EAST GERMANIC HISTORY IN DEPTH

 

I have herein divided the discussion of the history of the East Germanic Peoples into five sections, although in the Gallery Notes and Army Lists there are only four. This is due to the fact that during the semi-legendary period of East Germanic ethnogenesis (ca. 500-200 BCE) we really have no reliable historical information, and the archeological information does not show us a material culture that was significantly different from its predecessors (they would have looked like a mix of Iron Age Celtic and North Germanic warriors). Therefore, it is provided here merely as background and context. The other four periods of division are the Early East Germanic Period (ca. 200 BCE-282 CE), the Middle East Germanic Period (ca. 220-500 CE), the Roman Federates (ca. 279-550 CE), and the Later East Germanic Period (ca. 418-750 CE). The Early East Germanic Period covers the expansion of the initial East Germanic cultures (Wielbark Gothic and Przeworsk Vandalic) to create a broad East Germanic cultural sphere in north-central Europe. It includes the assimilation of the indigenous La Tène Celtic, Oksywie Rugian, and Zarubintsy Bastarnae Cultures (ca. 100 BCE-150 CE) by the Wielbark Goths, as well as the emergence of the Luboszyce Burgundian Culture (ca. 70-282 CE) and the expansion of the Vandals and Burgundians to the southwest (ca. 150-282 CE), where they came into close contact with the West Germanic peoples. The Middle East Germanic Period covers the migration of the Gothic peoples into southern Poland, Belarus, and Ukraine (ca. 150-220 CE), where they further assimilated the Bastarnae and came into close contact with the Sarmatians (Roxolani, Iazyges, Taifali), Thracians (Carpians and Getae), and Venedae (a proto-Slavic people), leading to the subsequent development of the Chernyakhov Culture (ca. 220-370 CE). It also includes the initial period of contact and conflict between the Vandals and Burgundians with the Roman Empire (ca. 282-409 CE). The Middle East Germanic Period concludes with the Hunnic invasion of Europe (ca. 370-454 CE) and the mass migration of various East Germanic peoples into the Roman Empire (ca. 370-487 CE). The Roman Federates section covers those East Germanic peoples that settled within the Roman Empire as federate tribes (Visigoths, Bastarnae, Vandals, Burgundians, Heruls, Scirians, and Ostrogoths), some with greater cooperation from the Romans than others, but all showing significant assimilation with the Romans. The Later East Germanic Period covers the East Germanic successor states to the Western Roman Empire—the Visigothic Kingdom in Hispania and Southern Gaul (418-712 CE), the Vandalic Kingdom in Numidia, Mauretania, and the Western Mediterranean (435-534 CE), and the Ostrogothic Kingdom in Italy (474-553 CE)—as well as the East Germanic successor states to the Hunnic Empire—the Gepidian Kingdom in Romania (454-566 CE), the Herulian Kingdom in Austria (454-489 CE), and the Crimean Goths (500-750). 

 

ORIGINS OF THE EAST GERMANIC PEOPLES (ca. 500 BCE - 200 BCE)

The period between about 500 and 200 BCE saw the emergence of the East Germanic peoples as an ethnic group related to, but distinct from, their West Germanic neighbors and North Germanic-Central European antecedents (a process known as ethnogenesis). Essentially, the ethnogenesis of the East Germanic Peoples occurred as the result of the physical migration of relatively small numbers of North Germanic peoples from southern Scandinavia (mainly southern Sweden and various Baltic islands) into central and eastern Europe, where they came into contact with older indigenous cultures (primarily La Tène Celts and Oksywie Rugians). The result of this new infusion of North Germanic cultural elements (including language, cultic practices, and novel material goods) into the indigenous milieu led to the emergence of distinct cultural forms (the Wielbark Goth and Przeworsk Vandal Cultures) that then influenced neighboring peoples in turn (the proto-Slavic Zarubintsy Venedae and Bastarnae cultures), leading to the development of a number of related culture groups in a broad swathe of central Europe. This period is best not thought of in terms of mass migration or conquest—due to the ethnic and cultural flexibility of ancient tribal peoples discussed on the Gallery page, it should be seen much more in terms of the development of broad cultural norms being adopted by a number of previously ethnically distinct peoples, probably as the result of long association (we're talking about a period over 300 years in length), and probably out of a desire to facilitate interaction (especially regional trade). The development of similar languages, cultic practices, and patterns of material goods exchange (not to mention intermarriage) would, over time, tend to make neighboring peoples feel more and more like kindred peoples (in some cases literally, in others figuratively). Despite the fact that the North Germanic/Scandinavian newcomers were few in number and their practices novel (there is no indication they introduced a material culture any more advanced than those of the indigenous peoples), or perhaps because of their position as high-prestige outsiders, their cultural norms came to predominate as a convenient form of cultural lingua franca, although many indigenous features remained and continued to evolve (later contributing to the development of the Slav and Balt cultures). Although Jordanes and other writers (Ammianus Marcellinus, Tacitus, Pliny, Zosimus) record origin myths and legends that linked many of the emergent East Germanic peoples to Scandinavian places of origin and North Germanic ancestors, it should be noted that in many cases these myths and legends were probably not objective fact. As the East Germanic cultures developed, association with North Germanic antecedents became highly valued, and self-serving subjective connections were the likely result (both consciously and unconsciously). The net result was the emergence, initially, of two main groups considered by most modern historians and archeologists as the first distinctly East Germanic peoples—the Goths and the Vandals.

