity of
na ti ve innova tion th e G erm a ns, particularly those
in th e wes t, were inA uenced to a large d egree by
the Celtic H a lsta tt a nd La T ene periods of culture.
Afte r th e R o ma n conqu es t of G a ul , Roman
weapons pl ayed a n in creasin g pa rt in the arming
of Ge rm a nic war ba nds, until , in th e late Empire,
a stead y Row of a rm s northwa rd was sustained by
illicit a rm s deals, loo t fro m Rom a n arsenals and
armi es, a nd eq ui pmen t bro ug ht hom e by th e large
num be rs of G erm a ns wh o had se rved in th e
Roma n a rm y. A broad a pproxima tion of phases in
wea ponry a mong th e a ncient G erma ns, based on
rece nt a rchaeo logical ev id ence, is as foll ows:
CeLtic: f-lalstatl culture: 7th cent. B .C. Swords of
bronze a nd iro n, na ti ve iron la nces and axes; a
peri od durin g whi ch ve ry la rge Celti c weapon s
we re in use - heavy sword s, spearh ead s rea ching
75c m in lengt h .
CeLtic: Late J-/aLstatt: earLy 5 th cent . B .C. The importa nce of th e swo rd is ove rta ken by that of th e short,
single-ed ged knife. Ordin a ry wa rri ors are equipped
with a la nce a nd shi eld of sorts. J avelins furnished
with a throwin g th ong a re in use; th e axe is more
co mm on in easte rn Ge rm a n territori es.
Celtic: firs t La Tene cuLture: Late 5th cent. B .C. The

Wooden shields from Hjortspring; the 'barleycorn' bosses

are also of wood. These shields, dated to the rst century
B.C., measure 88cm X socm, and 66cm X 30Cm. Also, two
German iron sax knives, both about 46cm long.

The northern limits of the La Tene Culture.

Diagram of an oval Celtic shield made of oak planks, covered

with leather and backed with felt; it would probably be
finished with a painted design. About 1.1m long, it is 1.2cm
thick at the centre and less towards the rim. The spine of
s haped wood is hollowed out to receive the warrior's fist a s
he gra s ps the handle normally reinforced with an iron
bracing strip - at the rear. The boss itself has an iron
reinforcing s trip.

(Top to bottom ) An Anglo-Saxon sax, 6th century A.D .; a

Frankish sax of the s ame period ; and a rusted iron sax about
5ocm long, found at Chadlington, Oxfordshire.

beginning of th e Celtic La T ene culture sees the

G erm ans in possession of very few swords. The
impression gained is th a t, in p a rts of G erm any, the
long sword is virtua lly unknown . Ordina ry
warriors a re equipped with local varian ts of spear
type, shi eld a nd d agger . Spearh eads meas ure
I 2c m to 26c m .
Ce/tir : S('(o nd /. a T Pnl' f!I/(/Sf: Jrd to 2nd cent. B .C.
~ o cha nge in a rm a ment ev id ent. At Hj ortspring
a la rge wood en boat was discovered preserved in
th e p ea t. Classifi ed as a votive d eposit and d a ted
to a round th e la te 3rd century B.C. , it was
a cco mpanied by I 38 iron a nd 3 I bone spears, I 50
shields a nd six swords. The shi elds were a ll of
Celtic patterns- a long, oval type, measurin g
88cm x s ocm , and th e more common rec tang ular
typ e, measuring 66cm x 30cm. Towards th e end
of this period severa l cha nges see m to have affec ted
G erm a n war bands. The sax, a one-edged weapon
of varyin g length , was introduced ; its origin is
unknown. A few wa rriors were equipped with La
T ene sword s- th ey m ay have been specialist
sword smen . These men were less common in
eastern G erm a ni c territories. The use of Celti c
sp ears, javelins and shi elds is still evid ent, th e
latter with iron bosses . All weapons a re ligh t and
sp a ring in th e use of iron , confirming a n iron-poor
society.
R oman period : 1st cent. A .D. Sword sm en number
abo ut one in ten a mon g G erm a nic warri ors of thi s
p er iod . There is no evid ence of a rm o ur or

helmets, exce pt in th e case of a very few chieftains.

Shields a re round , rec tangular or sexagonal,
dished , a nd with a prominent projecting boss and
iron or bronze edging. Sm all round or oval shields
we re used by th e cavalry.
Roman period : 2nd cent. A .D . Roman and German
equipm ent begins to app ear together in a number
of a reas. M a il garm ents and Roman swords of the
gladius type, with rin g pomm el, and an increase in
the use of axes, es pecially th e throwing-axe.
Roman period: Jrd cent. A.D. Roman weapons
continu e to find th eir way into northern lands,
especia lly in th e more northerly territories.
Swordsmen probably numb er about one in every
four wa rriors. Swords of Roman spatha type,
toge th er with other Rom an types, increasingly
find th eir way into G erman hands . In the peat
bogs a t Ej sbol North , r6o shields, rgr spears, 203
barbed javelins, 6o sword s, 6o belts and 62 knives
we re found . R o ma n cavalry helmets of parad e
type were used in a few cases probably as marks of
rank.
Roman period: 4th cent. A.D. Shields seem to be
rarely ca rri ed a t this period. When found, the
bosses a re of th e Roman dom ed variety. The old
Germ a n spiked types are evidently out of fashion.
Owing to wid es pread cremation of the dead
a mong th e north ern barbarians th e discovered
ce m eteri es, ma ny of them very large, afford little
inform a tion exce pt for those interested in pottery .
Fra nkish wa rri or grav es in what was northern
Ga ul and th e Rhin eland , dated from the mid-4th
to th e 5 th ce ntury A.D. , are furnished with spears,
throwing-axes a nd an occasional sword. These
warri ors were proba bly federate soldiers employed
by th e R o ma ns. On e ri chly furni shed grave of a
Germani c office r found in a la te Rom a n ce metery
co nta in ed a swo rd , a belt, an oval silver plate and
a shi eld origin a ll y covered with purple leather and
gold foil pla tes; th e boss had been sheath ed in
silve r-g ilt. Oth er weapons included were a throwing axe, ten spea rs a nd a larger spear inlaid with
silve r. Oth er Fra nkish g ra ves in Belgium contain
belt fittin gs a nd bu ckl es, spea rs and throwing-axes.
Bows
W ell-m ade long bows were found at Nyd a m , in th e
territory of th e An gles. They are about two metres
long, m ade of yew , with stave ends tipped with
iron or a ntl er ferrul es, a nd th e hand-holds bound

with fine thread. Arrows were about 68cm to

8s cm long .
G ermanic bows , dating from about roo A.D . to
350 A.D. , were made of yew and fir wood. They
were recognisable long bows of deep 'D' section.
It is probable that, like the English longbow of
later ages, th ese were ' compound' bows a
combination of the sapwood , which resists stretching, for the back , and heat-wood , resistant to
compression , for the belly or inside of th e bow.
Staves found at Vimose, Kragehul and Nydam
measure from r 68cm to r g8cm . Although used
only to a limited degre e by Germanic groups in th e
British Isles, and even less by those settled in Gaul,
the bow was used to advantage by other Germans.
As stated above , self bows and a few composite
bows were used by the Alemanni. True longbows
were present in northern bog deposits. Dated
from the 2nd to the 4th centuries A.D. , these
weapons wer e probably develop ed by th e Germans
themselves. Some arrow piles found seem to be
d esign ed to puncture armour.

(Left and right) A Roman cavalry s word of unus ual s hape,

and its scabbard, from Gotland ; between them, the hilt of a
Roma n gladius from Thors bjerg.

Roma n ca valry s word, length 102cm o verall ; and below it, a

Roma n gladius with the late ' ring' pommel, length 6oc m
overall. Both a r e dated t o about the o:nd century A.D. and
were found a t Vimose in Denmark.

A large partofthe Visigothic army, as mention ed

elsew here, were a rchers and spearmen. Their
cavalry were composed of chi eftain s and th eir
compamons.
Bowmen a lso formed an important element in
Ostrogothic a rmi es ; as with other German bowmen , a very small number of co mposite bows may
have been used, but th e overwhelming m ajority
vvou ld be self' or compou nd bows. (Their cavalry
were armed with spears a nd swo rd s d erived from
those of the Sarmatians; Ostrogothic nob les
ow ned lav ish, gold-decorated, heavy slashing
words , mounted with almondins. ) The longbows
found at Vimose, Krage hul a nd Nydam, dated
to 100- 350 A.D., have prev iously been noted.
The bow used ex tensive ly by a ll steppe nomad s,
including the Sarmatians a nd Huns, was the
powerful, reflexed , com pos ite bow . Its stav e is
co nstruc ted or la min ated materials or different
origin , such as wood , sin ew a nd horn. Wh en
unstrung th e bow fo rm s the silhou ette or th e
letter 'C' , so metim es with the ends formin g a
cross. Wh en strun g, the 'C' was opened back
(Top ) A long, heavy Got hic ca v alry s word from Tamin in
s outhern Russia, 5th century A.D. partly restored i n t his
s ketc h. (Bottom) A s word recovered from Kragehul Bog,
D e nmark ; i t has bronze s cabbard mounts and hilt, and is
d ated to the 5th c entury A.D . (Not to s cale.)

against its natural curv e and held that way by th e

string- thus, the bow 'coiled' for action.
Early Swords
Early Celtic iron swo rds fo ll ow the general
pattern or previo us bronze examples, whi ch were
still in use well after th e introduction of iron. Th e
first iron swo rds ma Qufactured in Europe were
long, slashing weapons; in the opinion of most
ex perts, they were primarily d esigned for us e by
chari ot-born e warriors. Som e of' th e weapons
belonging to th e H a lsta tt culture were so la rge
th a t th ere is some doubt that they were m ad e for
actual use. Th e hi lts are generall y very di stin cti ve,
having a pommel similar to a M ex ican hal.
Exa mp les includ e hilts of horn or ivory, d eco ra ted
with gold or amber, a few have a mu shroom- like
pro fi !e.
Late Halstatt swords, introdu ced a bout B.C . 6oo,
were fashion ed after exa mp les of Greek o r
Etruscan provenan ce; so me ind eed may be
imports from th e south. Th ey were sm a ll e r th a n
th e grea t midd le H alsta tt swords, and were
d esigned to be used for both slashing and sta bbin g,
in that they ca rried a point. Their hi lts fa ll into tw o
m a in patterns, 'antennae' and 'anthropomorphic'.
Th e form er fo ll owed an old la te Bronze Age
pat tern ; the la tter took th e sty lised form or a
spreadeagled man . Th e blades of th ese weapons
were madeofiron, forged to hard en by introdu cing
ca rbon in various ways, finishin g with a ca rburised

iron of indifferent quality. Although th ere are

notabl e exce ptions, most Celtic swo rd s were m a d e
in thi s way.
Early La T ene swords were introdu ce d abo ut B.C.
450. They have poi nted blades abo ut 55cm to
65cm long; there is one kn ow n example 8ocm
long. La Tfn e ( 11 ) period swords date from c. B.C.
250 to 120. T hey measure abou t 75- 8ocm a nd
hav e round er points . The final La T ene phase
swords, d a ted from B.C. 120 to the defea t o f the
Galli c tribes by R om e, we re longer than those o f
the two prev ious periods . Th ey a re betwee n 6ocm
and gocm long; a few were pointed but most were
blun t-end ed.
Pattern WPided Blades
In the ea rl y 1st ce ntury A.D. a new process,
whi ch we call pattern-weldin g, was inv ented by
Europea n swo rdsmiths. The process was co mplicated , but not so long drawn o ut as many earli er
tem perin g methods. The ce ntra l sectio n of the
blade was prepared by forgi ng narrow billets of
high-qualit y ca rburised iron , tw1stmg them
together in pairs, layin g the twists sid e b y sid e,
we ldin g them , a nd finally add in g furth er strips of
ca rburised iro n to th e sid es a nd we lding them to
form th e cuttin g edges. At this stage the bla d e was
a long, flat , ob long billet, whi ch had to be filed
a nd ground dow n to the desired fo rm. It was th en
burn ished a nd etc hed with a n acid such as tannin,
urine , sou r beer or vi negar; when the ce ntral
section and full er were polished , a pattern having
the appeara nce of a sna ke's back eme rged , a res ult
of the twist in g ca rri ed o u t at a n ea rli er stage in the
sword's manufac ture . Acco rdin g to the method
used in thi s g ro upin g a nd twisti ng phase, ma ny
variatio ns of pattern we re possib le.

