En el año 585, el Reino Suevo dejó de existir tras la conquista del rey visigodo Leovigildo, un evento que marcó un hito en la historia de la península ibérica. La caída del reino suevo fue un proceso complejo que se dio en un contexto de tensiones políticas y militares. Con la victoria de Leovigildo, el territorio suevo fue incorporado al creciente reino visigodo de Toledo, lo que significó no solo la expansión territorial de los visigodos, sino también un cambio significativo en la dinámica cultural y religiosa de la región.
Leovigildo, conocido por sus ambiciones de unificar los pueblos hispanos bajo su mando, llevó a cabo una serie de campañas militares que resultaron en la subyugación de los suevos, quienes habían establecido su reino en la actual Galicia. Esta conquista no solo eliminó a un rival, sino que también facilitó la difusión del cristianismo arriano, religión predominante entre los visigodos, en un territorio que había estado marcado por su diversidad cultural y religiosa.
La integración del territorio suevo en el reino visigodo de Toledo tuvo repercusiones duraderas en la historia de España, sentando las bases para el desarrollo de una identidad común en la península. Este proceso de unificación también abrió la puerta a la eventual consolidación del cristianismo católico y a la creación de un reino visigodo más fuerte y cohesionado. La historia del Reino Suevo y su conquista por Leovigildo es, sin duda, un capítulo crucial en el devenir de la península ibérica.
**Hashtags:** #ReinoSuevo, #Visigodos, #HistoriaDeEspaña
**Keywords:** Reino Suevo, Leovigildo, visigodos, conquista, historia de España, Toledo, cristianismo, unificación, península ibérica, Galicia.
Leovigildo, conocido por sus ambiciones de unificar los pueblos hispanos bajo su mando, llevó a cabo una serie de campañas militares que resultaron en la subyugación de los suevos, quienes habían establecido su reino en la actual Galicia. Esta conquista no solo eliminó a un rival, sino que también facilitó la difusión del cristianismo arriano, religión predominante entre los visigodos, en un territorio que había estado marcado por su diversidad cultural y religiosa.
La integración del territorio suevo en el reino visigodo de Toledo tuvo repercusiones duraderas en la historia de España, sentando las bases para el desarrollo de una identidad común en la península. Este proceso de unificación también abrió la puerta a la eventual consolidación del cristianismo católico y a la creación de un reino visigodo más fuerte y cohesionado. La historia del Reino Suevo y su conquista por Leovigildo es, sin duda, un capítulo crucial en el devenir de la península ibérica.
**Hashtags:** #ReinoSuevo, #Visigodos, #HistoriaDeEspaña
**Keywords:** Reino Suevo, Leovigildo, visigodos, conquista, historia de España, Toledo, cristianismo, unificación, península ibérica, Galicia.
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00:00October of 1935, some archaeologists are inspecting a grave on the Danish island of Funen.
00:15It dates from the first century BC, the time of the Germanic tribes.
00:22In the course of the excavation they make a sensational discovery.
00:27It is the tomb of a Germanic priestess.
00:32The burial objects make it clear.
00:35Seeds of plants, fossilized sea urchins and saucer rods, which presumably served a magical function.
00:43It is not known who the deceased woman was, since we have not yet received testimonies about the life of Germanic women of that time.
00:50But the Roman historians who lived in that time left evidence of the great influence that the Germanic priestesses exerted on their citizens.
00:59Ancient sources and modern science currently allow a reconstruction of the life that a Germanic priestess could lead.
01:06Let's call it the basin, this could be its history.
01:09Our tribe was in danger.
01:11The Romans threatened to declare war on us.
01:15I asked the oracle, should we fight?
01:18What will the signs indicate?
01:21The rods of a sacred saucer will prophesy the future.
01:27The future of the eggs, my tribe, is in the hands of the gods.
01:31What advice will they give me?
01:34I saw a sign.
01:37We must not fight before the death of the moon.
01:40Our weapons must rest until the new moon has passed.
01:45The prince of the eggs was Ariovistus.
01:49He should not like the prophecy of the priestess, since the eggs were feared for their combativeness.
02:01But everyone must take into account the words of the gods.
02:06It is the year 58 BC.
02:09The eggs believed that the priestesses could predict the future.
02:13For this reason, they occupied an important position in their community.
02:17This is told to us by the Roman historian Tafito,
02:20the most important of the ancient authors who wrote about the Nordic tribes.
02:26There is a certain halo of holiness in women.
02:28In the Germanic peoples, their advice is never underestimated, nor are their prophecies ignored.
02:34The eggs were originally established in the plain of northern Germany.
02:38Their seasoned warriors were sent to Gaul as mercenaries.
02:44They liked the rich and fertile land.
02:47They formed their own empire in present-day Alsace.
02:51But in the year 58 BC, the Roman military commander Julius Caesar invaded the land of the eggs.
