Germanic-Roman Contacts - Military Aspect

Military Aspect

Members of different Germanic tribes and communities served in the Roman legions, and fought with the Romans. It's probable that for instance Germanic Chieftains who fought with the Romans, tried to adapt to, and adopt, Roman culture, and that they tried to identify with the Roman nobility. In exchange for military service, the Germanics got Roman objects, although not Roman weapons, as there were Roman laws against exporting arms to the Germanic tribes. Germanic tribes who fought against the Romans got war spoils, and they often used captured Roman swords and armor.

The Romans probably influenced Germanic military tactics and organisation as well. As can be told from the huge Illerup Ådal excavation in Denmark, in which huge amounts of Roman and Roman inspired arms and equipment were found. A lot of these were probably produced in Scandinavia, and a lot had Scandinavia "factory seals", after a Roman model. This not only tells us that the Germans did indeed use Roman arms, but it also tells us that they had the required knowledge and social organisation to support large armies, and produce standardised arms and equipment.

Finds of Roman inspired Spangenhelm type helmets in Germanic chieftain graves, also tell us that the Germanics were in awe of Roman culture (generally speaking). We know that the Romans used these kind of helmets, amongst other sources from the Column of Trajan in Rome, on which Roman legionaries are depicted, wearing helmets. Stephen V. Granscay writes:

We do know that the Spangenhelm shows barbarian contact with another civilization . We also know that it was an important object of personal adornment as well as protective value . The man who wore such a headpiece was no longer a skin-clad barbarian….

Grancsay's text may be outdated, but it's still interesting, because Grancsay points directly at concrete examples of how Roman culture helped shape Germanic identity, by ways of objects. He also suggests that these Roman objects embody the factors that made the basis of the Germanic warrior aristocracy that developed alongside and following the Roman Empire, such as the notable Himlingøje Dynasty, in the ways which the Romans may have supported Germanic tribes due to military regards, and equipped these tribes. And there may have been Germanics of a high class who participated in fights with or against the Romans, and thus acquiring Roman objects and Roman ways of thinking in military terms (strategies, organisation, etc...).

It has been suggested that the Romans supported and equipped Germanic tribes in the part of Germania which is today's Denmark. Archaeological sources tell of Roman equipment and arms that have been discovered as far north as Scandinavia. Danish archaeologists: Lars Jørgensen, Birger Storgaard and Ulla Lund Hansen have suggested Germano-Roman alliances, in which Romans supported a Germanic power in today's Denmark. According to Jørgensen, this was either to destabilize Scandinavia, or to create a Roman friendly power which could help ensure peace and stability in the border areas.

Ulla Lund Hansen and Birger Storgaard have also suggested that Roman interests in Scandinavia were strong, and that there was direct contact. Storgaard alluded to a text written in accordance with an expedition led by Tiberius in year 5 A.D., in which Tiberius describes what has been interpreted to be Jutland, in Denmark, although this interpretation is based on myth. Jørgensen points to the Gudme-Lundeborg complex in Denmark. Archaeologists have found Roman coins and scrapmetal at Lundeborg, a trading place in relation to this complex. Hansen, Jørgensen and Storgaard interprets from these archaeological finds that Lundeborg may have functioned as a Roman port.