 

EARLY EAST GERMANIC PEOPLES (ca. 200 BCE - 282 CE)

Goths (200 BCE-220 CE), Rugians (100 BCE-230 CE), Bastarnae (50 BCE-220 CE), Vandals (200 BCE-282 CE), and Burgundians (70-282 CE):

 

During the Early East Germanic Period (200 BCE-282 CE) we see the development of the Wielbark Culture in Pomerania and northern Poland (ca. 200-50 BCE), and its expansion into southern Poland and western Belarus (ca. 50 BCE-150 CE); this is held to be the material culture remains of the Early Goths. The Przeworsk Culture that developed in central Poland (ca. 200-50 BCE) and spread southwards into Galicia (southwestern Poland), Silesia (Czech Republic), and Weslania (southern Poland) (ca. 50 BCE-150 CE) is held to be that of the Early Vandals. Although the rise of the archeological horizons of these cultures are well-documented, the early Goths and Vandals are poorly attested historically. Contemporary Greek and Roman writers knew very little about the tribal peoples beyond the Oder and Vistula rivers, and the later works of writers like Jordanes and Ammianus Marcellinus were based on earlier, now lost, works (e.g., Cassiodorus), as well as highly mythologized oral traditions. Jordanes refers to the early Gothic territory in Pomerania and eastern Poland as Gothiscandza ("Goth-land of the Scanians"), and claims it was a unified kingdom that included the Vandals as a subject people. This seems highly unlikely. This would mean that at the beginning of their history the Goths would have had a large state that dwarfed anything possessed by any other early Germanic group, and this would certainly have brought them greater attention from the Greco-Roman world. What is far more likely is that at this time both the Goths and the Vandals were a collection of politically and socially distinct tribes (i.e., those influenced by Scanian/Scandinavian immigrants) that nevertheless had developed a number of related cultural traits (e.g., similar language, material culture styles, cultic practices)—any sense of commonality would have been defined by participation in local trade networks, inter-tribal raiding, the development and spread of regional cultic practices/religion, and the formation of networks of alliances. Jordanes' use of the name Gothiscandza should be considered an ancient form of conceptualization that serves as a precursor to the modern concept of ethnogenesis. Lacking modern objective techniques of analysis (archeology, linguistics, genetics), the term is an approximation of the modern concept of a culture. Similarly, the name of the Vandals, certainly one of the most poetic names of the early Germanic peoples (Aurvandil, "Shining Wanderers"), recognizes the introduction of North Germanic peoples into central Europe as high-prestige foreigners (i.e., the name makes a comparison between the migration of the early East Germans and stars moving through the firmament).

 

