Western Civilization I / Unit 7 WC1 0616 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Germania: Why Rome Stopped at the Rivers
Captions available
The idea
Germania was forested and cold, its tribes diverse, ruled by retribution or blood payment. Romans fought them, hired them and settled them on the border for tribute, but wanted no German land and called Germans semi-human, unlike the assimilable Celts.
In practice
Tacitus praising German virtue to shame Roman decadence.
Where people slip
Semi-human is the Roman view, stated as such. The limes held about three centuries.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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