A broad Roman category for communities east of the Rhine and north of the Danube.
Overview
Roman writers used the term Germani for many distinct peoples. The category was geographical, political, and ethnographic rather than a single shared national identity.
Why It Matters
Encounters with the Cimbri and Teutones, Ariovistus, and later Rhine campaigns made German peoples important to Roman ideas of frontier, danger, and military prestige.
In Roman Practice
Ancient ethnography often contrasts Romans with idealised or threatening outsiders. Such descriptions must be handled cautiously.