Sword hilts of the Mignationperiod : (A ) From about 150A.D.

(B ) From about 400 A.D. (C ) From about 350 A.D . - a Northern
pattern (D ) From about 500 A.D .

Sword rings and ' Life-stones'

On the pommels of so m e of th ese swo rd s, rin gs,
mostly decorated , are attached. These a re
believed to be sp ecial gifts fro m a g ratefu l
chi efta in . Some sca bba rd s have la rge beads
attached to them , either of pottery , glass, meersc ha um , crystal o r, rarely, gold set with stones,
and occasion a ll y with gold or silver mounts. Th ese
a re a mule ts- cha rm s to bring good luck- a nd
were believed to have th e m agical propert y to heal
wounds made by th e swo rd to which th ey we re
attached.
Swords of the Heroic Period
' Wh en th e enemy had ta ken possession o f two
camps a nd a n imm ense booty, they destroyed ,
und er new a nd stra nge oaths , all that had fa ll en
into th eir ha nds. The clothes were torn a nd
thrown away, gold a nd silver throw n into the
river, th e rin g armour of the m en cut to pieces, the
acco utrem ents of th e horses destroyed , the
horses th emse lves thrown into th e water, a nd th e
men, with ropes a round th eir nec ks, suspe nd ed
from th e trees, so th a t there was no more booty for
th e victors than th ere was mercy for th e co nq uercd.'
This extract from a history written a bo ut B.C.
1oo, b y the Roman historian Orosi us, d eals with
the Celtic in vasion b y th e Cimbri a nd Teutones.
It highlights the religious obligati o n felt by th e
Celts an d Germans to sacrifi ce ' ki ll ed ' ene my
possessio ns, leav ing us with priceless d eposits in
the bogs o f no rth ern Europe to supp le ment th ose
found in the g raves of Germanic warriors. Swo rd s
of this period are found in both types o f deposit,

A sel ect i on ofbarbarian arms and armour and otbe r trophies,

t ake n from Roman coin reverses . These c oin des igns, illus trating in s imple s tyle s amples of tbe booty taken in
triumphantmilitaryexpeditions, allowtent ativeassociations
to be m a de by comparing tbe known date of tbe coin wit h tbe
known contemporary campaigns : probable associations are
s h o wn here bracketed.
(A ) From a sestertius of Marcus Aurelius, dated to 18o A.D .:
hor n , plaque, monster-headed trumpet, pelta-type shield,
corselet, and shields of curve-sided oblong, small oval,
hex agonal and narrow, curve-sided shapes. (Sarmatians,
Q.uadi and Marcomanni)
(B ) From an aurius of Marcus Aurelius, dated to 18o A.D. : horn,
vexillum, large monster-headed trumpet/standard, and
s h i elds of s mall oval, curve-s ided oblong, oval and oblong
s hapes. (Q.uadi and Marcomanni)
(C ) From a coin ofDomitian, dated to go A.D. : a long Celtictype shield with two spears, a vexillum and a long trumpe t.
(Q.uadi)
(D ) From a coin of Domitian, dated to go A.D. : a hexagonal
s hield. (Q.uadi or Marcomanni)
(E ) F rom a coin ofDomitian, date unknown : three hexagonal
shields and a helmet. (Q.uadi, Marcomanni)
(F ) From a coin of Titus, dated to 81 A.D. : German shi elds,
tbre e h exagonal and one octagonal ; a helmet of the old
Romano-Etruscan type, a muscle cuirass and two s pears .
(H e rmanduri and Marcomanni)
(G ) From a sestertius ofT. Decius, dated to 250 A.D.; a hors ehead s tandard. (Gothic )
(H ) From a solidus of Cris pus, dated to 319 A.D .: a trophy of
arms c ompris ing a mus cle cuirass and conical helmet,
probably both Roman, two round-ended oblong s hields, two
s maller oval s hields, a battleaxe, two s pears, a cloak and a
compos ite bow witb a ringed string. (Alemanni)

G
but a re prese nt in co mp a ra ti vely few gra ves.
Roma n swo rd s a re represented in the bog fi nds
by the sho rt gladius a nd long cavalry spatlza. One
interestin g hi It, belonging to a R om a n gladius, was
fo un d a t Th orsbj erg, So ut h Jutl a nd . I t is simi la r
to one in th e British Muse u m a nd a no th er fo und
at Pompeii . I ts bronze hil t has littl e bosses on
guard a nd pomm el , with a g rip cove red in fin e
wove n bronze thread bra id ing. An other exa mple,
compiPte with its sca bba rd , was fo und in G o tla nd.
I t has a swelli ng o n either sid e of the bla de, just
above the point. Gladii d a ted to the znd ce ntury
A. D . have po m mels in th e shape of a la rge ring.
Several Roma n cavalry swo rd s have turn ed up in
the bog de posits.
Bes ides th e R o ma n swo rd s, T ho rsbj erg produ ced

swo rd s of native m a nufac ture. All a re do ub leedged , wit h bronze- a nd sil ve r-covered wooden
ha ndles . The wood en sca bba rd s bore metal
m ounts. Also found we n; a thi c k sword be lt;
bronze a nd iro n belt bu ckles; bows, a rrows a nd
shi elds. T hese lat ter we re circula r a nd Aa t,
meas urin g 54cm to I o8c m in di a m eter, with most
g rips a nd fas tenings of bron ze but so m e of iro n .
Axes fo und in th is d eposit were mounted on
wooden sha fts s gc m to 8scm long; spea rs were
mo unted on sha fts 81 cm , zs ocm , 273c m a nd
zgsc m lo ng. Harness for both driving a nd ridin g
was fo und , togeth er with mu ch j ewellery, too ls,
a mbe r di ce, bowls, spoons, jugs a nd kni ves.
G a rm ents includ ed m a il shirts, gold -pla ted bro nze
circu la r pec tora l pla tes, a nd a conve rted R om a n
cavalry pa ra d e helm et covered in silve r. R om a n
coi ns fo und includ ed so me of Septimus Seve ru s,
d ated I94 A. D .
At Vimose in D enm a rk 67 sword s were fo und ;
m os t were double-ed ged , b u t so me were singleed ged saxes. Of I ,000 spears, fiv e were moun ted On
sha fts 1g8c m , z64c m , z8oc m , a nd 302c m lo ng;
so m e of th ese spea rs ha d in lays of go ld , silve r a nd
bronze. M a il was recovered , som e of it gil d ed ,
toge ther with a comple te m ail shirt gzc m long;
th ere we re a lso examp les of scabba rd furniture,

I 50 knives, buckles, fibulae, buttons, ha rness,

scythe bla des, keys, scissors, needles, n ails, a
millstone , an anvil, hammers, chisels, fil es, pincers,
combs, brooches, beads a nd four amber di ce .
This find is dated to the late 4th century A.D.
At Kragehul , also in D enm a rk , were found ten
pa tte rn-weld ed swo rds, with sp ears set in a
circul ar fence . The find is dated to th e 4th a nd 5th
cent uri es A.D.
The four-ship burial at Nydam is of great
importa nce . It contained two small ships which
were beyond reconstru ction , a nd two larger ones
in a mu ch better state of preservation . Amon g th e
associated find s were I o6 double-edged sword s,
93 of th e m pattern-welded ; silvered sheath s a nd
bone and cas t bronze hilts; 552 spears, som e inla id
with gold, and arrows. All dated from 200 A.D . to
350 A.D.
Most Germanic swo rd s fall into on e or other of
th e classifications worked out by th e Swedish
expe rt E lis Behm er ; th e hilts of four types
occurring frequ entl y in our period are illustrated.

ABOVE

Dacian arms and standards, from various Roman

bas-reliefs : not to scale. A dagged banner on a spear; two

battle-scythes - fa/xes ; a quiver, shield and battleaxe; and a
carnyx-style standard with a ferrule.

Helmets from Dacia and Asia.(A)- (E) : 'Phrygian' type, from

the pedestal of Trajan's Column. (F) and (G): Phrygian
helmets. (H) Sarmatian helmet, from Trajan's Column.
(I) and (J) : Domed helmets, from the pedestal of Trajan's
Column. (Not to scale.)

German iron spearheads, 4th to 6th centuries A.D.

Dacian Arms and Armour

The column erec ted in the Forum of Rom e a nd
dedicated to th e Emperor Trajan in I I 3 A .D .
illustra tes in a sp ira l ribbon of reliefs th e phases and
main in cid entsofhi sconqu es tofDacia . Th e square
pedestal a t th e base of the column carri ed exa mpl es
of a rm s a nd a rmour in co nfused a bundan ce . Th e
monument , in two ha lves, ca n bes t be see n in
England at th e Victoria and Albert Mu se um ,
where exce ll ent full- sca le plaster casts ex ist. The y
were taken during th e Igth ce ntury, a nd g ive a
Helmets from the tomb-carvings of A. Julius Pompilius,
175 A.D., at the time of the Marcomannic Wars. (A) Roman
battle helmet (B) Damaged carving of Roman cavalry sports
helmet (C) Curious helmet of indistinct type. These are
thought to depict helmets worn by the enemy in this campaign.

better presentation of th e reli efs th a n the more

corroded original in R ome. On co nfro ntin g the
hi g hl y-deco rated , carved sid es o f th e pedestal, it
becomes o bvious that the formal abb reviations of
costume a nd weapons used on the column are
abse nt : on th e co lumn we hav e narra tive, on the
pedestal we are looking at graphic exampl es o f the
masses of equipm ent captured by Rom a n forces
fro m their opponents in D acia, sculpted from
actual exa mples of the trophi es. In th eir o ri g in a l
con dition th e bas-reliefs were pa inted in realistic
colours, with d eta ils o f armour a nd weapons added
in metal. Periodi c renewal of th e pa int was carried
out during th e life of th e Empire.
The cl uttered ab undance of these impress iv e
trophies begs th e qu estion ' Which piece of equipm ent belongs to whi ch group of barba ri ans
involved in th e ca mpa igns ?' Perhaps a more
releva nt qu es tion is 'A re the ca rvin gs in fact
rep rese ntative of th e arms of only one peo ple, the
gifted a nd proud Geto-Dacians , who Traja n had
d estroye d during a d eliberate campa ign of Rom a n
expansion into centra l Europe?' Ancient D acia,
in the 2nd century , embraced Tra nsylva ni a, Ba n a t
and Valac hia proper. Th e tru e D acian s were a
people of Thracia n descent. German , Celtic a nd
Ira ni an elements occ upied territories in th e nor thwestern a nd north- easte rn pa rts o fD acia. Cu ltu ral
elem ents of H elleni c, Scythian , Celtic a nd R oman
origin were absorbed in a rich a ma lgam.