03:02Following the advice of the gods, Ariovistus agreed to negotiate with the Romans.
03:07Caesar ordered us to leave our land.
03:14Ariovistus was not intimidated by Caesar.
03:16The eggs had been living in Gaul for 17 years.
03:22But they had not yet come across the military power of Rome.
03:29When Caesar threatened them with his legions,
03:31the prince of the eggs replied that he had arrived in Gaul before the Romans and Caesar entered his territory.
03:39The Swedish warriors were determined.
03:41They would never leave their land.
03:46When the determination of the Germanic warriors to enter the battle was proven,
03:50Caesar decided to withdraw them.
03:54For the moment, it was his first confrontation with the fearsome tribes of the north.
03:59The few representations we have of the Germanic tribes of ancient times are Roman.
04:04They describe us as they imagined the peoples of the north were.
04:07Rough, strong in complexion and long beard.
04:10According to Caesar's own words,
04:12the Germanic are incredibly tall and incredibly valiant and righteous with their weapons.
04:16Even their ferocious gaze is unbearable.
04:19The hair of the eggs appears represented in a Roman bronze cauldron.
04:23Caesar wrote the following about it.
04:25It is the most warrior of the Germanic tribes.
04:27They put their hair aside and tie it in a knot.
04:35The discovery of a skull shows us what Caesar described.
04:38It is a skull of a man with a skull of a woman.
04:41It is a skull of a man with a skull of a woman.
04:44It is a skull of a man with a skull of a woman.
04:47The skull shows us what Caesar described.
04:49An egg knot that survived for more than 2000 years in a cell.
04:53The hair in the skull was not an expression of vanity but it was designed to intimidate as Tacitus said.
04:59They think that raising the hair in this way must cause fear to the enemy.
05:06Caesar said that tactic gave many successes to the warriors.
05:10His warriors had such a terrible appearance that everyone who saw them filled with panic.
05:17The legions refused to fight against Ariovistus
05:21But Caesar warned that the Swedes were a danger not only for Gaul, but for the entire Roman Empire
05:28And they were only the advance of a powerful people
05:31He gave them a name, the Germanic peoples
05:38Caesar's propaganda coup was successful
05:41In Rome, his words spread like a shower of gunpowder
05:44Rumors spoke of a powerful and hostile tribe that lived in the north of the empire
05:50Julius Caesar is undoubtedly one of the most fascinating personalities in history
05:55He was at war with the Gauls for many years while he organized his army
06:00And he made sure that Rome provided him with the necessary means
06:03So he was always under pressure to justify his actions
06:07One of the consequences of this pressure was the invention of the Germanic tribes
06:11Which for many decades and centuries had not occupied the minds of the Romans
06:15On the one hand, he needed them to end the campaign in the Rhine
06:18And on the other hand, he described the Germanic peoples as a great block, something they were by no means
06:24They were perfectly differentiated
06:27The tribes of southern Scandinavia, the Rhine and the Vistula were completely different
06:33And anything but a homogeneous block
06:37The Germanic tribes were originally a single tribe among many others
06:43Like the Frisians, the Lombards or the Swedes
06:46But to make the threat against Rome seem more serious than it really was
06:52Caesar agglutinated all the tribes under one name, the Germanic people
06:56And the region that inhabited the east of the Rhine was called Germania
07:01Instigated by his commander, Caesar's legions entered the war
07:06With the Germanic threat real enough, they were finally disposed to attack the Swedes
07:12But the Swedes followed the advice of the oracle
07:15Five days later, Caesar's troops reached the vicinity of the defensive fence
07:19There, Caesar tried to provoke the Germanic warriors to enter the battle
07:26On the sixth day, when I saw the Romans again in the vicinity of our camp
07:32I suspected that Ariovistus would no longer be able to resist the challenge
07:39But the new moon had not yet arrived
07:42Caesar's legions wanted an open battle in which they would have been superior
07:48On the sixth day, the head of the Swedes did them a favor
07:51The Roman historian Dio Cassio wrote
08:03Ariovistus finally ignored the prophecy of the priestess
08:07And when the Romans marched in combat formation, he also deployed his army
08:16The troops met face to face in present-day Alsace
08:20Ariovistus launched his warriors against the Romans, forming seven cunhas
08:24To that fearsome formation, the Germanics called it the head of a pig
08:29Its objective was to use it as a fence to cross enemy lines and defeat the Romans
08:37In cunha formation, the Germanic warriors fought against the Roman cohorts
08:42This is what Dio Cassio wrote about the battle in Gaul
08:46They fought more with their bodies than with their weapons
08:50In one-on-one combat, the Germanic warriors were superior to their adversaries
08:56But every time a Roman fell, two took their place
08:59The Germanic attack was stalled
09:08The Romans used their reserves
09:10They caught the Germanic warriors by surprise, attacking them from the flanks
09:14And they broke their cunha formation
09:17Then the Germanic warriors turned around
09:20And they did not stop fleeing until they stumbled upon the Rhine
09:24This is what Caesar wrote about the outcome of the battle in Alsace
09:30The Roman commander rose with victory
09:33Among the Swabian soldiers there were barely any survivors
09:36The Roman discipline was imposed on the Germanic audacity
09:47The Romans also took our defensive fence by assault
09:51Why did Ariovistus disobey the oracle?
