Map of the Roman Empire and "the free Germania", Magna Germania, in the early 2nd century

Germania was the Latin exonym^[1][2] for a geographical area of land on the east bank of the Rhine (inner Germania), which included regions of Sarmatia as well as an area under Roman control on the west bank of the Rhine. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. An exonym (from Greek el ἔξω exo = out el ὄνομα onoma = name is a name for a place that is not used within that place by the local The Rhine (Rhein Rijn Rhin Reno Rain Rhenus is one of the longest and most important Rivers in Europe at 1320 kilometres (820 mi with an average discharge The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες Ancient Rome was a Civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC The name came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it from a Gallic term for the peoples east of the Rhine that likely meant “neighbor. Gaulish or Gallic is the name given to the Celtic language that was spoken in Gaul before the Vulgar Latin of the late Roman Empire became ”^[3][4]

History

The expansion of the Germanic tribes 750 BC – AD 1 (after the Penguin Atlas of World History 1988):       Settlements before 750BC       New settlements until 500BC       New settlements until 250BC       New settlements until AD 1

Germania was inhabited by different tribes, the vast majority Germanic but also including some Celtic, Baltic, Scythian, and proto-Slavic. The Germanic peoples are a historical group of Indo-European -speaking peoples originating in Northern Europe and identified by their use of the Germanic Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts The Balts or Baltic peoples (People who live by the Baltic Sea) defined as speakers of one of the Baltic languages, a branch of the Indo-European The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic The tribal and ethnic makeup changed over the centuries as a result of assimilation and, most importantly, migrations. Human migration denotes any movement by Humans from one locality to another sometimes over long distances or The Germanic people spoke several different dialects.

The classical world knew little about the people who inhabited the north of Europe before the 2nd century BC. The 2nd century BC started the first day of 200 BC and ended the last day of 101 BC. In the 5th century BC the Greeks were aware of a group they called Celts (Keltoi). The 5th century BC started the first day of 500 BC and ended the last day of 401 BC. The term ancient Greece refers to the period of Greek history lasting from the Greek Dark Ages ca Celts (ˈkɛlts or /ˈsɛlts/, see Names of the Celts Herodotus also mentioned the Scythians but no other barbarian tribes. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash At around 320 BC, Pytheas of Massalia sailed around Britain and along the northern coast of Europe, and what he found on his journeys was so unbelievable that later writers refused to believe him. Events By place Macedonian Empire Alexander the Great 's various generals control different parts of Alexander's empire Dates Pliny says that Timaeus (born about 350 BC believed Pytheas' story of the discovery of Amber. Marseille, ( English alt Marseilles mɑrˈseɪ — French: maʁsɛj locally — Provençal Occitan: Marselha maʀˈsijɔ Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between AD 43 and 410 He may have been the first Mediterranean to distinguish the Germanic people from the Celts. Caesar described the cultural differences between the Germanic tribesmen, the Romans, and the Gauls. Gaul (Gallia was the Roman name for the region of Western Europe comprising present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western He said that the Gauls, although warlike, could be civilized, but the Germanic tribesmen were far more savage and were a threat to Roman Gaul and so had to be conquered. For Gaul before the Roman conquest see Gaul. Roman Gaul consisted of an area of provincial rule in the Roman Empire, in modern day His accounts of barbaric northern tribes could be described as an expression of the superiority of Rome, including Roman Gaul. Caesar's accounts portray the Roman fear of the Germanic tribes and the threat they posed. The perceived menace of the Germanic tribesmen proved accurate. The most complete account of Germania that has been preserved from Roman times is Tacitus' Germania. Publius (or Gaius) Cornelius Tacitus (ca 56 &ndash ca 117 was a senator and a Historian of the Roman Empire. The Germania ( Latin title De Origine et situ Germanorum, English for the Origin and Situation of the Germans) written by Gaius

Map showing the distribution of the Germanic tribes in Proto-Germanic times, and stages of their expansion up to 50 BC, AD 100 and AD 300. The extent of the Roman Empire in 68 BC and AD 117 is also shown.

Tacitus wrote in AD 98:

For the rest, they affirm Germania to be a recent word, lately bestowed. For those who first passed the Rhine and expulsed the Gauls, and are now named Tungrians, were then called Germani. And thus by degrees the name of a tribe prevailed, not that of the nation; so that by an appellation at first occasioned by fear and conquest, they afterwards chose to be distinguished, and assuming a name lately invented were universally called Germani. ^[5]

Regions

Germania was defined by Rome as having two regions: Lesser Germania, west and south of the Rhine, occupied by the Romans, and greater Germania (Magna Germania) east of the Rhine. The occupied Germania was divided into two provinces: Germania Inferior (Lower Germania) (approximately corresponding to the southern part of the present-day Low Countries) and Germania Superior (Upper Germania) (approximately corresponding to present-day Switzerland and Alsace). Germania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of The Low Countries, the historical region of de Nederlanden, are the countries on low-lying land around the delta of the Rhine, Scheldt Germania Superior ("Upper Germania " so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Switzerland (English pronunciation; Schweiz Swiss German: Schwyz or Schwiiz Suisse Svizzera Svizra officially the Swiss Confederation Alsace (Alsace alzas Alsatian and Elsass pre-1996 German: Elsaß; Alsatia is one of the 26 Regions of France, located on the eastern The Romans under Augustus began to conquer and defeat the Germania Magna in 12 BC, having the Legati (generals) Germanicus and Tiberius leading the Legions. Augustus ( Latin: IMPERATOR·CAESAR·DIVI·FILIVS·AVGVSTVS September 23 63 BC – August 19 AD 14) born Gaius Octavius Thurinus, was Germanicus Julius Caesar ( 24 May 16 BC or 15 BC&ndash October 10, 19) Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (or Tiberius I) born Tiberius Claudius Nero (November 16 42 BC – March 16 AD 37) was the second Roman By AD 6, all of Germania up to the Elbe river was temporarily pacified by the Romans as well as being occupied by them. Year 6 ( VI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. The Elbe ( die Elbe Low German: de Ilv) is one of the major Rivers of Central Europe. The Roman plan to complete the conquest and incorporate all of Magna Germania into the Roman Empire was frustrated when Rome was defeated by the German tribesmen in the Battle of Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest took place in the year 9 A Year 9 ( IX) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Julian calendar. Augustus then established the boundary of the Roman Empire as being the Rhine and the Danube. The Danube (In Donau from earlier Danuvius, Celtic *dānu, meaning "to flow run" Slovak and Polish Dunaj

Modern Use

"Germany" in English and similar names in other languages are derived from "Germania," though the country's own inhabitants call it "Deutschland. " Modern Hebrew uses the Latin "Germania" unchanged (גרמניה) and so do modern Russian, Romanian and Italian. Romanian or Daco-Romanian ( dated: Rumanian or Roumanian; self designation limba română, ˈlimba roˈmɨnə is a Romance Italian ( or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 63 million people as a First language, primarily in Italy.

References

Bibliography

• Malcolm Todd (1995). The Early Germans. Blackwell Publishing.  

See also

• Roman Roads in Germania
• Roman Iron Age
• Germanic Europe
• Germanic peoples
• Limes Germanicus
• Scandinavia

External links

• Germania (Roman provinces)
• 1849 Harper New York Map, Ancient Germanic Tribes and Towns
• Tacitus' Germania at the Latin Library (text in Latin)
• Tacitus' Germania (text in both Latin and English)