Shields
Th e d o minant articles o n th e pedestal reliefs are
th e large, ri chly d eco rated , oval shields. They arc
th e only type ofbody shi eld show n ; a ll are o f uniform sha pe and style o f d ecoratio n. Th e exceptions
are exa mpl es which a re cove red in a scale pattern.
Anoth er exa mpl e of a n unu sua l D acia n design is
found on an oval shi eld ca rri ed b y a ma n in
D acian cos tum e on another Trajanic reli ef which
was moved to th e Arch of Constantine. r t has
four mon ster-h ead ed trumpets ra di ating from the
cen tral boss, and two Celtic-type torqu es of
twisted metal whi ch , toget her with the mo nste r
trumpe ts shown in g roups all over th e pedestal,
may illust ra te Celtic inAu ence.
With these exce ptions, D ac ia n shi eld s, as
show n o n th e ca rvin gs, a re heavil y deco rated
with Aori a te, bra id ed , geometric a nd pl a ne ta ry
d es ig ns, as well as th e ancient Thracia n shi e ld

(Left) A tombstone a t Dollendorf near Bonn, shows this

Germanic warrior probably a Frank. He is combing his
hair, and his s word is clearly shown; both were considered
virility symbols, and were proudly displayed. (Right) Finely
sculpted profile of a German chieftain from the tomb of A.
Julius Pompilius, now in the National Museum, Terme.
BELOW Late Roman military belt fittings. (Top) This example
of ancillary strap attachments and stiffeners is from a grave
at Dorchester, England. Probably general issue by the late
Empire period, they are usually associated with German
auxiliary troops of the Roman army. {Bottom} A reconstructed belt, with strap attachments, stiffeners and plates,
from a German warrior's grave at Rhenan, Holland.

known as the Pella (this symbol is used in normal

and distorted form ) . These shields are very large
and, it would appear from the carvings, flat , th e
patterns being in proud relief to facilitate periodic
painting. Th e bosses are hemisp herical with round
boss plates , both being d eco rated . I suggest that
the Thracian lun ate shield motif, repeatedly used
on th ese shields , co nfirm s them as D acian o r
G eto-Dacian .
Helmets
The h elm ets on th e reliefs fall into two categories:
one with a neat, rounded, cone-sha p ed sh ell , th e
othe r with its a p ex curved forw ard into th e
characteristic ' Phrygian ' peak. Both are hig hl y
d ecorated in the sa m e fashion as the shields on th e
column base. It is th e d eco ration on one of the
solid cres ts runnin g over o ne of th ese helm ets,
toge ther with the close ge neral resemblance to
various exa mpl es of helm ets worn by a ncient
Ph rygians show n in art, a nd the obvious connec tion between th em , which leads m e to suggest
that the ' Phygian ' -type helm ets m ay well be a
variety pec uli a r to the D acians.
The D acia ns, as stated above , were a Thracian

. ..
..

..

D ia gr a m of a n Ang lo-Saxon s hield, t ypical of the round

s h ields carried b y other Germanic tribes men. Made of
lime wood, it is a bout scm thick a nd gocm a c ross. Thin,
s h a p ed boa rds were co v ered with linen or le ather ; the central
recess, w ith an off-centre metal handle, was covered with a
large i ron boss; and the rim was of iron or bron :<e, perhaps
s ometimes ofleather. As well a s the concave type, Oat, round
shields w er e als o u s ed. The face was often reinforced with
metal str ip s , a nd normally painte d with s imple or elabora te
d ecorations.

people, as were the Phrygia ns a nd those T hracia ns

li ving north of th e G ree k states th ro ug ho u t the
classical period. T he distinct lun a te shield used by
T h rac ia n in fa ntrymen , th e pelta, ill ustrated freque n tly in Gree k a rt , is present o n the soli d cres t of
a ' Ph rygia n' -ty pe helm et as a runnin g pa ttern , as
shown on the pedes ta l reli efs; thi s mo tif was used
repeatedl y on the la rge oval shields. I t would be
very nea t to see in the plainer, do m ed helm ets
Scyt ho-Sa rm a ti a n exa mples, but th ey rese mble
the co nstruction of these in o nly one way - they
are co ni cal. The hel mets wo rn by Ira nia n
a rmoured horseme n on the column a nd other
R oma n reli efs a re of a co mposite constru ction .
The banded Ao ri ate desig ns d eco ra ting th e non' Ph rygia n' helm ets on th e ped es ta l dup lica te th e
designs show n o n th e ' Phrygia n ' helm ets. T ha t
these helm ets re prese n t a newe r ty pe of D acia n
helmet is a mo re proba b le pro position .
Body Armour
T hi is re presented in three varieti es - m a il, leafscale a nd ba nd ed co nstruction. These exa mp les
give no in d ica tio n of their o ri gin o r ow nership a t
th e time of ca p ture, with th e possib le exce ption of
th e corse let of ba nd ed a rm our , whi c h may no t be
European .
Dacian Costume
T hi s is more eas ily ide n tified in th e tuni c a nd cloak
outfits see n wo rn o n th e column a nd depi cted
amo ng the trophi es o n th e pedes ta l. D acia ns a re
not see n on the co lumn wea rin g bod y a rm o ur o r

Recons t r uct ion of the ins ide of a n Anglo-Saxon s hield,

s h owing forearm s tra p and hand-g rip.

hel m ets. L ac k of a ny d efence ot her th a n th e sh ield

mu st have bee n cha rac teristi c of mos t o f the GetoD acia ns but no t of th e whole na ti o n , a ltho ug h a ll
a re show n un a rm oured in a conventio na l style.
Sword s a re well represented on th e reliefs. One
weapon , of la te Celti c L a T ene type, ha ngs from a
belt o n a coa t of leaf a rmour. Other long swo rd s
wi th p la iner, spatha-ty pe gu a rd s a nd hi lts have
p lated belts a ttached to the scab ba rd.
Th e draco , a m eta ll ic sta nd a rd in th e fo rm of a
drago n head with its mo uth open , a ttac hed to a
tu b ular, fa bric bod y of bri llia nt hu e, was used by
ma n y ancient peo ples includ ing D acia ns, I ra ni a ns
a nd G erm a ns. Th ose shown o n th e pedes ta l co uld
belo ng to a ny of th ese g ro ups. Vexilla , a ncien t
ba nners, show n on th e column fri ezes a nd pedes ta l,
m ay be exa mples of recap tured R om a n signa,
or m a y b elong to a ny of th e pa rticip a ting
barba ri a ns. O n e exa mp le, a tt ac hed to a spea r,

loo ks ve ry un-R o ma n ; it carries three la rge ' dags'

at its lower edge .
Weapons
Spears a nd javelins a re of sta nd a rd types a nd give
no hint as to th eir provena nce. Ba ttleaxes of a
distin ct type a re presen t, as a re th e terrible
falxes. It is post ulated th a t th ese scy th e-like
weapons were so effec tive in early ac tion s b etween
Roman a nd D acia n infa ntry th a t sp ecia l R oman
armour, baed on a ntiqu e patterns, was d evised ,
and shield s we re reinforced . Bo th composite and
self bows a re present on th e reli efs, th e self bow
being more num erous on th e carvings but li ttl eshow n o n th e column , where D acians and
Sarm a ti ans a re bo th show n usin g reAex bows.
Quivers are of a lidd ed , tubu la r sha pe, highly
decora ted . Trumpets, a ft er th e fashion of th e Celtic
canryx, in th e sha pe of monster serpents, are shown
in groups. So me examples, however , see m to b e
designed as stand a rd s fo r carrying, h aving a la rge
fi ni a l at the bu t t end.
If thi s a na lys is is ge nera ll y co rrec t, th e n it wo uld
seem th a t the base of Traj a n's Column ca rri es basrel iefs of a rm o ur , a rm s a nd o th er equipm ent
wholl y o r overwh elming ly belonging to the

Recons tructed drawings of two Saxon warriors : (left) from

Lower Saxony, probably an ex-Roman soldier, ba s ed on a
4t h century grave at Liebenau ; (right ) a free Saxon warrior of
the 5th century, bas ed on grave no. 6o at P e ters finge r ,
Salis bury, England.

D acia n people, the ta rge t of Traj a n 's ca mpa igns.

So m e a ut ho riti es m ay see in th e prese nce of vari ous
pieces associa ted wit h cultures furth er to th e eas t,
especiall y the coa t of ba nd ed a rm o ur , troph ies of
erstwhile own ership by I ra ni a n R oxo la ni . I wo uld
agree th a t this is a reasona ble th eory; bu t wo uld it
no t be poss ib le fo r leading wa rri ors a m ong th e
Ge to-Dacia ns to own pi eces of a rm o ur no t m ade in
E urope?

!Mrfore
Prio r to th e co nqu es t a nd pacifi ca ti o n of Ga ul by
R o m a n fo rces, Ge rm a n tribes pro per began
mov in g so uth- wes t. By th e earl y 1st ce ntury A. D .
they were in th e Rhin ela nd a rea. Th e peo ple
set tled a t thi s tim e betwee n th e Aller in th e east
a nd the Oise in th e wes t a re believed to have bee n
a n a borigina l g ro up of 'old ' Europea ns, neither