09:54No one can avoid the judgment of the oracle
10:06Ariovistus did not want to bow to Caesar
10:09His warriors fought for our freedom
10:12But the result was terrible
10:18The Romans did not spare the lives of any of our men
10:22Neither the elderly nor the young
10:26Our tribe was totally annihilated
10:31Caesar chased the fugitives to the Rhine
10:34Who could escape the carnage of the battlefield and the massacre of the siege
10:38Now the Romans controlled the left bank
10:48I wanted to stay away from the Romans as much as possible
10:52It was so much the damage and death that they had inflicted on us
10:56That my only wish was to return to the other side of the river
10:59To the land of my tribe
11:02I was alone
11:08The victory over Ariovistus was only the first act in the war of the Gauls
11:13After numerous battles, Caesar conquered all the territory of the Gauls in the course of seven years
11:19Since then, the northern border of the empire was determined by a river, the Rhine
11:29Originally the Rhine connected the people who lived on both sides of the river
11:34Caesar was the first to turn it into a barrier between Roman civilization and barbaric Germania
11:44For a long time I lived hidden in the forests of the north
11:49My clan was defenseless
11:52The Gauls were hated by many tribes because they stole and fought against their neighbors
12:01Winter had come and I would not be able to survive on my own
12:07I had no choice, I had to leave my refuge and ask unknown people to welcome me
12:13Finally I arrived at a small Cheruscan settlement
12:17How would they receive me there?
12:24I felt tension among its inhabitants
12:27A woman was in labor
12:30But my help was not enough
12:33I was not part of his clan
12:38When the man saw the objects he was carrying with me, he understood that I was a priestess
12:43And that I could really help him
12:48He took me home with his wife
12:56How did the Germanic peoples live?
12:59In East Frisia, archaeologists examine the remains of a Germanic settlement
13:03Unlike the Romans who built with stone, the Germanic peoples built with perishable materials such as wood and clay
13:10How do archaeologists gather information about the houses?
13:16The only clues are the dark discoloration in the ground
13:19caused by burials and holes that were dug 2,000 years ago
13:24For the archaeologist Rolf Barenzenga, these remains have an invaluable value
13:29because they allow them to reconstruct the floor plan of a Germanic house
13:33Here we can see the entrance area, on the south side of the old house
13:38The strip of the wall that starts on the west side ends here
13:43Here is a hole one meter long
13:47And then it continues to the west
13:50And here is where the continuation of the south wall was
13:56The post holes are typical signs of the simple Germanic architecture
14:00In these holes made on the ground were placed the wooden posts that supported the loading walls
14:05But only the meticulous work of archaeologists can provide us with more precise information
14:11The discoveries made on the ground even allow them to explain how the Germanic peoples
14:16were able to build solid buildings using the simplest means
14:20Here we can see a typical post hole that reveals its cylindrical shape
14:25The interesting thing is that this post hole represents a clear contrast
14:29compared to the other holes, which are much more superficial
14:33This could be due to the fact that the building was built on the ground
14:38and the wind exerted more force on the house on this side, where the eagles were
14:42And to fulfill that task, the post hole became deeper
14:46So what we wonder now is how the Germanic peoples managed to dig such a deep hole in such a narrow space
14:52Because unlike us, they did not have steel peaks
14:56Our hypothesis is that they had to soften the ground previously
15:00and then plowed it with wooden peaks
15:04In this way, the Germanic peoples erected an imposing building, the communal house
15:09The wooden posts formed the frame of the roof
15:13The exterior walls of the houses were made of straw and sealed with mud
15:17The roof was made of straw or cane
15:21People and animals lived together in the communal houses
15:25Tacitus described a typical settlement that usually did not house more than 20 houses
15:30They did not build their towns as we do, with one building attached to another
15:34All the houses were surrounded by open space
15:41Archaeologists also found utensils made of wood
15:45The discoveries of seeds and remains of plants provide information about the food of the Germanic peoples
15:50They made gachas with barley or millet, ate berries, mushrooms and nuts
15:54Rarely did they eat meat or fish
15:58Food was served at a small table, as Tacitus tells us
16:06Each one sits down to eat in his seat and table apart
16:10The elaborately carved utensils also entail a certain mystery
16:14Did this stylized container carved in the shape of a bird have a religious meaning?
