Ancient Germanic Society: a Game of Power

Ancient tribal Germanic society evolved in a rather uncomplicated and natural way, for there was no single higher authority and neither much external interference (up until the Romans showed up at least). In this video we will focus on the structures and mechanics in Germanic society that most powered that evolution, and helped shape the culture of the ancient people we nowadays refer to as Germanics. This overview will discuss topics like governing, democracy, leadership, war and warriors in ancient germanic society and much and more.

00:00 Introduction
02:34 Channel intro
02:45 Julius Caesar and the Germanics
04:55 Lifestyle
05:59 Governance in small-scale society
07:56 Evolution to large-scale society
10:14 Tribal council and assembly
12:12 Tribal confederation
12:42 Role and significance of war
14:35 Warleaders in power
16:58 Outro

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Music:
Rome Total War 1 Jeff van Dyck
Rome Total War 2 Richard Beddow
Adrian von Ziegler

Graphic motion design:
German Reber

[VRSVLVS]

I'm so proud :3. The spear I completely hand made with traditional tools was prominently used in this video. Even helping in these very small ways towards the production of these videos makes historical re-enactment the most fulfilling thing I've done in my life.

[t.longfield]

Nicely done once again! I particularly like it how you show in this documentary how the local chickens suffered under the intrusion of bloodthirsty warbands, invading their homes and such.

[arthurdowney]

Caesar: "The Gauls are too much like us, and that makes them a threat!"
Caesar: "The Germans are too different from us, and that makes them a threat!"

[caervlevsmaximvs]

16:23

‘Me and the boys on our way to that big Ting in the sacred forest’

[Carnifindion]

Gotta absolutely love the aesthetics of these videos, extremely authentic setting & clothing.

[JJadx]

as someone from a village with an germanic well and multiple burial mounts and earth walls (separating farm fields) still visible. i really miss edu content on this. thanks a lot kerels!

[tomasruizdiaz]

"the trees speak germanic"

-roman legionnaire at teutoburg

[mikemodugno]

Thanks for bringing this period to life so well. I would like to see a video on the transition of Germanic society between early Roman Imperial period and the Migration period.

[pseudonym]

Amazing work, as usual. Glad to see the Germanic perspective covered.

[viniciusmachadodeavila]

I love How this YouTube chanel has better documentaries then the History Channel

[ayparillo]

My heart always jumps a bit when I see a new video. Yet again, this one did not disappoint. Not only do you release some of the best historical content on YouTube, but the quality stays consistent.

[joelabraham]

Commenting for the algorithm. You guys are criminally underrated.

[okancanarslan]

Very informative video. Provides great insights about how militarism, centralization and autocracy became prevalent in societies by feeding each other

[theamziss]

I'm hoping for more content on germanic tribes in the future. It's a lot less covered than roman history, but super interesting. Especially with you guys based on germanic lands, will make for some cool shots as well.

[degustablegerbil]

A topic very seldom discussed! Another great video :)

[spartanian]

Hope you all keep going, it's a joy to watch each video you release.

[troydodson]

A grand video, high quality and truly shows the in an outs of Germania in a clear way yet shows how complex and free flowing the governing is. Thank you noble sir

[CasparMinning]

Great content yet again, its so wonderful that you are all so dedicated to deliver such quality content!

[andersgrassman]

What I infer & extrapolite from this, is that the fact that the Germanic people(s) lived in small village settlements, could be the distant foundation of the very strong democratic heritage in Germanic culture that I would say runs straight up onto our present day. In fact, I would argue that the most vital developement of democracy is found in the Nordic countries and British isles.

And in Scandinavia central government remained very weak up to at least the 16th century. Society consisted of farming families that owned their land themselves. There never developed any feudal system. And any King actually had to stay on good terms with the people, or he would be ousted. The earliest preserved Swedish law states that "The Swedes have the right to elect a King, and also depose".

Funny thing is, these early laws also stated how many "electorial representatives" each region had the right to send, in order to elect a king. Like the Finnish people had the right to send a certain number. (Finland and Sweden was the same realm for like 700 years.) Now that sounds exactly like the electorial college still used in the USA to elect a president!

NOTE: My reasoning is personal speculation.

[Brucey]

These videos would provide valuable context to any traditional course on antiquity, even in the curriculum of a prestigious university.