Wars, Tacitus w ro te hi s Germania 1 , a stud y of th e

Germans written in abo ut g8 A.D . In the passage
desc ribing the a rmin g of war rio rs, he says: ' Only
a few have sword s or spears. The la nces that they
carry - Jrameae is the native wo rd - have shor t a nd
sha rp heads, but a re so na rrow a nd easy to ha ndl e
th at th e sam e wea pon se rv es fo r fi g htin g ha nd to
hand or at a di stance. The ho rse m a n d em a nd s no
more th a n his shi eld a nd spea r , but th e infa ntrym an has a lso j avelins for throwing, seve ra l to eac h
man , and he can hurl th em to a grea t di stance.'
T hi s d esc ription accords we ll with archaeolog ical evidence dated to this time. Wh ether ji"ameae
had short , na rrow head s b y choice or simpl y
beca use o f th e tribes ' shortage ofiron is not m ade
clear b y th e hi sto rian . Bodies found prese rved in
th e peat bogs of north ern Europe , dated to thi s
period , a re dressed exac tl y th e sa m e as the
Germans shown on R o m a n mo num enta l rema ins.
The general distribution of major Germanic groups in about
Wi t h the exception o f a ve ry few indi vidu a ls,
IOOA.D.
German body defences - a pa rt from th e shi eld
were non- existent a t th e time o f their ea rl y
Celti c no r Germ a ni c, spea kin g a pre-Indo- enco unters with Imperi a l troops. The usua l
Euro pea n to ng ue. Their re place ment by a more tac tic adopted at thi s time was to at tac k a t a
pugnac ious peo pl e was a lm ost ce rta inl y recogni ze d head long rush , in wedge form a tion , so as to close
by R oma n fro nti er intellige nce, which may have in q ui ekl y, thu s nullifyin g th e murd erou s vo ll eys
trigge red th e Augustan ca mpa igns. Tribes suc h as o f legion a ry pi/a: th e ' Furore Teutoni cus ' o f
the C ha tti , C heru sci, C ha m av i, Chattvarii, legend .
C hama ri , Angrivarii , Ampsivarii , etc ., were
In th e ea rly years of th e 1st century A .D. R om e
followed by th e Alema nni , Goths , Gepids, Fra nks, d ecid ed to rationali se the north ern fronti er by
Va nd a ls, Baj uvara, Thuringians a nd Saxons.
a nn exin g Germany up to th e Elb e. Th e closin g
Probab ly drawing heav il y on th e expe ri ences of move, against th e Marcomanni , was fru strated
me n ret urn ed fro m the German camp a igns of wh en th e new provinces in north Germany Aa red
Augustu , a nd on Pliny th e E ld er's Th e German into revolt. Th e three legions sta tion ed in th e area,
th e XVII , XVIII and XIX , were a nnihil a ted in a
se ri es of a mbushes in th e T eutoburge r W a ld in
Two iron axeheads, the elevations on the left from a find at
g A.D. Th e G erman lead er , H e rm a nn (Arminius),
Brandenburg, and those on the right from a find at Weissenfels.
chi ef of the Cherusci, had served in th e Rom a n
army and ha d used hi s kn ow led ge ofi ts opera ti ona l
limi ta tion s in boggy, heavily wood ed a reas.
H er mann aspired to more perm a nent powe r than
that afforded to a warleader , a nd wass u bseq uentl y
d estroyed by political enemi es at hom e. Th e
indisputabl e outcome or this disas ter was that
R o m a n plans for th e eventu a l co ntrol of a ll of
German ia
were
perman ently
a ba nd oned .
1
Plin y's boo k is now lost ; this is t he m o re trag ic sin ce wP know th a t
t he a uthor h ad him sclf scn-cd on t h P fmnticr .

German iron s hield bosses from (A) Hamburg (B ) Gotland

(C) Gotland (D) Hamfelde (E) Vimose (F) Gotland

Gc rm a nicus, th e n eph ew of th e Emperor Tiberius,

condu cted a se ri es of short ca mpaig ns in Lower
Germ a ny, mak in g so m e a mends for th e d es tru c tio n
of the three-leg ion ga rriso n of th e area by paying
honour to them in th eir pl ace of d ea th . Th e
Emp ire was kept wit hin its fronti ers and stood on
th e d efensive in the north. Caligula's idiot
dreams o f co nqu es t in G er many ca m e a nd went
unt il ot her a nti cs too k his inte rest.

Durin g the civil wars of 68 to 6g A.D ., Galli c

trib es of th e north- east, with G erman a lli es,
d es troyed Roman forces on th e Rhin e and
a nnounced a n 'Empire of th e Gau ls'. R oma n
forces moved swiftl y to eradicate this G a lli c
e mpire. V espasian a nd his sons th e n clos ed th e
'Spangenhelm' composite helmets of the Migration period.
(Left ) Iron helmet of a Roman auxiliary soldier of the 3rd
century A.D., found in Holland. (Centre) Gothic helmet from
the bat tlefield ofTolbiacum, 5th century A.D .; the shell is of
iron, with decorative gilded copper skinning. (Right) Helmet
from a 6th century warrior's grave in Alsace - probably an
h eirloom of earlier date.

dangerous gap between the Rhine and D anube Sarmatians

with a deep defence sys tem . After Domitian had In th e vas t Ru ssia n steppe, a gro up of mounted
halted th e mig ra ting C hatti o n the middl e Rhin e, In do-Europeans, known as Ira nians, li ved a
during a seri es of bitterl y fought ca mpaigns in 83 high ly developed nom ad ic life. They had moved
and 88 A.D. , Upper a nd Lower Germany se ttled into areas vacated by those Indo-Euro pean s now
down to a period of qu iet, ab ly adm inistered by living in Europe. Som e had in vaded Indi a in
Trajan. Legions co uld now be transferred fro m about B.C. 1200, o th ers had founded the empires
the Rhin e to the D a nube. Eastern German tribes of the M edes a nd Persia ns. By abo u t th e 5th
began to at tract R oman military interest when th e century B.C., those still livin g on th e Eurasian
grea t M a rco mannic chi efta in , M a raboduu s, stepp e were the Scythians to th e wes t, with
created a large confed eracy of tribes, a fter hi s own Sarmatians to th e eas t of them a nd Sakas furth er to
peo ple, together with the Quadi , had dri ven th e th e east. Probably as a res ult of Chinese operations
Boii from Bo hemia . H e eve ntu a ll y esca ped to against no mad s o n their wes tern frontiers, the
sanctuary in R aven n a in 17 A.D. , when fell ow steppe was se t in motion . The Sarmatians moved
west and o blitera ted th e Scythians, whos e remGerma ns reac ted against his g rowing power.
Thracians
nants fled to the D a nube a nd C rim ea. By the
During the great mig ra tions of a n ea rli er period , middle of the 2nd century B.C. th e Sarmatians
In do-European groups of warriors a nd th eir beca m e known in Europe as the I azyges a nd
fam ilies moved into large areas of E uro pe. On e of R oxola ni , and those rema inin g to the eas t, the
these closely rela ted g roups occupi ed territory in Ala ns . It is believed that Sarmatian success
south-easte rn E urope a nd , eventu a lly, parts of th e agai nst th e Scythians was du e to th e creation of a
Near East a nd eas t- centra l Europe . Th ese were force of super-h eavy cavalry, both m a n a nd horse
the Thracians. In the 1st ce ntury th e Thracians of being compl etely armoured in so me of th e
so uthern E urope were se pa rated fro m th eir m ore form a tio ns. Th ese 'cata phracts' operated as a
northerly kin , th e D acia ns. The Thracians within shoc k force a longside th e traditional ho rse-archer
the R oman fronti er becam e famo us for their formations used by a ll mounted no m ads.
Ne ith er Thrac ia ns nor Sarmatians were
recruitm ent into th e R o ma n cavalry.
G er mans . Th e reasons fo r their m ention in thi s
small work are seve ra l. Th e D acia ns were a
German standards : (Left) from the tomb of A. Julius
Pompilius, the Aurelian general - possibly also a trumpet ? Thracian people, but D acia was occ upied a lso by
(Right ) a vexillum-type standard, from an Augustan coin
D aco-Germ a ns, a nd in the no rth-east by Celtoreverse.
D acia ns. The Sa rmatian R oxola ni becam e firm
a lli es of th e D acia ns, supplyin g them with th e o nl y
heavy cavalry fo rce in the D acia n ar my. With th e
destruction of D acia, R o m e brought her forces
into direct co ntac t with th e easte rn Germa n
tribes, an area which was, in due tim e, ove rrun by
th e German G epids. In 85 A.D. , D acia n forces
attac ked Rom a n d efences in Moesia, harryin g the
cou ntrysid e a nd killin g the Govern o r. Th e Emperor D omitian co mm a nd ed initia l operations to
clear Moesia of invad ers, but later passed control
of the operations to Cornelius Fuscus. The
campaig n was carri ed into easte rn D acia, but the
weig ht of D acia n numbers gradu a ll y drove th e
R oma n fo rces back, a nd , in a final battle, th ey
were wiped out , Fusc us suA'crin g th e fat e of his
army. R o ma n military hon o ur was restored to
some deg ree by th e battle of Tapae, in 8g A. D .,

where the Dacians were t horo ughl y beaten .

Decabalus, the KingofDacia, was forced to pay a n
an nual tribu te to R ome and to a llow R o ma n
arm ies passage thro ug h D acian territory. That
the Empero r did not recognise the victory as
conclusive is borne out by the fact that h e refused
the tit le of ' D ac icus' at this juncture.
In g8 A.D., the Emperor Trajan ca m e to
power. The situation he inh erited was one of
increas in g un ease abo ut the northern frontiers.
Rom e faced co nstant threat from German tribes
in the west; and the Dacians were expanding th eir
strongholds, it was believed, in readiness for
another attac k. D acia n culture at this time was far
in advance of that o f their fellow European
barbarians. I t was, in a ll recognisable aspects, an
embryo civili zation. Towns were beginning to
deve lop from the great defended stronghold s
call ed oppida, such as the capita l a tS a rmizeget husa.
Centres of importance were d efend ed by minor
oppida a nd ot her outposts. Trade was well
organized a nd encouraged; silve r a nd gold work ,
pottery, iron imple ments a nd weapons, o f extreme ly hig h qua lity , were produ ced for ho m e
consumption a nd ex port to the sophisti cated
Roman wo rld in the so uth . It was this n ascent
civilization w hi c h now attracted in creased Rom a n
mili tary interest.
In the winter of 1oo- 1o 1 A.D ., Trajan m assed
ten legions, vexill ations o f other legions, and huge
numbers of aux iliary troops of a ll kind s a t
Viminacium, a military base o n the so uth bank of
the D an ube. The R oman arm y of conqu est
crossed the D a nub e o n pontoon brid ges, into
Dacian territory, in the sprin g of 101 A.D. No
opposition was oA'ered unti l the army reached the
genera l area ofTapae, w here they were confro nted
by a large D ac ian force. The ensuin g bat tl e was
indecis ive. Th e D acia ns ret reated to the mountains,
killin g li vestoc k a nd burning crops to delay the
Roman advance. Afte r a further ad vance the
Roman forces settled into winter quarters. The
Dacians, togeth er with their Sarmatian a llies, the
Roxo la ni , mounted a n attac k in Lower Moesia
whic h was repu lsed by the R oma ns. During the
winter th e R omans occupied the mselves with
car rying out marvels of eng in eerin g.
l n the sp ring o f 10 2 A.D ., the R o man s a ttac ked
Sarm izege thu sa through the R ed Tower Pass.

Du ring th e whole of this period D acian emissaries

were sent to Trajan, who co nstantly refused them
a ud ie nce. Finall y receiving a deputation of
prominent nobles, he se nt them back with terms
which the Dacian king , D ecabalus, refused. After
a further major battle D ecaba lus surrend ered a nd
R oma n forces occupied th e D acia n capita l,
Sarmizegeth usa.
By I 05 the D acia ns had re-armed, ta kin g the
R oman garrison co mmander of Sarmizegethusa
hostage; he in turn, took the initi ative away from
th e Dacians b y swallowing poison . Once again the
Dacians ravaged the Roman provi nce of Moesia.
With g reat effort th e Romans re lieved the province
before winter closed in . In th e sprin g of I o6 the
Rom a ns mounted a two-pron ged assa ult o n
Sarmizegethusa, which they put to siege. Wh en a ll
seemed lost, some nobles too k poison ; others in cludin g D ecabalus- escaped . Those who Aed
were pursued ruth less ly; D ecaba lus was sur-

A ngons h ea vy Germanic javelins w ith iron h eads and s hanks;

l en gth , including woode n s haft, was probably about 210cm
(7ft). E xamples from (left to right) France, Germany, Aus tria
a nd E ngla nd. The d esign was, obvious ly, intended t o kill or
cripple efficiently ; the length oftlie iron s hank s ugges t s tliat
the angon w a s used in hand-to-hand combat, where there was
a danger of t he head b e ing lopped off. The s imilarity to the
classic Roman pilum rais e s tlie question of whether t h e angon
w as a l s o intended t o weigh down the ene m y's s h i eld w h en
t hrow n .