16:20The animals performed a particular ritual
16:24The help of the gods was required to prevent evil
16:28Complications during childbirth could cause the death of the mother and the child
16:32But the wise women of the Germanic tribes were also experts in the art of life
16:36They knew how to make the best wine
16:40They knew how to make the best wine
16:44They knew how to make the best wine
16:48They knew how to make the best wine
16:52The wise women of the Germanic tribes were also experts in the art of healing
16:56The midwife enjoyed an excellent position, and not least for her knowledge of medicinal herbs
17:00The art of mass, for example, was venerated by the Germanic peoples for its healing properties
17:04The art of mass, for example, was venerated by the Germanic peoples for its healing properties
17:08This healing plant, also known as agenjo comun, relieves and relaxes during childbirth
17:12This healing plant, also known as agenjo comun, relieves and relaxes during childbirth
17:16It was believed to provide protection against evil spirits
17:20Due to the Germanic tradition, many women were found to be lived, or even goddesses
17:24Due to the Germanic tradition, many women were found to be lived, or even goddesses
17:28An observation by Tacitus proves the scientific rigor of this examination
17:32Discoveries like the funeral of the woman in Fúnen with its singular funeral objects
17:36are a stroke of luck
17:40From such discoveries one can obtain conclusions about the status that the deceased boasted in her community
17:44From such discoveries one can obtain conclusions about the status that the deceased boasted in her community
17:48of Odense, the archaeologist Jorgen Jakobsen tries to answer the following question.
17:54Who was the woman of Funen?
17:56It had all kinds of exotic personal effects, strange objects and various articles of Roman luxury.
18:04Fossilized oysters and sea urchins, which probably served as amulets of good luck.
18:09But the woman of Funen seems to have also collected antiques in life,
18:13since she herself had an axe of the stone age.
18:18All these objects once had a kind of magical meaning.
18:22The woman of Funen must have played a special role.
18:27All the objects found in the grave suggest that the buried woman
18:34occupied an important position in society.
18:39Roman imported articles indicate their high rank,
18:44and all the objects in her collection of antiquities probably had a hidden meaning.
18:53Of her social status, and also of course the magical purpose of all these burial objects.
19:03We can conclude that it was undoubtedly a priestess.
19:13The father felt relieved when he saw that his wife had given him a healthy child.
19:19The Nors, the Parks, determined his future at the time of his birth.
19:28Would he be able to face the challenges that awaited him?
19:33Or would he be able to face his own fate?
19:44There are a multitude of imaginative legends about the rituals of the Germanic peoples.
19:49By not leaving written testimonies, everything we know about them
19:52has reached us through the Greeks and the Romans.
19:56The Gallic physicist describes a barbarous and overwhelming ritual.
20:03A newborn, still hot from the womb of his mother,
20:07is transferred to the river and sunk in cold water like a hot iron.
20:15Galenus considered that the purpose of that baptism in cold water
20:19was to strengthen the small body and prepare it for a life full of deprivations.
20:23But its purpose may also have been the protection against evil spirits,
20:27according to the Germanic beliefs.
20:34To what extent are the testimonies of the ancient chroniclers credible?
20:42The book Germania in particular, written by the Roman historian Tacitus,
20:46has had a lasting effect on our image of the northern tribes.
20:53But his written testimony almost 2,000 years ago,
20:56what value does it have in light of modern archaeological research?
21:01If we look at the archaeological sources about the life of the Germanic peoples
21:05during the first century of our era,
21:08I must say that we can draw a very precise image of their settlements,
21:12their sinumatory practices and their cults.
21:16One of the most fascinating branches of this research
21:19is the comparison with the written sources,
21:21and in that department Tacitus is of great help
21:24because with all certainty he must have the most extensive knowledge
21:27of the Germanic world at that time.
21:29In his Germania he described many things
21:31that today we can confirm through archaeological discoveries.
21:34Of course, he also did it to invite reflection to the Romans and Roman society.
21:39With his Germania he directly and also indirectly criticized
21:42the social conditions in Rome.
21:44But from our modern perspective,
21:46we must observe his testimony with a critical eye.
21:49Archaeologists can carry out a multitude of analysis,
21:51but many issues must be discussed exhaustively
21:54to determine whether they are possible.
21:56We cannot determine when it is a true story or a mere rumor.
22:04Not everything can be confirmed by archaeology.
22:09How was the domestic life of the Germanic tribes?
22:12Tacitus tells us that there was a clear division of labor.
22:17Women take care of the house, the farm and the fields.
22:23Since the successful birth, I have been allowed to live with the family.
22:27The housewife considered that she should no longer wear my old dress,
22:31which still showed the marks of the battle.
22:37I thanked her for her offer,
22:39because the memory of the battle against the Romans
22:41and the loss of my tribe did not leave me.
22:44So I was able to bury the past with my dress.
22:53Was the Germanic clothing so rough, vast and monotonous
22:57as the Romans tell us?
23:00The textile archaeologist Susanne Möller-Wiering
23:03examines fragments of Germanic clothing
23:05that have survived in the turbines.
23:07Under the microscope, some surprising facts come to light.
