Combat questions - Romani perspective

[Macilrille]

Neither AP or SB is entirely correct about the Germans.

AP needs to practise some Source Criticism on Tacitus and SB realise that in the small hamlets, villages and single farms that most Germans lived in you would only have the very rare specialised craftsman (including warriors), but rather all farmers would know basic carpentry and a little bit of blacksmithing, no jewellery or specialised smithing.

If we look at Denmark in the LCIA to EGIA we see a land covered with small villages, hamlets and a few single farms. Now remember, denmark is the far north to a Roman and would thus by his definition be the most primitive, just as it was home of the fearsome Cimbrii and Teutons. By this definaition the Roman (Tacitus) would be preconditioned to see believe it very primitive and with no farming. In sharp contrast to what archeology tells us. This however, was the Greco-Roman way of understanding the world and in that tribes got progressively more primitive the further north and away from the civilised centre of the world you got (to some extent true, barter economy and such). What was reality was that at this time Denmark was almost as heavily exploited as in the middle ages, more even in some places as over-exploitation of the poor soild of western Jutland and wind-erosion only actually set in at this time, so the desolate heaths present in that area was not there then, they were in fact a result of the Iron Age over-exploitation. In other places not all land had yet been exploited with large-ish wooden areas on Sjælland and in Central Jutland slowly being exploited from here to the Viking Age.

Anyway, the land was generally as exploited and open as all through the middle ages, most land was either under plow or being used for grazing (in various forms, the proces is very interesting and if you read Danish I can give you titles to read), and villages of 1- 22 (Hodde, the largest we know until GIA) dotted the land every 1½- 3 Km on moraine hilltops with a bit of farmland around, then "overdrev" (grazing woods, later meadows) sometimes some woods, but mostly the neighbouring village's "overdrev".

Now in this rural area only the largest villages, probably residences of the chiefs, had specialist craftsmen. We know Hodde had a smith, but in order to have someone specialised you need a surplus of food and storage space, for the specialist (be it profesional warrior of the chief or blacksmith) does not himself produce food- yet still has to eat. Only large villages could create this (again this is the very first steps whole proces of state-building and urbanisation and very interesting IMO), and only the most powerful chiefs would have been able to employ the specialist wainwrights, weaponsmiths and gold-/silversmiths we see traces of in magnificent wagons and some jewelry. Perhaps it was all imported or foreign specialised craftsmen employed for a time, we do not know.

The average farmer would be a jack-of-all-trades regarding his farm, including being able to defend it. While his wife would weave and do pottery, again specialists were very rare or the goods imported- and only by the mightiest.

As for the monogamy of Germans, it is likely as it is a good family structure for such a rural society, but rem,ember again to apply Source Criticism, Tacitus might very well be implicitly criticising his own contrymen by contrasting them to the Germans. Whether or not the latter actually were monogameous would in that case be irrelevant to him.

IMO magnates, chiefs and kings would probably have more wives or "friller" as we see it in the Viking Age and early Middle Age and used as a very powerful political tool in forming alliances. This is supported by Caivs Ivlivs' who tells us that Ariovistvs had two wifes, a Suebi and (I think the other is Boii or some other Celtic tribe he would be interested in having as allies). Arminus seems to have had only Tusnelda, but it is hard to tell. Other examples would be more convincing than "Germania" as it is almost as much a criticism of Imperial Roman decadent ways by the Republican-at-heart Tacitus.

Anyway, gtg and I have rambled enough.

Edited to add, I am also going OT, but enlightenment is important and we have all agrred to read more history by installing EB- well... here is some ;-)

Edited yet again to add that here is the book on the subject, a groundbreaking work as it was published in 1992-ish it has inspired others and been translated to and published in English, a rare thing for a Danish archeological dissertation. It is very heavy reading though.