Scandinavia in Roman Times



The first Germanic peoples the Romans came into contact with, the CIMBRI and AMBRONES, had, for reasons unknown, left their ancestral lands in Jutland (Denmark) and around the Northern Frisian island of Amrum, and migrated south to find better land to settle. They defeated Roman armies in 113, 109 and 105 B.C. and were only overcome by Marius in 102/101 B.C.
Roman sources, although they knew the people living beyond the Limes (border of the Roman Empire), did not distinguish their countries. For them, the unpacified area north of Rhine and Danube was GERMANIA. Among the "Germanic" peoples mentioned in TACITUS' Germania were the FENNI and the AESTII.
The names of Germanic peoples at times changed; in the 3rd century, new people appeared, among them several with alleged Scandinavian (i.e. Swedish) origin, the GOTHS, the VANDALS, the BURGUNDIANS, possibly also the LANGOBARDS (Lombards). They were to overrun the Western Roman Empire. Our information on the earlier history of these peoples is poor. The Goths were a society of farmer-warriors (with herds of livestock). Their language, known from WULFILA's bible translation, knew only two tenses - present and past. It was much inferior to Latin, but had a detailed vocabulary regarding animal husbandry, farming and warfare. Central to Germanic identity was liberty, a status indicated by wearing their hair long, and their law. The Rugians had joined the Lombards in the conquest of Italy. However, when the Rugians wanted to stay, the Lombards were only willing to permit this if the Rugians accepted Lombard law. The Rugians withdrew from Italy.
When the Romans withdrew from Britain, the Anglo-Saxons migrated into Britain, some called in as mercenaries, other as settlers-invaders. What the English literature describes as Anglo-Saxons were ANGLES (from Schleswig, N. Germany), JUTES (from Jutland, Denmark), Saxons and Frisians. The Jutes settled Kent and the Isle of Wight, the Angles East Anglia and Mercia. The pagan Anglo-Saxons either expelled or enslaved the local population, extermination the British (Celtic) language and the christian religion in the areas settled - they imposed their culture instead. We have to assume that the culture in Scandinavia itself similarily was pagan, homogenous, a society of farmer-warriors. The RUNIC SCRIPT, probably based on the Etruscan script, was adapted by the Scandinavians; the eldest inscriptions date back to the 5th century.







EXTERNAL
FILES 		The Iron Age, in : History of Denmark, by Den. Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Runes, Alphabet of Mystery, by C.B. Sunny
REFERENCE The Origin of the Vikings, in : Historical Atlas of the Vikings, by John Haywood, London : Penguins 1995, pp.16-27, illustrated, concise, scholarly


This page is part of World History at KMLA
First posted in 2000, last revised on November 8th 2004

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