23:12The Germanic peoples wore clothes woven ornamentally of wool or canvas.
23:16The first weavers were even able to create designs in spigot.
23:21All materials found in the turbines are brown.
23:25Was this the predominant color in their clothing?
23:30From written documents and archaeological discoveries made here,
23:35we know that the Germanic people liked to wear clothes of vivid colors.
23:39It was part of playing with the natural colors of wool,
23:43combining white wool with black or brown,
23:46but we have also discovered some artificially dyed materials.
23:50Here we have an example.
23:52It can be seen that the wool was originally white and then dyed red.
23:58Textile investigations confirm, therefore, the words of Tacitus.
24:03Women wrap themselves in cloaks of canvas,
24:05dyed in different ways of carmese.
24:11To achieve this, the Germanic people used pigments extracted from the earth,
24:15plants and snails.
24:24My new cloak was much more than a simple coat.
24:28Through this gift, I was accepted into the community
24:31and now I was part of the tribe.
24:34I had found a new home.
24:39Apart from textile discoveries,
24:41excavations in the Turberas lead to other great discoveries.
24:45In acidic and anaerobic conditions,
24:47the soil of the Turberas is characterized,
24:50the organic matter is preserved as if it were wrapped in a time capsule.
24:54And frequently, among these sensational discoveries,
24:57human remains are included, bodies buried in the swamp.
25:01In Europe, several hundreds have been found
25:03dating back to the time of the Germanic peoples.
25:06One of them is the man of Grauwele.
25:08There are several reasons why people could end up in a hacienda.
25:11Accidents, crimes, punishments or funerals.
25:16Tacitus, along with other authors of antiquity,
25:18usually quotes human sacrifices carried out by the Germanic people
25:21to appease the gods.
25:24Are these reports credible
25:26or are they simple examples of Roman propaganda?
25:30Tacitus wrote that the Germanic tribes
25:32had sacrificed human beings in barbaric and repugnant ceremonies.
25:39He also described the location
25:41where these ceremonies were supposed to take place.
25:44In an island in the ocean there is a sacred little forest
25:47and inside a divine chariot.
25:49When the goddess Nertu is shown,
25:51she is transported across the earth.
25:53Then she is bathed in a remote lake.
25:55She is helped in these monasteries by some slaves,
25:58to whom immediately afterwards the lake swallows.
26:01Hence the origin of an arcane terror towards the goddess,
26:04which can only be seen by those condemned to perish.
26:08The lake Hertha, on the Norwegian island of Regen,
26:11perfectly coincides with this description.
26:13This is probably the place where the sacrifices were carried out
26:16in honour of the goddess of fertility.
26:18Was the man of Graupale one of these human sacrifices?
26:22Few of the bodies found in the turrets
26:24that date from the time of the Germanic peoples
26:26have also been preserved.
26:28The man was killed in three phases.
26:30First, his skull and tibias were crushed.
26:34Then he was beheaded and finally he was submerged in the swamp.
26:42The swamp is a mysterious place.
26:44It is neither land nor water.
26:46It is something in between, like a muddy land.
26:48Mystical creatures surround it.
26:50There is fog. It is a dangerous place.
26:52The water can swallow you.
26:54The swamps have been places very sought after by man
26:56for thousands of years.
26:58In them, goods were left as a sacrifice,
27:00offerings for the highest powers, the gods.
27:03People prayed asking for strength to reach the following year,
27:06fertility and many other things.
27:08With posterity, towards the year 440 BC,
27:12people began to offer their gods the greatest sacrifice of all,
27:15human beings, like the man of Graupale.
27:26But human sacrifices remained an exception.
27:29Food and animal sacrifices were the most common offerings.
27:33They were held in places considered sacred.
27:36Tacitus writes,
27:37The Germanic peoples consecrate forests and shrubs
27:40and give divine names to these mysterious places
27:43that they look at only with veneration.
27:45All in common worship Nertus, which means Mother Earth,
27:49which they think intervenes in the affairs of men.
28:00Winter was long and hard,
28:04and our provisions were exhausted.
28:07I went to ask Nertus for his blessing for the following year,
28:12offering him as a sacrifice what little we had left.
28:29Please, accept these offerings for the past year.
28:33Be benevolent and bless us with a fertile time.
28:40The Germanic peoples believed that the gods were omnipresent in nature
28:44and that they determined the fate of human beings.
28:51Life 2,000 years ago was a constant struggle.
28:54Cold, hunger and drought,
28:56but also frequent wars between tribes,
28:58threatened their survival.
29:00The divine powers, on the contrary, offered them help and protection.
29:09Unlike the Romans, the Germanic peoples did not raise temples to their gods.
29:14Tacitus writes,
29:15They consider it incompatible with divine dignity
29:18to lock their gods between four walls.
29:22In Oberdorla, central Germany,
29:24a sacrifice center has been confirmed and rebuilt archaeologically.