Examples ofthe f rnnrisra, the German throwing-axe, found in

northern France and dated to the 4th to 6th centuries A.D.

rou nded , but, befo re capture, too k hi s ow n life by

cutting hi s throat. After the reduction o f re m aini ng
pockets of res ista nce, la rge pa rts of D acia n
territory were a n nexed as a R oma n p rovin ce.
The Marcomannic Wars

By the m idd le of the 2nd ce ntu ry, press ure on

Rome 's no rth ern fro n tier was mo un tin g as the
numerica l increase amo ng Ge rm a n tri bes im pell ed
the ir leade rs to loo k fo r new grou nd. Goths a nd
other Germa n tri besme n bega n to move so uth- east
in a steady stream. T hi s moveme n t blosso med into
the Go thi c na ti on of so u thern Ru ss ia a nd th e
Gepid na ti on of th e Carpa thi a ns; the As tin gi
(Asding ) Vandals moved in to territory west o f th e
Roma n prov ince of D acia, formerly d om in a ted by
the Sarmati an I azyges . T he R o m a n mili ta ry
comma nd mus t have foll owed these d evelopments wit h forebod in g. To the north -wes t, the
R hine tribes were en tering into the sup er- tribe
status of pe r ma nent federa ti on . As ea rl y as th e 1st
cen tury A.D. pressu re was b uildin g on th e mid d le
Danube fro nti er ; R oma n st rong ho lds ha d ex isted
with D acian agree m ent in the a rea sin ce th e fi rs t
conquest of Dac ia in 1o6 A. D ., o n the left ba nk s of
the ri ve rs Da n ube, Marc h a nd T haya . During
the winter of 166 7, the Lo m ba rds, a wes t
German gro u p, crossed th e froze n Rhin e, carry in g
with them th e Lacring i, V icto fa li a nd U bii . T hey
were immed ia tely foll owed by a b rea kthro ug h of
Marcomann i, Q uad i a nd Sa rm atia n Tazyges in
the centra l D a nu be a rea. Fro m then o n a kind of
' blitz kri eg' , lau nched by a ba r ba ri a n co nspiracy,
suc ked in ever- in creas in g n u m bers o f ba rba ri a ns,

111 spi te of a Rom a n o ffensive in I 70, direc ted

against th e Qu adi in pa rti cul a r . Rom a n a rmi es
we re by-passed on th e left a nd right fl a nks, a nd
Greece was in vad ed . Ea rl y in I7I I taly too was
su bj ected to brief in vasion , whi ch was quickl y
nullifi ed b y R o m a n fo rces rushed from th e fronti er
areas. La ter in th e yea r M a rcus Aurelius rid the
Em pire ofin vad ers, a nd peace was nego ti a ted with
th e Qu adi a nd I azyges . In I 72 th e M a rco m a nni
were a ttac ked by R o m a n fo rces o n th e D a nube.
Th e Qu adi , breakin g th eir trea ty with R o m e,
assisted th eir Sue bia n kinsm en . After d efea tin g
th e M arco ma nni, M arc us turn ed to th e Qu adi ,
w ho we re a ttacked a nd d efea ted in 1 73 Th e
Qu a di then m a d e peace. In 1 74, R o m a n troo ps
attac ked th e I azyges, w here upon th e Qua di b ro ke
th eir trea ty once mo re. T he wa r continu ed into
175, until a n a rmistice was d ecla red in th e summ er
of tha t yea r.
During these vicious wars, serious wea kn esses in
th e d efences ofth e north were ex posed . Th e Empire
had bee n in vad ed a nd d evas ta ted . Th e co nsta nt
fi g htin g ha d m ad e ex trem ely heavy d em a nd s o n
th e a rmy a t a ll levels, a nd , at on e point, th e
glad iato ri a l sc hools were empti ed in a d es pera te
expe ri me nt. Th e stru gg le with R o m e during the
M a rcom a nni c wa rs ha d bro ught fa r-reac hin g
cha nges to th e G erm a ni c peopl es, a nd crea ted in
th em a n eage rn ess to la un ch mo re assa ults o n th e
co loss us in th e so uth . Si x tee n o f R o me's 33 legions
ma nn ed the north ern fronti er, toge th e r with la rge
nu m bers o f a uxili a ry troo ps, a t the end o f th e
M a rco ma nni c wa rs- a n end whi ch p roved to be
o nl y a beginning fo r th e G erm a ns.
T he tribes mos t closel y in volved in th ese wa rs,

the Marcomanni a nd Quadi , were Germans belongin g to th e Suebia n gro up of tribes . These
Germans had become relativel y civilize d a ft er a
long period ofco ntac t with Noricum a nd P a nnonia .
T heir close kn ow ledge of the operationa l syste m
and eage r acq ui sitio n of the technology of th e
Roma n army made these tribes formid a ble
opponents.
The Goths
From their geog ra phical positiOn the Goths, th e
most powerfu l Germanic group , see m to have
bee n th e las t of that fa mily to se ttle in Europe.
They occupied territory in Scandinavia a nd what
is now nor th ern Prussia, und er various nam es
given th em by classical writers, such as Gothon es
and Guttones, Gothini and Getae (Caudae ).
T heir ow n na m e for themselves appears to h ave
been th e Gutthinda. To return mom enta ri ly to th e
Dacian wars: a st ron g compon ent of the D ac ian
arm y (including the Celtic Bastarn ae and t he
Germans), rather than submit to Traj a n , had
withdrawn . They had dispersed or bee n absorbed,
probably by other tribes or even b y th e Goths
during their movements south at a la ter date.
From th e latter yea rs of th e second century A .D .,
the Got hs were in possession of la rge tracts of
country nort h of the Danube, on th e coas t of th e
Euxin e as far eas t as the Tauric Chersonese or
Crim ea, deep in territory once belonging to the
Sarmatian Roxola ni , from whom they learn ed the
use of heavy cavalry, th e kontos (a la rge, heavy
lance), a nd the stirrup .
These shoc k troo ps, heavy ca taphrac t cavalry,
were not co mpletely new. Cataphracts ha d bee n
in existence amo ng Ira nian nom ad s for ce nturi es.
Th e Sarmatians ha d perfec ted th eir use, whi ch
had enab led th em to defeat the Royal Scythians
and move into control of th eir territory. The Goths
see m to have ove rthrown th e Sarmatians by th eir
ferocity in battle , probably ha mst ringing th e
horses (a Ger ma n tactic ) . Thus, equipped with a
heavy cavalry fo rce to support th e masses of
traditiona l infa ntry, they faced th e Roman army
of the 3rd ce ntury, which was now co mposed
largely of Germa ns, lll yrians a nd North Africans.
In th e mid -3rd ce ntur y Goths broke into th e
Balkans , killin g th e Emperor D ec ius (Hostilianus ).
This was fo llowed, in 256, by a cave-in of th e Rhin e
fronti er . Gaul was overrun by th e Fra nks and

R e cons truction of a guards man of the Germani Corporis Custndes,

in p a lace duty dress. These were picked m en who form e d a
personal bodyguard for the emperors from the time of
Au g u s tus until about 70 A.D., and again f rom t h e early 3rd
century onwa rds . They were often u s ed to counter t h e
a mbitions of the Praetorian Guard.

Alemanni, so m e of th em reaching Spain and

Ita ly. The Goths, after exhausting the Balka ns,
also spread intoAnatolia . Their stay in the Ba lka ns
was ma rked by consta nt defeats by R o man fo rces
led by the Ill yrian Emperors .
In 275 A .D . R om e formall y abandon ed Dacia,
which was p romptly occupied by the Gepids a nd

Mainly at th e ex pense of Slavonic tribes, the

great Gothic lead er Ermanarich directed a rapid
expansi on of his Ostrogoths - the eas tern Goths
into the Baltic and across the Don , occupying the
little Roman protectorate of the Bosporan kingdom . The assassination of E rm a narich brought
distrac ting confusion to the Ostrogoths at a
perilous time. In 370 A .D . rumours were reac hing
them from their eastern outposts that a peopl e of
unu sually ugly appearance were moving wes t
across the steppe. Ostrogothic expansion in th e
eas t had brought them into co ntact with tru e
nomadi c peoples, 'Iranians and Finns. In th e eas t
they had adopted the nomadic way of life. I t was
possibly this eastern expansion under Ermanarich
which had triggered the avalanche of Huns and
Sarmatian Alans , which now head ed their way.
The Huns, a Turco-Mongol people , had
d eve loped a large, powerful , co mposite bow , an
improv ed version of the traditional weapon used
by the nomadic horse-archer. With this they had
Two iron ji-nncisws recovered in England. (British Museum)
been able to penetrate the armour worn by Chinese
soldiers, thus nullifying th e worst e flec ts of th e
the wes tern branch of the num erou s Goths, known forward policy of Chinese military authorities,
as the Visigoths. On the Rhin e, the a ngl e form ed which had set them in motion towards th e W est.
by the Danube in the Bl ac k Forest region was a lso The use of this bow had also bee n instrumental in
\acated by R ome a nd occupied by th e Alemanni. their defea t ofl rani an nomads , th e most westerly
R oman troops of the 4th century were finding it of whom were the Alans. Here again, Hunnish
no easy matter to defeat a German tribe. Imperial arrows were able to penetrate armour worn by
troops lac ked the con fid ence a nd homogeneity of Iranian ca taphracts. Th e Huns, however, saw th e
earlier centuries. Consequently they needed more value of using these large numbers of heavy
carefu l handling in the field. The Germans, by cavalrymen to subsidise their own small forc e of
contrast, were orga ni sin g themselves into sup er- armoured horsemen. Th e Goths who now stood in
trib es. New co nfederac ies were now esta blish ed: their path had an army consisting of vast numbers
the Saxons in th e north , Burg undians so uth of of lightly armed bowmen and cavalry, some of
them, Franks north of the Main and the Alemanni whom wou ld be armed in Sarmatian fashion. The
to their sout h . La rge formation s of the Roman Ostrogothic arm ies were sent reeling in a southarmy were made up of Franks , Alemanni, Goths, weste rly direc tion , their empire destroyed. Th e
Vandals, H eruli , Quadi, M a rco manni and Sar- Visigo ths fared no better. Th e Gepids beca me
matian Alans. Germans now officered many units , Hunnish vassals on the Hungarian steppe. Visisome individu a ls rising to the hi ghest rank s in th e goths, Ostrogoths and Astingi Vandals asked for
Imperia l army. Deserted areas around th e fron- sanctuary within the Roman Empi re, and were
tiers were resettled with ex-prisoners of war from a ll otted terri tory a long th e Danube by theE m peror
German tribes. More importantly from a military Val ens . This immense and voracious host crossed
point of view , German tribes were allowed to into Roman territory and passed straight into th e
se ttle by treaty , under their ow n chi efta ins, as toil s of co rrupt prefec ts and merchants , who
federates' , in return lor military se rvi ce. By way
or ex tensio n of thi s policy , clever diplomacy was Fourteen spearheads, a sword, three iron bosses and an iron
.francisco head recovered at Croydon, Surrey. (British Museum )
condu cted beyond the frontiers.

