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Page 5 of 18
The Celts and Germanic peoples of Europe during this time shared a similar social structure. The tribal existance was a function, primarily, of the successful control of natural resources - particularly of land. Tribal groupings were, by and large, fluid and constantly changing. Tribal bounds and loyalties, for example, could change quite rapidly with the vicissitudes of war. Frequently, large tribal confederacies would lose smaller tribes who wished to break away from their parent body, as was the case with the Suevic confederacy early in the Roman era. The tribes described by Tacitus may have only been together a few centuries by the time they came into contact with the Roman writers. What kept tribes together varied from tribe to tribe. Centralized leadership played a role in some groups - e.g., Maroboduus and the Marcomanni - but this was not the case for other tribes. Some peoples shared a sense of common origin and community, which found expression in various religious cults (Todd The Early Germans 29-30).
The leadership among Germanic tribes was centered around the king and his retinue. The king, who was chosen among men of noble blood who had proven themselves in warfare, was able to maintain a large following of warriors only through his success on the battlefield. The greatest of German kings - Marboduus included - learned their skills in warfare from their service in the Roman armies. The concept of an elevated social class among the Germans occured fairly late in their development. Between the latter half of the 1st Century BC and the middle of the 2nd Century AD, certain Germanic tribes began to cremate their warrior heroes in rich ceremonies, quite different from the normal inhumations tha twere provided for the average tribesman. These special burials, far from the main burial sites, involved elaborate furnishings, including fine Roman articles of silver and bronze (Todd The Early Germans 33-36).
Tribal assemblies were usually designed to confirm or reject proposals made by the king and his tribal counsel, which consisted of elders and leading warriors. These were usually rare occurances. In 180 AD, the Marcomanni were ordered by Roman Emperor Commodus to restrict their tribal assemblies to only once per year. The primary decision-making body of the tribe was the king's retinue, made up of the leading warriors of the tribe, who were bound to the king by oaths of loyalty, proved themselves to the king on the field of battle, and who shared in the rewards of battle. Occasionally, a successful king would include in his retinue warriors from other tribes. In return for their loyalty and bravery, the warriors not only received the spoils of war, but they also had a focus for their idealism, as well as an outlet for their warlike energies. Their loyalty, however, was usually only as long-lasting as the king's string of victories on the battlefield (Todd The Early Germans 30-32).
For most members of the Germanic tribes, the individual household was the most significant aspect of their social existence. The nuclear family focused around the patriarchal figure who usually built his own long-house. Polygamy existed only with those individuals who could afford to support more than one wife. Slavery was highly uncommon - usually restricted to prisoners of war. The system of inheritance included both the paternal as well as the maternal sides of each family. In cases where there were no children, the line of inheritance usually ran from brother, to paternal uncles, to maternal uncles. The relationships between a child and his maternal uncles was unusually close in Germanic societies - a phenomenon that carried into modern European culture. The role of the clan in the lives of the people was surprisingly minimal. Outside of participating in intra-tribal feuds - an important institution for defusing disputes that could otherwise undermine the community - the immediate family held the highest level of importance for the average tribesman (Todd The Early Germans 32-33).
The Germanic society was a warrior society - geared toward waging war against rival Germanic tribes, as well foreign peoples. The armies of the Marcomanni - like most German armies of that era - were comprised mainly of foot-soldiers. The lack of suitably large and swift horses in northern Europe imposed serious limitations on the development of cavalries. The size, physical strength, and warlike energy of the Germans, however, were most effectively deployed in infantry formations. As for equipment, Tacitus noted the state of the average German fighter:
Even iron is not plentiful with them; this has been inferred from the sort of weapons they have. Only a few of them use swords or large lances: they carry spears - called framea in their language - with short and narrow blades, but so sharp and easy to handle that they can be used, as required, either at close quarters or in long-range fighting. Their horsemen are content with a shield and a spear; but the foot-soldiers also rain javelins on their foes: each of them carries several, and they hurl them to immense distances, being naked or lightly clad in short cloaks. There is nothing ostentatious about their equipment: only their shields are picked out in th colors of their choice. Few have breast plates, and only one here and there a helmet of metal or hide (Germania 6).
The Marcomanni who engaged the Romans in battle during the first two centuries AD fought primarily with javelins, lances, and shields. It was only in the 3rd Century that swords began to play a significant role in the battle techniques of the Marcomanni. Body armour was never used by the Marcomanni against the Romans. Early on, their shields were long and oval or rectangular; later on, the shields were smaller and oval in shape. Like most German warriors, they fought wearing their everday garments, with some choosing to fight naked (Todd 150). They rarely engaged in siege strategies - preferring to go after easier prey (Todd The Early Germans 36-42).
By the 3d Century, the German warrior, still reliant mostly on his physical strength and fighting qualities, did start incorporating new weaponry in their approach to warfare. The main addition to their arsenal was the throwing-axe, effective at long-range, as well as close-up combat. The Germans also began to favor the bow and arrow around this time. Their swords, which were mainly used by the leaders of the tribe, now became two-edged and longer than those used at the turn of the millennium (Todd 144-145). Ironically, the more advanced swords used by the Germans against the Romans could have been the result of increased trade with Rome. Although some Germanic tribes began to utilize the horse in warfare around this time - the Goths being the clearest example of this - there is no record that the Marcomanni ever used horses in a significant manner during battle (Todd The Early Germans 42-46). Among the Suebic tribes in general, when horses were used, the warrior would usually dismount at the start of the battle - engaging the enemy on foot (Todd 155).
The overriding concern of the Romans with regard to their northern neighbors was one of security. Toward this end, the Romans developed systems of control, aimed at weakening the Germans. Frequently, the Romans purchased their loyalty through providing wealth and even Roman citizenship to the Germanic leaders. As Rome became the source of these leaders' wealth and growing power, they were less willing to wage war on them. Moreover, the new-found wealth of these leaders served to turn other tribal leaders against them - generally producing a "divide and conquer" effect. The power of Roman money was also used to exploit and deepen the divisions between the tribal leaders and the main body of the tribe (Todd The Early Germans 84-86).
During the first centuries of the first millennium AD, the land north of the middle Danube enjoyed a special relationship with the Roman Empire, not unlike that of some of the frontier provinces themselves. In 19 AD, Drusus Caesar established Quadan Vannius as ruler of large tracts of land north of the Danube. Soonafter, Vannius annexed Bohemia and Moravia, the home of the Marcomanni and the Quadi. During the reign of Antoninus Pius, the Quadi requested that Rome assign a king to their tribe. Such diplomatic victories for Rome were quite frequent and commonplace - usually tied to financial or trade arrangements (Todd The Early Germans 86-87). It was this Roman diplomacy that contributed greatly to the stability of the frontiers during the 1st and 2nd centuries (Todd 22).
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