29:28It is the only one of its kind in Central Europe.
29:31In this place of worship, the Germanic peoples offered sacrifices to their gods
29:35for more than a thousand years.
29:39In Oberdorla, historian Rudolf Schimeck
29:42has discovered relevant information about the ritual practices of the Germanic peoples.
29:46But what did they sacrifice?
29:50More than 300 bones and skulls have been found in this place of worship,
29:54especially dogs, cattle and horses.
29:59The finding of cattle skulls
30:01or horse skulls in these places of sacrifice,
30:05of the Cienagas,
30:07always points to a public sacrifice.
30:10That means that the community killed these large animals in a group
30:14and consumed them in a ritual banquet.
30:17It is the case that we have found cattle skulls and limbs
30:21in our archaeological discoveries.
30:24It seems that these were the parts sacrificed to the gods,
30:27while the rest, the community consumed it in a ritual banquet.
30:32In the center of the cult of Oberdorla,
30:34archaeologists have also found large figures of wood in human form.
30:38Each of them represented a deity.
30:44What do these images, known by archaeologists as columnar idols,
30:48about the Germanic beliefs of more than 2,000 years ago tell us?
30:54They tell us that in the Middle Ages,
30:57we have found columnar idols
30:59in a large number of towers
31:01and in other places of sacrifice throughout the Germanic area.
31:04It is evident that they were part of a group of gods,
31:07a polytheistic group of gods
31:09that the Germanic peoples of those times adored.
31:12But we cannot identify what god each idol represents,
31:15and we should not even try,
31:17since it is an ancient myth,
31:19and we should not even try,
31:21since it is an ancient myth,
31:23and we should not even try,
31:25since it is an ancient myth,
31:27and we should not even try,
31:29it is a time centuries away from any written document.
31:32The only thing we can say
31:34is that these figures,
31:36some of which are carved with greater detail than others,
31:39and others are simple stakes,
31:41were columnar idols associated with male and female deities
31:44because they were often differentiated as such.
31:50The figures served for certain cults of fertility.
31:53They have often been paired as a union of worship of the gods.
32:01The idols are vast and simple.
32:04The Germanic peoples deliberately represented their deities with simplicity,
32:08since they were sacred archetypes of the ancient past of the tribes.
32:14They believed that when the wood of the idols rotted, their divine power faded.
32:19Then, luckily for the researchers, they were buried in the ground.
32:24In 2005, near Greifswald, on the German coast of the Baltic,
32:28archaeologists found an idol of such characteristics.
32:32A rare and fortunate discovery.
32:35Does it really go back to the times of the Germanic tribes?
32:38A small sample of wood is enough to determine its antiquity.
32:42Radiocarbon dating is the method used to establish its antiquity.
32:45Carbon 14, a radioactive isotope of carbon, can be detected in dead tree wood.
32:52Before making the measurement, the idol's wood must be prepared.
32:57Then the carbon is isolated in a particle accelerator.
33:02The proportion between radioactive carbon and non-radioactive indicates the age of the wood.
33:08Because, unlike normal carbon, the radioactive isotope of carbon 14 disintegrates.
33:12Scientists can use its reactive period to measure the disintegration process in years.
33:21In the laboratory, the results of the columnar idol are evaluated.
33:26Our measurements indicate that the carbon 14 of the wood is 2,100 years old.
33:31If we transfer it to a calibration curve based on the rings of growth of a tree,
33:36the wood would go back to a period between the year 200 and the year 50 BC.
33:40So it is very possible that this figure could have been sculpted in the second half of the 1st century BC,
33:46as we expected.
33:48It is a very useful fact for archaeologists.
33:52After the Germanic tribes came into contact with the Romans in the 1st century BC,
33:58the world of their gods began to change.
34:01The male deities, gods of war, displaced the gods of fertility.
34:05Weapons became increasingly common, such as the funerary aguar.
34:08These findings have allowed archaeologists to conclude
34:12that the incursions and wars between the tribes have intensified.
34:16We meet in a sacred forest.
34:24As a priestess, my mission was to ask the god of war for his support.
34:32Hostile tribes threatened our homeland.
34:35Men had to rise up in arms.
34:38I'm coming!
34:45Would they be on our side in the battle?
34:52Tacitus tells us about the Germanic belligerence.
34:57It is not easy to persuade them to plough the land.
35:00They prefer to challenge the enemy, even at the risk of suffering mortal wounds.
35:05And they still find it lazy to acquire with sweat what can be achieved with blood.
35:15We were able to expel our enemies, but we also had to mourn our dead.
35:21The chief of our tribe perished in the battle.
35:25In his funeral, he will not miss any of the comforts corresponding to his rank.
35:29This is what Tacitus said about the Germanic funeral rites.
35:34They do not use any pump in their burials.
35:37They only burn the bodies of their illustrious men with certain types of firewood.
35:41Each warrior is buried with his weapons.