disarmed them , a nd charged exorbita nt prices

for bad grain a nd rottin g meat. As money ran out,
slaves were ta ken in payment for the dog-mea t
now offered. Got hi c patience ran o ut and, after
breaking into R o ma n a rse nals to regain th eir
weapons, they mad e a lli a nce with th e remaining
free Alans a nd invaded Thrace . They were m et at
Adria nop le by the Emperor Valens a nd the army
of the Eastern Empire.
Visigothic a nd Ostrogothic in fan try were in
laager behind their wagons and the Ostrogothic
cavalry were in the co untry foraging when th e
R omans deployed a nd bega n th e attack on th e
laager. At this point, the O strogothi c cavalry
appea red back from foraging a nd charged the
right wing of the R o ma ns, wh ereupon th e Gothic
infantry left th e laage r a nd attacked and broke th e
R oman cavalry. Th e R oman infa ntry were th en
The Roman Empire on the eve of the great Germanic
Migrations, in about 395 A.D.

systematically d estroyed. Wh en night fell th e

remnants were a ble to escape . The ca tastrop he at
Adrianople in 378 A .D. was the worst d efeat for
th e Roman army sin ce R epublica n tim es. Among
th e dead were th e Emperor of the Eastern Empire,
V alens, th e Grand M as ter of Cavalry, th e Grand
Master of Infantry, th e Count of th e Pa lace, 35
co mmand ers of different corps, a nd n ea rl y the
whole of th e Roman a rmy of the east - estim ated
at 40 , 000 d ea ths.
Six years after Adrianopl e, Goths, Vandals and
other Germans, numb ering abo ut the same as those
lost in th e disaster , were enlisted und er th eir own
chieftains as cavalrym en in th e army of the East.
Meanwhile the Visigoths, frustrated b y their
in a bility to take wall ed towns, were enco uraged to
quieten down in 382. Th ey beca m e unsettled
again in 396, and were persuaded to reset tl e in
north-wes t Greece. In 402 - 3 they invad ed Ita ly,
only to be promptly d efeated by th e army of the

West, co mm a nd ed by th e Romano- V a nd a l
ge neral, Sti li cho. Tn 405 Stilicho d efea ted a mixed
army of Ostrogoths. Quadi a nd Astingi Vandals
with a n a rm y which ha d to be reinforced from
units ma nning th e fronti er on the Rhin e, from
Bavaria a nd Britain . On th e last day of 406
anot her coalitio n - of Marcomanni, Qu adi ,
Astingi a nd Si ling Vandals - crossed th e fro ze n
Rhin e into Gau l, accompanied by a clan of
dispossessed Sarmatian Al a ns. Gau l was d efenceless a nd th ey ha rri ed fa r a nd wide. After three
yea rs th ey were a ll owed to cross th e Pyrenees into
Spain , where th ey settled on th e Atlantic sea board.
Angles, Saxons and Jutes
German warriors were used ex tensively in d efence
of th e Empire, a nd Britain was n o exce ption .
Batavian , Frisian , Fra nkish a nd Saxon soldiers
were used in Brita in from th e 2nd ce ntury , a
trad itio n whi c h th e Romano-British continu ed .
In the 3rd a nd 4th ce nturi es a cha in of forts were
bu ilt around the coas ta l areas , ha rri ed by Saxon
raiders , these forts being m a nn ed b y a special force
under the com m a nd of th e 'Count of th e Saxon
Shore'. Archaeological ev id ence from areas previously we ll po pula ted in north G ermany ,
Denm a rk a nd th e orth Sea coas t shows that soo n
after 400 A.D. a n ex tensive mig ration had taken
place, a nd contin enta l se ttl ement sites were
aband oned . No ev id ence of vi ll ages built after th e
4th century ex ists in so m e coas ta l areas . Cremation
sites used for 300 yea rs show very limited usc; th ey
contain only a few late 5th-century urns. In
Danish bogs, votive d eposits stop abruptly. In 410
the Saxons attacked Britain in earn es t.
At so m e stage in Saxo n involv em ent with
Britai n the d ecisio n was tak en - togeth er with
Angles , Frisia ns, Jutes, and a small numb er of
Franks a nd Slavo ni c W ends - to migrate into the
ri ch fa rmland s of so uth ern Britain. Merce naries
and pirates, fi sherm en a nd fa rm ers brought th eir
families ove r fo r perman ent se ttl em ent. Roman
troo ps had bee n withdra wn to reinforce th e Rhin e
armi es fi ghtin g d es pera tely to hold the collapsing
northern fro nti er ; a nd th e Romanized British
were adv ised , in a letter from th e Emperor
Honorius, to o rga ni ze th emse lves in a programm e
of self-h elp , offe rin g freedom to slaves who
responded to th e call. Th e Romano-British did
ind eed organise, in an adm irab le way , in sharp

contrast to th e response in Gaul , which was

subjugated within 50 years by th e Franks. The
numbers of barbarians involved may have bee n
greater than those of the Anglo-Saxons , but
British resistance was more stubborn . Some
R omano-Britons escaped from th e so uth-west,
The hilt of an Anglo-Saxon ring-sword of about the 6th
century A.D., found at King's Field, Faversharn, Kent.
(British Museurn)

settling on the Brest Peninsul a, w here they became w ho moved into R o m a n land a ro und Ge neva as
know n as Bretons. R esistance to the Saxo ns was so foederates (settled allies ).
determined in the 6t h cen tu ry th a t man y Ge r man
I n 45I Attil a led a n a rm y com posed of Huns,
migrants ret urn ed to their ho mela nd s o r settled Alans, Goths a nd o th er Germa ns in to Ga ul. In a n
in nort h-wes tern Ga ul , by co urtesy o f th e F ranks 1. in conclusive ba ttl e a t Campus Mauri ac us a
In the mid-6t h century the A nglo-Saxo n a d va nce mi xed a rm y o f R o m a ns, Burgundia ns, Sali a n
began again , in to Wiltshire a nd towa rds the rich F ran ks a nd Visigo th s checked him . Th e followin g
prizes of D evo n a nd Som erse t, th e best fa rmla nd year the Huns ra id ed Italy, but were bo ug ht off.
in Bri tain . T hi s was th e fin al phase ofth e perm a nent Attil a died in Hungary in 453 Afte r his d ea th th e
Ger manising o f a la rge pa rt of th e British m ain- Hunnish Empire split into disunited gro ups led b y
land. As in other parts o f R om a n E u ro pe p re- th e dead Kh a n's sons. Th eir G erm a n subj ec ts
vio usly, the citi es we re g ra du all y d epo pula ted d estroyed th e Huns in a ba ttl e fo ug ht a t Ned ao in
unti l onl y sq uatters occ upi ed sm a ll precin cts. T o D acia; th e remn a nts were absorbed by th e R o m a n
the German wa rrior-fa rm ers, citi es meant no thing a rm y a nd b y o th er no ma d s on th e step pe.
except as places o f wo nd er , built b y gia nts.
Whil e th e R om a ns a nd o th er G erma n tribes
Stili cho, the R omano-Va nd a l, ha d excited th e were occupi ed with th e Huns, th e Astingi V a nd a ls
distrust of the E mpero r H onoriu s beca use of his in vaded No rth Afri ca from Spain in 428 , wh ere
va ul tin g am bition , a nd was consequ entl y mur- they took ove r th e best provin ces a nd , und e r Kin g
dered. O nce removed , Stilicho could no t ba rgain G a ise ri c, buil t a V a nd a l Aee t whi ch turn ed to
with the Ge rm a n lead ers. Ala ric, kin g of th e piracy. In a bo ut 470 th e Visigo th s d esce nd ed in to
Visigot hs, prcse n ted hi s d em a nd s fo r land subsidies Spa in , beco ming its rulin g cas te, w hil e still
and mili tar y co mm a nd a t th e ga tes of R o me. The holding terri to ries in G a ul.
R oma n a uthori ti es, now safely resid ent in De-Gerrnanising the Eastern Arrny
R avenn a , refused hi s req uests: thi s led to a n im- Th e Empero r o f th e Eas t, Z eno (457- 474 ) , used
mediate b ut ha lf- hear ted sac k o f th e city. Th e ! sau ria ns (se mi-civilised A na to lia n mo unt a in ee rs)
po li tica l effec t, however, was d evastating. R o ma n in th e I m peri a l Gu a rd , a nd form ed new regimen ts
prestige plum meted . Th e Visigo th s ma rched of ! sa urians a nd Arm eni a ns. H e also indu ced th e
away to the so uth with so m e id ea of crossing to G o th s re m aining in th e eas tern Empire to mig rate
No r th Afri ca, w here they could control R om a n to I taly, ena bling him to leave his successo r a n
corn-l ands . In so uth ern Ita ly, Al a ri c di ed , thus a r my purged of tru culent G erm a ns.
O n e o f th e fin a l m oves whi ch mu st be m entioned
enablin g un d ivid ed R o m a n a t tentio n to be
directed north wa rd ove r th e Alps. Th e Visigo ths before closin g this survey is th a t o f th e Fra nks,
were fi nall y led out o f Ita ly b y Al a ri c's bro ther who moved into north ern G a ul in 486 , expa nd ing
Atha ul f, to th e Rhin ela nd , w here th ey assisted into Al em a nni c a nd Visigo thic territor y led by
R oma n fo rces in th e pacifi catio n o f th a t a rea. In th eir king, C lovis, w ho di ed in 5 I I A .D .
Whil e th e G o th s climbed to th e ze nith o f
4 14 they tre kked into Spa in , wh ere, by 4 16, they
had exte rmin a ted the Siling V a nd a ls a nd Al a ns. powe r und er their kin g Th eodo ri c the G rea t
T he Asting i V a nd a ls a nd Sue bi a n G erm a ns were (45 1- 526), th e Ger ma n tribes in vo lved in th e
saved by R oman interve nti on . Th e Visigo ths great m ig ra tio ns se ttled d own a mo ng th eir
accepte d ex tensive la nd s in so uth ern Ga ul , north R o m a nised subj ec ts. Th e last m ove was m a d e in the
6 th centu ry b y th e L o mbard s, who, to avoid
of the Pyre nees.
The Empire of Attila
no ma dic press ure, m oved wes t. In 568 th ey
By the 5th cen tury the Huns controlled a vas t a rea se ttled in th e Po V all ey a nd so m e la nd s to the
ofGerma n ter rito ry a nd pas ture, once belo nging so u th . Th e nex t o ut-po urin g o f Ge rm a ni c peop les
to I rani a n no mad s, stre tchin g bac k to th e bega n in th e 8t h ce ntury, wh en th ey we re kn ow n
Caspian . In 436 they a ttac ked th e Burg undia ns, as V ikin gs, Ru s, V a ra ngia ns a nd No rm a ns.
1

Accordin g to th e tantali singly fragmentary a ccou n ts, this rollin g

bac k oft he G e rmani c in vas ion was th e work of the legen dary Arth ur.

The German ic conquest of t he W estern Roman Empire :

Europe in a bout 476 A.D.