The dominant culture in central Europe prior to the arrival of the ancestors of the Goths and Vandals was the La Tène Culture associated with the Celts, although along the Baltic littoral from the Vistula River to the Neman River there was the Oksywie Culture associated with the Early Rugians. The Rugians were themselves the result of an earlier migration of North Germanic peoples from southern Norway and the island of Rogaland to the Baltic coast, where they assimilated with indigenous proto-Balt tribes (the Funnelbeaker Culture). The Rugians were assimilated by the Wielbark Culture by about 25 CE, while various Celtic groups (Vistula Veneti, Lugi, Boii, Cotini, Latobrigi, Osi, Tulingi, and Vindelici) continued to be assimilated throughout this period. As the Wielbark Culture continued to expand to the southeast (ca. 150-230 CE), it came into contact with elements of the Zarubintsy Culture, associated with two groups—the Venedae and the Bastarnae. The Zarubintsy Culture is usually considered to be proto-Slavic, itself the product of assimilation between elements of the Scytho-Sarmatian and Scytho-Thracian Cultures with an indigenous population originating in and around the vast Pripet Marshes (ca. 200-50 BCE). The Venedae and Bastarnae were heavily influenced by the Wielbark Culture, but the Bastarnae became more fully assimilated by relatively large numbers of Gothic migrants into southern Poland, western Belarus, and the Ukraine during the Wielbark expansion into these areas (ca. 50 BCE-150 CE). The Bastarnae inhabited a broad arc of territory stretching from southern Poland, north of the Carpathian Mountains, to the delta of the Danube River on the Black Sea coast. It should be noted that the origins of the Bastarnae are the subject of heated debate. Even the etymology of their name is a mystery, dependent on which theory of origin is used (Celtic, Thracian, German, Sarmatian, or proto-Slavic)—the leading contenders are "people [that are] bound together" or "wagon people." The southward migration of the Goths is also believed to have led to the assimilation of remnant tribes of the Sarmatians (the westernmost of the Aryan peoples) and Getae (a Scytho-Thracian people), leading to the development of the Chernyakhov Culture (ca. 220-370 CE) across a broad swathe of eastern Europe from southern Poland to the Pontic steppe. No one knows for certain exactly why this first major migration of Gothic peoples took place, although it has been tentatively linked to a climate shift in northern Europe (making it colder and dryer). With the foundation of the Chernyakhov Culture the epicenter of Gothic civilization shifted permanently away from Pomerania, northern Poland, and Belarus to Scythia (modern-day Moldavia and Ukraine), southern Poland, and eastern Dacia (modern-day Romania). In Pomerania, Poland, and Belarus those Wielbark peoples that remained were gradually assimilated by the Venedae (ca. 230-500 CE), giving rise to the West Slavic/Wend peoples, and the Aestii, giving rise to the West Balts.

 

Between 150 and 282 CE, the Vandals also migrated south, into Bohemia (Czech Republic) and Moravia (Slovakia). They too may have been reacting to the aforementioned climatic shift, or they may have been pressured by the southward migration of the Gothic peoples (or both). The Burgundians were an East Germanic people whose culture (the Luboszyze Culture) developed between the Oder and Elbe rivers (ca. 70-282 CE) as the result of a relatively late influx of North Germanic migrants into Vandalic western Poland from the Baltic island of Bornholm, and so the Burgundians are often considered to have been an offshoot of the Vandals. In 250 CE the Burgundians suffered a devastating defeat at the hands of the Gepids (at that time a sub-group of the Goths), and the bulk of the surviving population fled to the Vandals for succor. They settled in eastern Bavaria (southern Germany) (ca. 282 CE). This migration put pressure on the West Germanic and Germano-Celtic tribes living along the upper Danube frontier of Rome, and led to the development of the Marcomannic Confederacy (dominated by the Suebi and Buri tribes, but including groups of Quadi, Vandals, Burgundians, and Sarmatians). The Marcomanni ("Border-men") sought to gain access to the Roman Empire, leading to the Marcomannic Wars (166-180 CE). The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius (121-180 CE) ultimately defeated the Marcomanni, but the Vandals and Burgundians remained a powerful presence north of the Danube, becoming closely associated with the Suebi, Quadi, and Buri. At the time of the Marcomannic Wars, there were five primary Vandalic groups—the Lugii in southwestern Poland, the Victohali in Bohemia, the Asdingi in Silesia, the Lacringi in Wislania, and Silingi in Moravia—but following the Marcomannic Wars, the Lugii and Victohali seem to have been absorbed by the Asdingi, and the Lacringi by the Silingi.

 

By the mid-third century CE, there was a growing cultural divide between the western East Germanic tribes (the Vandals and Burgundians) and the eastern East Germanic tribes (the Goths, Rugians, Scirians, and Heruls). As has been mentioned, the Vandals and Burgundians had become closely associated with the Marcomannic tribes, but they also were by that time living in close proximity to the West Germanic Chauci, Semnones, Langobardi, Cherusci, and Hermanduri, all of whose lands lay to the west of the Oder River. The eastern groups, on the other hand, were more heavily influenced by the Sarmatians (the Roxolani in Scythia), the Thracians (the Carpi in Dacia), and the proto-Slavic Bastarnae and Venedae. The two spheres were essentially separated by the lands of the Iazyges and Taifali, Sarmatian peoples that dominated the Pannonian Plain (modern-day Hungary), and the aforementioned Marcomanni (Suebi, Quadi, and Buri) in Moravia and the Swabian Plateau (western Slovakia and eastern Austria).