Germania during 270 B.C.

[Vuk]

Hi,
I need this research for a mod I'm making. I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post it in, but it seemed the most logical...

Does anyone know the names of the most prominent Germanic tribes, the terratories they held, and their political stability during 270 B.C.
I practically have Tacitus Germania and several other books on Germania in antiquity memorized, but am not sure about the year 270...A lot can change in a decade, never mind a few hundred years.

You help would be greatly appreciated!

[Derfasciti]

Hmmm... I am by far not an authority on these kinds of matters, I'm just a humble amateur historian. However, how about the Helvatti? In Caesar's Gallic Wars I believe he's mentioned them.

[Atilius]

...Does anyone know the names of the most prominent Germanic tribes, the terratories they held, and their political stability during 270 B.C...


Almost nothing is known from written sources about the Germans of this period.

Pytheas of Massilia, writing in about 320 BC, was the first author we know of to distinguish the Germans from the Celts. His work survives only in fragments quoted by other authors. One fragment mentions the Gutones and Teutones: the first as a people of Germany, and the second as their neighbors. The Gutones apparently lived on the coast, but whether this was the North Sea or Baltic coast we can't tell.

The next writer known to mention the Germans was Poseidonius of Rhodes (writing more than 2 centuries later) but his work also exists only in fragments.

Caesar's description of the Germans in De Bello Gallico is really the first complete one that has come down to us. Aside from scanning the fragments of Pytheas and Poseidonius, that's about the best you can do.


However, how about the Helvatti? In Caesar's Gallic Wars I believe he's mentioned them.

Caesar does indeed mention them, but he refers to them as Gauls:


...for which reason the Helvetii also surpass the rest of the Gauls in valor, as they contend with the Germans in almost daily battles,...

[Vuk]

Thanks much guys, that is very helpful. But if anyone knows more about it, I'd love to hear it!

[edyzmedieval]

The Germanic tribes were a mix of tribes, commonly refferred as the Sweboz.
They were a mix of tribes including: Frisii, Chatii, Teutonii(Teutonic tribes from the north...), Marcomanii, old Gothic tribes and even "prehistoric" Saxons.

A really nice mix, they had similar units(militarily speaking) but they can have some different units too.