1--0
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Africa

Arabs

ThePlates

in northern bogs suggest stu rd y, long-wearin g

m ate rials , so m etimes with a nim al ha ir wov en into
th e textile for added strength ; but though 'coa rse'
in the sens e of ' hairy' , these fragm ents are by no
m eans crud ely m a d e. Th e cloth is of a range of
weights roughly co mpa rable to , say, a ligh t
m ode rn ove rcoa t, or a heavy tweed . (It is
interesting to note that modern exp erim ents show
th e wool of und ernourished highla nd shee p to be
fin er th a n th at o f fa ttened low la nd Aocks. ) W e
have evid ence of simple but pleasin g d eco rative
bo rders. Th e written d esc ription s of ch ec kered
pa ttern s and stripes are supported b y surviving
exa mpl es of sm all , co mpl ex, n ea tly-work ed ' tarta ns' . On e such is th e wo man 's rob e from Huldre
F en, a nd th e associated scarf ; the robe is cut to
fa ll in ge nerou s a nd graceful fold s, a nd is fin ely
sewn. Th e vege ta ble d yes used a t this tim e proba bl y
gave q uit e brig ht colo urs when new , fading
g radually with age into a subtl e ra nge of muted
shades.
While th e m a teri als a nd workman ship of
clothing, armour a nd weapons doubtl ess varied
from region to region a nd from genera ti o n to
gene ra tion , we should also remember that th ere
were no rigid cultural frontiers in th ose d ays. Th e
borders of th e Empire were Aexible, a nd porous ;
and a co nsid era ble tra d e be twee n th e M editerranean world and th e unpacifi ed north a nd
east of Europe co ntinu ed throughout our period.
Once th e g rea t migrations go t und er way , th e
mi x ture of styl es to be see n in a n y o ne a rea or
a mo ng any one tribal confed eration mu st presum a bly have g rown even more lib eral.

l n sp it e of 50 yea rs of a rchaeo logical activity in the

area inh ab ited by th e Germanic tribes, much remains unknow n or - in excusab ly - unpublished.
These co lour plates cann o t, realisticall y, be
consid ered in th e sa m e lig ht as paintings d epicting
later peri ods for which we have generous pictori a l
references. Th e survivin g a rtefac ts, a nd genuinely
co ntem po rary pictoria l so urces such as Rom a n
triumph a l sc ulpture, a re too few ; their interpreta tion into a n integra ted overall schem e is too
problema ti cal. I evert heless, as th e bod y of th e
text has show n , we do have more evid ence th a n
might be supposed. W e beli eve that th ese platesbased upon th e careful sketches prepared by th e
a uthor in th e co urs e of ex tensive resea rch ac hi eve a reaso nab le reco nstru ction of the a ppeara nce a nd character of th ese m agnifi ce nt ' barbarians'.
On e genera l th o ug ht should perhaps be reco rd ed. In discussin g the clothing of this period
one often enco unters phrases suc h as 'coa rsely
woven' o r 'ro ughly mad e' - a nd th ese m ay be
seriously mi sleading . Ce rta inl y, R o man writers
make a point of th e m ateria l pove rty o f so m e
German tri bes ; but th e subj ec t a nd the tim e-scale
a re vast, and it is dangerous to generalise from th e
particular. W e sho uld be on g uard against th at
ge nera l historical prejudice which inclines us to
think of earli er peo pl es as, b y d efinition , 'c rud er'
tha n o urselves . Their surviving a rtefa cts completely disprove this , time a nd tim e again. In
societies whose eve ry nee d was supplied by skilled
ha ndicrafts , a mas tery o f tools, m a terials and A : Early German warriors, 1st century B .C.- 1st
techniqu es was oft en a lli ed with a highly a rtistic
centwy A .D .
instin ct. Th e survivin g Celti c weapons a nd Th e rid er AI is mounted on a tough but probably
a rmour from ea rl y in our period were mad e by poor-qu a lity pony ; we m ay infer thi s from th e fact
sm iths w ho ha d nothin g wh a tever to lea rn from th at th e Romans, who used horse m en lik e this
us; why should no t th e sa m e b e tru e of th eir exte nsively, gave th em bette r horses before
wome nfolk, w ho d oubtl ess passed the skills of trai ning th em to operate in form a tion. His
spinning a nd weaving d ow n fro m moth er to harness is rudim enta ry , with few metal fittings ;
daughter as a n impo rta nt ele ment in th eir socia l th e 'saddle ' is a fold ed bla nke t held by a sturdy
ro le? Wh y sho uld we ass um e, in o ur botto ml ess leather cin ch . His frin ged cloa k, tunic a nd lon g
a rrogan ce, that the peoples o f Iron Age Europe tro use rs, ti ed at th e a nkle, a re all o f wool. His
were a n y less co mpetent at th e d ail y tas ks of th eir shield is of wood covered with lea th er , with thin
bronz e ed ging a nd an iron boss, held by a ce ntra l
wo rld than we a re a t o urs?
A few precio us find s o f fabric clothing prese rved g ri p across th e insid e o f th e boss . Armam ent is

limited to a lig ht spea r- fra mea - two shorter

javelins, a nd a bronze belt-knife.
A2 and A3 belong to one of the extensive gro up
of Suebic tribes; th eir ha ir is dresse d in th e style
known as th e 'S uebian knot', which involved
either drawing it up into a top-knot , or drawing it
over to the right a nd knotting it above the temple.
A2 has a C elti c-type shi eld, whose metal boss was
used offe nsive ly in co m bat. H e is ar m ed with a la te
Celtic swo rd of L a Ten e design , and a dagger ; in
battle he would carry seve ra l j avelins, as does
A3. This younger wa rrior, dressed only in a
breech-clout of nat ura l wool, carri es an oval
Celtic shi eld wit h a prominent central rib swelling
into a boss; he might be armed with a knife in
add ition to his javelins.
B: Dacians, 2nd century A. D .
The chi efta in , B1 , wears a bronze helm et of
Phrygian type , a corsel et of iron ' leaf' -scale
armour , a nd a black woo l tun ic and trousers
decorated with red a nd w hite embroidery at hem s
and lower legs. Th e wool cloak, in a simple
'tartan' pattern, would proba bly be di scarded
before ba ttl e; plain colours, or a ' herringbone
tweed' text ure are a lso possible. D acia n shield s
shown on Traj a n's Column a re oval in sha pe, and
those sculpted o n th e base o f th e column show how
large and how ri chl y d ecorated th ey were . A
shield found a t Pietra-Rosie in R om a nia , at
present unpublished , b ea rs plant motifs , a nd the
likeness of a boar in th e centre. V a rieties ofDacian
shields may be present o n th e triumphal relief
from Trajan 's Forum , now to be see n on th e Arch
of Constan tin e: one borne by a dismo unted
Prae torian trooper is ob long, with Aoral d ecoration, a nd a hexagonal typ e d eco rated with
four Celtic carn yx trumpets a nd torqu es is seen
carried by a D acian .
Th e di smounted D acia n horsema n, B2 , wears a
fri nged cloak held by a silver ring-brooch , and
natural-colo ured linen tunic a nd trousers d ecorated at hem , cuffs a nd lower leg with red and
black embroid ery . His weapons are a seve n-foot
spear, and a lo ng bronze La Tene sword supported
by a waist belt with add ed bronze plates: such
wea pons were probably still bein g produced in
eas tern E urope by Celti c smith s. His horse would
be of better qu a lity th a n the pon y of fi g ure AI .

Two iron spearheads and an angon-head, found at Astwick,

Bedfordshire. (British Museum)

The D acia n triba l warrior, B3 , wears crea mcoloured trousers , sometimes d eco ra ted with
band s of black embroidered patterns. Th e twohand ed weapon is th e murd ero us falx , an iron
battle-scythe with th e cutting edge on th e insid e
of the curve; th e falx , a nd th e similar but onehand ed sica, were th e ethni c weapons of the
Thracian p eoples in general, and were used by
part of the infantry of all Thracia n groups.
C: T he Marcomanni and Quadi, 1st- 2nd centuries A.D.
These fi g ures represent th e most politica ll y
advanced a nd cohesive group of Germanic tribes
of the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D. They lived in
close co ntac t with th e Roman Empire and were,
in conseq uen ce, exposed to strong M editerra nea n
influ ences. Th e chieftain , C2, wears a bron ze
helm et which appears in reasonable d etail on th e
sc ulpted sarcophagu s of a late Antonin e ge neral
now in the Museo Nazionale dell e T erm e, R o m e.
W e show it here as a Roman cavalry ba ttl e helm e t
mounted with a fabulou s beast head to suit

taken from a find in Fraee r F en , Jutl a nd - th ey

were mad e of two thicknesses, th e fur on the insid e
of th e inner Ia yer and the outside of th e outer
laye r. In th e background is a draco sta nd a rd , a
hollow bronze beas t head with an attached 'windsock' of coloured fabri c.
D : Gothic heavy cavah)lman and irifantryman, 4th
century A .D .
A richly-decorated iron spearh ead with bronze inlay,
recovered at Great Chesterfield. (Britis h Museum)

In battle th e horseman, D1 , would hav e ca rri ed a

long spear and a number of shorter javelins in
addition to hi s lon g, ' Sarmati a n ' swo rd. His
helm et, oflate Rom an cavalry type, is of iron with
copper-gilt skinning; his mail co rselet is of gilded
iron, a nd hi s cloak is fast ened with an iron and
gilt bow-brooch. The hems and cuffs of clothing
were often d eco rated with fur trim or em broidery;
lin en tunics were sometimes pa ttern ed on uppe r
arm, nec k and skirt. Th e round , sli ghtly concave
shield has a R oman iron boss. His mount, of about
16 ha nds , has iron and bronze harn ess fittin gs, a nd
th e saddle-arches a re cove red with stamped
bronze plates , found in many Gothic burials. Th e
in fa ntry man , D2, wea rs two tuni cs , th e upper o ne
trimm ed with fur ; embroid ery or app li ed cloth
shapes may so metim es hav e bee n seen , in bands,
simpl e geometric motifs , or 'daggin g' , to jud ge
fro m Rom a n miniatures of th e period wh ich a re
tho ught to show Gothi c influ ence. Shi eld s also
bore geometri c shapes in primary colours. (Note
th a t on this and some oth er plates we have
d eliberate ly brought suc h ite ms as swords aro und
to a slightly un co nvin cin g angle in ord er to a llow
more visibl e d etail. )

barbarian taste; it m ay, in fact, have been a

cavalry spo rts helm et of a pa ttern normall y
eq uipped with a trilob a te face mask , which has
been remov ed . His m a il corselet is of iron, and
may have been of nativ e manufac ture; th e
possibility of co ntinuin g manu fac ture of weaponry
by Celtic craftsmen in the barbaricum is a distin ct
a nd a ttractiv e one. Th e oval shield has a n ind ent
top and bottom; this pattern, a nd a dilobate type,
seem to be pec ulia r to th ese Su ebian G ermans , but
they a lso used th e mo re co mmon hexagonal and
round pa tterns. Th e swo rd is of Roman origin ,
a nd has a n eagle- head ed pommel - th ere was a
consid era bl e trad e in Empire-made weapon s
across the fronti ers.
The upper-class wa rrior , C3, wears two wooll en
tunics, and th e usual lo ng trousers . Th e short
sleeves of th e outer tunic may have bee n 'notc hed '
part way up from th e hem , ce ntrally : this featur e
is see n in sc ulptures on th e sa rco phagus of a R oman
general who fou g ht th ese trib es on th e middl e
D a nub e. The hair is a rran ge d in the ' Su ebian knot ',
draw n over to th e ri g ht templ e. His weapons are
a nativ e swo rd on a lea th er ba ldric, and a battl e- E : Gothic types , 4th centu ry A .D.
axe . Both C2 a nd C3 would have fought either Th e foot-soldiers , E1 a nd E3, wea r a variety of
styles of woollen and lin en clothing. Som e
mounted or on foot , as circum stances dictated.
C1 is an o rdinary Su ebi a n tribal warrior, dressed probably wore tunics ri chly bord ered with brocad e
in rough woo ll en ma terial with a warm j erkin of or fur. This nomadi c warrior people overran
fur or fl eece. H e carri es a javelin , a sax, and a enemi es of many groups - Slavonic, Sarmatian,
shield of a n old pattern , a nd wears amber and R o man - and may be presumed to have profited
meersc ha um bead s in a doubl e row a t the neck. by their success. Some tattooing of face , arms and
The cross-ga rtering on th e legs cannot be ches t is possible . W ea pons ranged from bun ches of
a bsolutely d a ted to this ear ly period ; but severa l javelins, and longer spea rs, through saxes, long
well-p reserved co rpses datin g from th e Celtic a nd swo rd s and battleaxes , to bows. Th e bow illustra ted
R o ma n 1ron Ages, recove red from north ern is a bout 168cm long, with bronze ' nocks' ; th e
Europea n bogs, appear to wear this style - e.g . th e arrows were about gocm long, and som e were
R end swi.ihrer F en find of 1871 . Th e fur shoes are tipped with armour-pi ercin g piles. Shi elds were

round or ova l, with iro n bosses, and some probably

bore geometric patterns. The un armou red trooper,
E2, carries a spear a nd a number ofjavelins a nd a
long single-edged sword. R oman miniatures of th e
period suggest the 'dagged ' tunic deco ration .
The oval shield , about 2ft 6ins by 3ft long, has a
central arm -loop a nd a grip near the rim. Note
particu larly the wooden stirrups.