35:45They soon shed tears and weep.
35:48But the pain and sadness last.
35:51The moment when the thread of life must be broken is only in the hands of fate.
35:56However, for a warrior it is glorious to fall for his tribe in the battlefield.
36:03My spirit felt relieved, because I know that his name and legacy will live in our stories and in our songs.
36:12I will never forget this day.
36:14My spirit felt relieved, because I know that his name and legacy will live in our stories and in our songs.
36:33After cremation, the ashes were kept in urns.
36:36Whether it was a chief, a warrior, a farmer, a woman or a child,
36:40the remains of each member of the tribe rested in such containers.
36:44The remains of each member of the tribe rested in such containers.
36:52The bones of the remains of the Germanic era are very valuable for science.
36:59To the anthropologist Birgit Grosskopf, from the University of Göttingen,
37:03the bones reveal a lot of information about the diet, diseases and life expectancy of the Germanic peoples.
37:09First, she examines the joints.
37:10Her size provides her with information about the gender,
37:13and her deterioration gives her clues about the age of the deceased.
37:16In this way, one can get an idea of what the living conditions were like among the Germanic peoples.
37:21There are different methods to diagnose age.
37:25Usually, when the bodies have been buried, we look at the cranial joints,
37:30which allow us to get closer to the vital trajectory of a person.
37:35This joint can indicate to us quite accurately the age of the individual.
37:40This is an important fact because, in turn,
37:43it enlightens us about the changes in life conditions
37:46or in the mortality rate that may have occurred.
37:49During the Bronze Age, infant mortality was significantly higher
37:54and the average life expectancy was lower.
37:57During the Iron Age, infant mortality rate fell,
38:00while the adult life expectancy increased.
38:10Even when the living conditions of the Germanic tribes were ostensibly better than those of their ancestors,
38:16their bones still witnessed a life full of deprivations.
38:19The symptoms of deficiency and diseases were very widespread,
38:24many of the times with fatal results.
38:31The Germanic peoples not only felt respect for the dead,
38:35they also feared them.
38:37They believed that the dead could return as spirits to harm the living.
38:42To avoid this risk, they incinerated the bodies.
38:45In this way, they could deposit the weapons next to the dead
38:49on their journey to the afterlife without having to worry.
38:55They even bent the swords to stab in the wounds.
38:59When the Germanic tribes met the Roman Empire at their doors,
39:03more and more weapons were added to their funeral arrangements.
39:07This explains the growing importance of war.
39:10Did the Germanic society experience a change?
39:13The archaeological sources around the time of the birth of Christ,
39:17as well as later periods,
39:19clearly show that the Germanic societies established between Scandinavia,
39:23the Rhine and the Bistula,
39:24were highly militarized.
39:26Spears and javelins were particularly common in the urns,
39:30they were long-range weapons.
39:32There were also swords of a single edge,
39:35not always of great quality and not always neatly forged,
39:39but there were also shields,
39:41which indicates that the warriors knew how to defend themselves
39:45and some of them mounted on horseback.
39:48So they even had mounted officers.
39:50That gives us a vivid image of some peoples
39:53who knew how to live together in society,
39:56but who were at the same time able to fight each other
40:00and achieve success in a possible military confrontation.
40:06The Germanic warriors also crossed the Rhine during their raids
40:10by entering the Roman Gaul.
40:13For Rome, that was equivalent to a declaration of war.
40:16Under the command of General Drusus the Great,
40:19the Romans trusted to put an end to that threat forever.
40:22In the first place, a series of camps were established
40:25for the legions between Maguncia and Nimea.
40:28From the year 12 BC, the coast began to be explored.
40:31Emperor Augustus boasted proudly.
40:34My fleet sailed at dawn from the mouth of the Rhine
40:37towards an ocean that no Roman had reached before.
40:40Summer after summer, the Romans launched military campaigns
40:43to the heart of Germany.
40:44A poem highlights Drusus' feats.
40:47He crushed the unnameable barbarians
40:50and extended the dominion of Rome over new territories.
40:54However, Drusus was not satisfied.
40:57He was only 26 years old when he began the conquest of Germany
41:00under the command of six legions.
41:03He increasingly penetrated the interior of these inhospitable
41:06wooded lands, as remembered by the philosopher Seneca.
41:09Drusus set the military standards of Rome
41:11in places where people did not even know
41:14the existence of the Romans.
41:17And another Roman historian, Paterculo, wrote
41:20Drusus conquered large territories of Germany
41:23and spilled a lot of blood of those people.
41:28Augustus chose an arc of triumph in Rome
41:31in honor of the conqueror of Germany.
41:34Since then, Drusus and his descendants
41:37have been allowed to use the honorary name of Germanicus.
41:42However, for the Romans, Germany was still
41:45a strange and sinister country
41:48where fantastic events took place.
41:57I lived among the Cherusci for almost 50 years
42:00until my past came in search of me.
