The Ancient Germans and Rome, AD 68 to 500: Records of Contact and Conflict

This collection presents firsthand Greek and Latin sources on Germanic resistance and Rome’s eventual collapse.

The Germanic nations of northern Europe resisted the Romans, forcing them to confine their empire within the heavily militarized Rhine and Danube frontiers. Despite fierce wars and repeated invasions, German tribes retained their independence until, in Late Antiquity, they surged forth to overrun and dismantle the Roman Empire itself.

This collection of Greek and Latin sources gives accounts of ancient Germans beyond the northern frontiers of the Roman Empire written by those who were present at the time. These records include German service in the Roman army, the impact of civil war and the origin and development of later tribal groups. Chapters cover the Batavian Revolt (AD 69—70), the Marcomannic Wars of the Emperor Marcus Aurelius (AD 166—180), and later Rhine campaigns against the Alamanni. The final chapters cover the Migration Era, with the Germanic conquest of the Roman Empire, from the Gothic invasions to the Vandal capture of North Africa.

This book is a valuable resource for ancient historians, classicists, archaeologists, and interested others, featuring events from the formation of the Rhine—Danube frontiers in the first century, to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century AD.