F: Frankish warriors , 5th century A.D.

Weapons parti cularly associated with the Franks
were a javelin with a long iro n sha nk , called a n
angon and probably derived from the Rom a n
pilum; and the throwing-axe - Jrancisca - wit h a
sharply swept head . The shi elds have prominent
bosses, either poi nted, domed , or domed with a
central 'bu tton'. Note the characteristic hairstyle,
with side-braids, top-knot , and the rear of the skull
shaved . The writings of Sidonius Apollinaris, a
5th-century Ga llo-R o m a n eyewitn ess to the
Frankis h in vas ion of Gaul , m enti o n tunics d yed
and striped in bright colo urs, a nd fur belts with
inset bosses. H e a lso mentions green cloaks
bordered in red; but the scarcity of brooches in
grave-finds m ig ht suggest that cloa ks were not
very co mmon. Franks a nd Gaul s enj oyed close
contact for some time prior to the st h ce ntury
invasions, and it is believed that Franks would
have disp layed so m e Gallic influ ence in their
clothing.

enclosed some kind of padded cap. The gaps in th e

frame are filled in with plates of split horn , giving a
milky greenish-grey a ppearance; the helmet is held
together with horn-and-hoof glue, a nd silver
rivets in a disc-and-double-axe shape. A small
silver cross or 'Thor's hamme r' is mo un ted o n the
noseguard; and just forward of the apex of the skull
is a sm a ll boar, decorated with four rows of gold
beads a nd with a silver 'spat' on eac h quarter,
mou nted on a curved plate a nd riveted to the
central iron band. The m a il shirt is show n with
traces of rust after a voyage - the chi ef's slave
would doubtless sp end many hou rs polishing it
a nd greasin g it with animal fat ! The richlyd ecorated swo rd ha ngs from a baldric fastened by
a n orn ate bronze buckle; in bat tl e the warrior
would a lso carry sp ears. The conical boss of the
bu ckl er was used offensively. The woollen clothin g
was often decorated a t hem and cu fls.
The better-eq uipp ed warrior, G2 , is a member
of the chi efta in 's war-band . Apart from hi s
angon he would carry a Jrancisca a nd a short,
single-edged sword or long knife - the sax . His
large oval shield has a bun-shaped iron boss . H e
wears a 'Thor's ha mm er' charm on a nec k-th ong;
a nd his clo thing is of better quality than that of
G2 , who is an ordinary warrior/farmer, dressed in
simple ho mespun woollens. H e would normally
enter battle armed with a spear as well as this o nehan d ed battleaxe, and with a belt-knife.

G: ' Anglo-Saxons', 5th centwy A.D.

The so-call ed 'A nglo-Saxon ' raiders a nd invaders
ofBritain in th e 4th a nd 5th ce n turies we re not a ll
Angles, Saxons and Jutes. The incoming western
Germans were a lso represented by Frisians,
Franks, a nd probably Alemanni; there were also a
number of Wends, a Slavonic peop le. These
fig ures arc representative of three socia l divisions
which were ev id ent even as earl y as the writings of
Tacitus in th e 1st(2nd centuri es. The chi efta in ,
G1 , is shown wearin g a helm et from a later period
of Saxon history - the Benty Grange find , d ated
to the 7th ccn tury, 200 years after the settleme nt of
easte rn Britain. It is based upo n the so-called
spangenlzeLm, however, a nd this type of composite
co nstruction was used in Europe from the 3rd
right up to th e 12t h ce ntury , so its appeara nce
here is not anoma lo us. Its iron frame o ri g ina il y

H: German soLdiers of the ImperiaL Roman Army,

4th- 5 th centuries A.D.
H I a nd HJ a re representa tive of th e elite German
regiments kn ow n as AuxiLia PaLatina (Pa lace
Auxiliaries ), ra ised by Constantine the Great;
H 2 is a g uardsm a n of the Emperor's German
bodyguard - Germani Corporis Custodes - and is
dressed for pa lace duty . In ge nera l clothing of the
period seem s to have been well d eco rated;
civi li an fashion insid e the Empire had foll owed
the barbarian taste for decorative em broidery
a nd appliqu e-work , a nd evid ence for hig hl y
deco rative military clothing may b e found o n late
R oman mosaics, bas-reliefs, plates a nd manuscripts. Leather belts with ornate iron fittings
su ppo r t lo ng swo rd s which invite compa rison
with both a ncient Celtic styles a nd with the
R oman cavalry spatha - with the d ecl in e in the

importance of infantry, the old legiona ry gladius

had appare ntl y given place to this type of
weapon. The large oval shield s seem sometimes to
have had short, Righted javelins abo ut gocm long,
with a n oval lead weight on the shaft, clipped to
the inner su rface in some way.

Glossary
Alemanni

Alans
Angles

Angon
Britons

Burgundians
Celts
Cimbri

Dacians

Foed erates
Francisca

Franks

Frisians

A confede ration of German tribes who settled in

Gau ls
Gaul.
Sarmatian nom ad s of Gepids
south- easte rn Russia.
Germans of the Balti c who
took part in the settlem ent
of the lowlands of the Germans
British mainland.
A heavy Germanic javelin. Goths
The collective nam e for
most of th e Celts of th e
British mainland, some of
w hom settled in Gaul.
Germans of the middle
Rhin e who set tl ed in Gaul. H a lstatt
A large group of IndoHuns
Europeans.
A Celtic people of the
middle D an ube; they are Indo-Europeans
believed by some sc holars
I rani a ns
to be Germans.
A Thracian people of
eastern Europe, destroyed Jutes
by Rom e.

Iron Anglo-Saxon sword of the 5th to 8th century A.D. (British

Museum)

Barbarians allied to R ome

by treaty (foedus ).
The German throwing-axe
used exte nsively by the
Frankish tribes.
Germans of the Rhin e who
ex pand ed into Belgium
and eventu a lly most of
Gaul.
Germans of the coas ta l
lowlands
of
western
Europe, some of whom
took part in the settlement
of Britain.
The co ntin en tal Celts.
German peop le of th e
middl e D a nube; th ey were
absorbed by the Avars, a
Turco-Mongol p eop le.
A large group of Ind oEuropeans.
The most powerful group
of ancient Germans . From
the Balti c they spread in to
western Ru ssia, eventu a lly
co ntrollin g a la rge part of
Gaul , Ita ly and Spain.
The first Celtic Iro n Age,
beginning about B.C . 6oo.
Turco-Mongol nomads of
the Eurasian plains.
ordic nomads of the
Eurasian plains.
A large g roup of Tnd oEuropean nomad s.
German peo ple of the
Baltic, who took part in
th e settleme nt of low la nd
Brita in.

La T ene

Lomba rds

Ma rcoma nni
Ostrogo th s
Phrygia ns
Quadi
Sali a n Fra nks

Sarm a ti a ns
Sax (Saex )

Saxons
Scythia ns
Slavs
Suebi
Spa ngenh elm

T eutons
T euton es

Thracia ns
Va nd a ls

Visigo th s

Wend s

The final phase of th e

Celti c Iron Age b eginning
a bout B.C . 350.
G erm a nic
people
of
north ern G ermany who
se ttl ed in Italy .
G ermans of the Danube.
The eastern branch of the
Gothic nation.
A Thracia n peopl e of Asia
Minor.
A G erman people of the
middl e D a nube.
Fra nks of th e coast of
north-west Europe. 'Salty'
Fra nks.
Iranian mounted nomads .
Single-edged knives common in th e graves of
Saxons in Britain and contin enta l G ermans.
G erm a ns of th e Baltic.
Ira ni a n horse nomads.
A large group of IndoEuropeans.
A large group of G erman
tribes.
A helm et of composite
construction , introduced
in Europe during th e grd
century A.D.
A mod ern nam e for
G erm a nic people.
A Celti c trib e, believed by
some scholars to be
G ermans.
A la rge group of IndoEuropeans.
G erman s of th e Baltic who
se ttl ed in Gaul , Spain and
North Africa.
The western branch of the
Gothi c people , who annexed Spain .
A G ermaniz ed Slavoni c
peopl e who took part in
th e G erman colonization
of lowland Britain.

Sources:

The plaster cast copy of Trajan ' s Column in th e

Victoria and Albert Museum , K ensington .
T rajan's Column and the Dacian Wars, Lino Rossi
The Arms and Armour of Imperial Rome, H. Russell
Robinson
Oriental Armour, H . Russell Robinson
R omania, Dimitru Berciu

For those interested in further reading som e

books available on the subjects are listed below:
Germania , Tacitus
The Annals of Imperial Rome, Tacitus
The Histories, Tacitus
The Celts, T. G. E. Powell
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Edward
Gibbon
A Study of History , Arnold Toynbee
The World of the Huns, Otto Maenchen-Halfen
The Treasure of Sutton Hoo , Bernice Groskopf
The Age of Arthur, John Morris
The Anglo-Saxons, D. J . V. Fisher
A nglo-Saxon England, Sir Frank Stenton
R oman Britain and the English Settlements, R . G .
Collingswood & J. N . L. Myers
A rthur's Britain, L. Alcock
R aces of Europe, by Carleton S. Coon
The World of Late Antiquity, P . Brown
The K ingdom of the Franks, P . Lasko
The Barbarian W est, J. M. Wallace-Had rill
The N orthern Barbarians, M . Todd
The Penguin Atlas of Ancient History , Colin M cEvedy
The Penguin Atlas of M edievaL H istory, Colin
M cEvedy
A rchaeology of W eapons, Ewart Oakeshott
D ark Age Warrior, Ewart Oakeshott
The Dark Ages, edited by David Talbot Ri ce
The Goths in Spain, E . A. Thompson
B arbarian Europe, Philip Dixon
Th e Art of War in the Middle Ages, Sir Charles
Oman
The Bog People, P. V. G lob
Th e Vikings and Their Origins, D . Wilson
The SLavs, M. Gimbutas
The Armies and Enemies of ImperiaL R ome, Phil
Barker
A rmies of the Dark Ages 6oo-Jo66, Ian Heath