42:05I saw again a Roman army and military banners.
42:08What did the Romans want?
42:11Why did they leave their country
42:14to come to our forests?
42:19In Gaul, when the legions of Caesar
42:22defeated the warriors of Ariovistus,
42:25the Romans revealed their true face.
42:28If we did not submit to their dominion,
42:31they were implacable.
42:36I summoned the gods in search of help.
42:39And a strong storm forced Drusus
42:42and his legionaries to retreat.
42:54The historian Dion Cassius heard of the strange event.
42:57It seems that Drusus heard the voice of a woman
43:00in the Germanic forests.
43:03Where are you going, insatiable Drusus?
43:05Leave these places.
43:08The end of your life and your exploits is near.
43:17The historical sources tell us
43:20that he was seriously injured when he fell off his horse.
43:23And that the conqueror of Germany
43:26died because of the wounds.
43:29His brother Tiberius assumed command.
43:36Like Drusus,
43:39Tiberius was also the stepson of Emperor Augustus.
43:42And now he had to satisfy his father's wishes.
43:45The absolute submission of all of Germany.
43:52However, Tiberius used a different strategy
43:55than his brother's.
43:58He did not want to achieve his goal through war.
44:01Tiberius chose a more diplomatic route.
44:03He wanted the Germanic peoples
44:06to voluntarily submit to the yoke of Rome.
44:09He wanted to break the resistance of the barbarians
44:12through the cultural superiority of Rome.
44:20On the banks of the Rhine, in the current colony,
44:23he began his campaign.
44:26Following the Roman model, he built a city for the Ubi.
44:29A Germanic tribe that had been an ally of Rome for decades.
44:31Opidum Ubiorum
44:34became one of the most majestic cities of the empire.
44:37Theatres, temples and thermae
44:40were built to convince the Germanic peoples
44:43of the advantages of civilization.
44:47There are very few traces of the time of the foundation of Cologne.
44:50The oldest archaeological evidence
44:53is the monument of the Ubi.
44:56It is the foundations of a stone tower built in the year 4 AD.
45:01The Romans built it.
45:04The stone blocks witness it.
45:07They were carved to fit the Roman dimensions.
45:10The city was a gift from the emperor
45:13to the Germanic subjects of the empire.
45:16It is likely that the stone tower was part
45:19of the first walled city of Opidum Ubiorum.
45:24Rome had great plans for the city of the Ubi.
45:27This is where the temple of the new province of Germania
45:29was built.
45:32Once a year, all the subdued tribes had to meet
45:35to renew their vote of loyalty to Rome.
45:39The spacious Roman temple on the banks of the Rhine
45:42dominated the landscape.
45:45A Germanic priest officiated the ceremony on the altar
45:48in the Arach Germaniae.
45:51The building was symbolically oriented to the east,
45:54towards Germania, the territory that Rome aspired to dominate.
46:00Not only the Ubi,
46:03but also the tribes of the east bank of the Rhine
46:06were subdued one by one to the dominion of Rome.
46:09It was probably in the year 8 BC
46:12when the Cherusci finally surrendered.
46:15Like other tribes between the Rhine and the Elbe,
46:18the only way out was to flee,
46:21to start a battle lost in advance
46:24or to submit voluntarily.
46:26The Cherusci princes decided to sign peace with Rome.
46:29The Roman historian Paterculo wrote,
46:32Tiberius traveled all the territory of Germania
46:35as a winner, without losing a single man
46:38of the army he commanded.
46:41He conquered Germania in such an absolute way
46:44that he practically turned it into a province
46:47to which he was demanded to pay tributes.
46:50Rome was also interested in peace.
46:53Tiberius had to secure the newly conquered territory
46:56and needed allies worthy of trust
46:59among the defeated peoples.
47:02This policy of pacification had proven to be very effective.
47:05But the Cherusci had to pay a high price
47:08for peace and security.
47:11They had to renounce certain liberties,
47:14obey the orders of Rome, pay tributes
47:17and hand over their children to serve in the Roman army.
47:22Finally, the Romans demanded the surrender
47:24of the prince's son to ensure our loyalty.
47:27The Romans called him Arminius.
47:30He had to accompany the legionaries to Rome
47:33as a hostage.
47:36The prince gave in without any alternative.
47:39The fate of our tribe was in his hands
47:42and his responsibility was to ensure peace.
47:45Using children as hostages
47:48was not an unusual practice in ancient times.
47:50Far from his homeland, they served to ensure
47:53the loyalty of his tribe.
47:56But in general, Rome used to treat its hostages well.
47:59So Arminius was educated as a Roman
48:02in the capital of the empire.
48:13A faithful companion accompanied the prince's son
48:16to his new homeland.
48:19Would the Cherusci ever see the land of their tribe again?
48:22Arminius would return 20 years later
48:25and would give a turn to the history of Germany.
48:48To be continued...