Germanic peoples
Historical category of northern European peoples
Summary
The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe during Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include the Roman-era Germani who lived in both Germania and parts of the Roman Empire, and all Germanic speaking peoples from this era, irrespective of where they lived, most notably the Goths. Another term, ancient Germans, is considered problematic by many scholars because it suggests identity with present-day Germans. Although the first Roman descriptions of Germani involved tribes west of the Rhine river, their homeland of Germania was portrayed as stretching east of the Rhine, to southern Scandinavia and the Vistula in the east, and to the upper Danube in the south. Other Germanic speakers, such as the Bastarnae and Goths, lived further east in what is now Moldova and Ukraine. The term Germani is generally only used to refer to historical peoples from the 1st to 4th centuries CE.
Originally created by Travist
10/1/2001, 11:02:14 PM
Modified
4/21/2026, 2:08:22 PM
Recent revisions
return to original state
/* Runic writing */ double?
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1349438015|1349438015]] by [[Special:Contributions/HistoryofSicily|HistoryofSicily]] ([[User talk:HistoryofSicily|talk]]) removing new good faith material: primary source only, and relevance to pre-existing text, and article topic not made clear
/* Roman Imperial Period to 375 */ Added information
Undid revision [[Special:Diff/1349305838|1349305838]] by [[Special:Contributions/HealthKnight1993|HealthKnight1993]] ([[User talk:HealthKnight1993|talk]]) overcomplicated linking
restore previous phrasing: "end of the Roman Empire" is fine
revert edit not in alignment with source, which in this context refers to "...renewed definition of a Germanic world spanning from the Rhine to the Vistula in the first four centuries CE"
/* Modern definitions and controversies */
/* Modern definitions and controversies */
clarification edit
we don't need a map of the spread of modern Germanic languages on an article about ancient/medieval peoples
Changing the map because the previous one was wrong about Scotland.
Reverting possible vandalism by [[Special:Contribs/~2026-11074-10|~2026-11074-10]] to version by Alcaios. [[WP:CBFP|Report False Positive?]] Thanks, [[WP:CBNG|ClueBot NG]]. (4483891) (Bot)
