Germania, también llamada Magna Germania (en español: Gran Germania), era una gran región histórica en el centro-norte de Europa durante la era romana, que fue asociada por los autores romanos con los pueblos germánicos. La región se extendía aproximadamente desde el Medio y Bajo Rin en el oeste hasta el Vístula en el este. También llegaba tan al sur como el Alto y el Danubio Medio y Panonia, y hasta las zonas conocidas de Escandinavia en el norte. Arqueológicamente, estos pueblos corresponden aproximadamente a la Edad del Hierro Romana de esas regiones. Aunque aparentemente dominada por pueblos germánicos, la Magna Germania estaba habitada asimismo por pueblos no germánicos, entre ellos los celtas y protoeslavos.
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00:001929, south-west of Germany.
00:11Near the town of Burlingen, a new railway line has been built.
00:16The workers had received orders to be careful.
00:19It was suspected that a German cemetery had been buried underground.
00:24And indeed, shortly, the men had to interrupt their work.
00:30They came across a grave and made a spectacular discovery.
00:34The tip of a spear in which some runes appeared printed.
00:38The mysterious characters used by the Germanic tribes.
00:42Who engraved those signs and what was their meaning?
00:46It is not known who was the owner of the spear,
00:49because the Germanic tribes did not leave behind any testimony of any personal life.
00:54But archaeological discoveries and historical sources
00:57allow us to get an idea of what the life of a Germanic warrior was like at that time.
01:02Let's call him Griffo.
01:04This could be his story.
01:09I had been chasing my prey for several hours
01:12and I had the feeling that I was not far away.
01:20I lived with my tribe in the area that delimited the border with the Roman Empire.
01:25We lived in peace.
01:27But that day, everything was going to change.
01:33My parents' house was on fire.
01:36What had happened?
01:43A group of riders had attacked my tribe to sell us as slaves.
01:50The Germanic world of the third century of our era was crumbling.
01:54The Germanic tribes fought each other.
01:57The bandits threatened peace.
02:02The chiefs surrounded themselves with young warriors
02:05and promised them wealth and adventure.
02:08They supplied weapons to their followers.
02:11They traded with stolen objects and with slaves.
02:15The greatest discovery of weapons of the third century
02:18is a clear testimony of how warlike they were in Germany at that time.
02:22Helmets, spearheads, blade blades,
02:25the complete equipment of a group that amounted to a thousand warriors.
02:29At that time in Germany, it was a powerful army.
02:34The weapons were found in the Hellerup Swamp,
02:37in the north of Denmark.
02:39In the past, it had been a sacred place
02:42where the Germanic peoples offered their sacrifices to the gods.
02:46Today it is a real hidden treasure for archaeologists.
02:50The weapons found in Hellerup
02:52allowed the investigators for the first time
02:55to have a precise image of what a Germanic army of the third century was like.
02:59They found more than 15,000 pieces of equipment,
03:02from a mount chair to a belt buckle.
03:06Why did so many weapons end up in this swamp?
03:09And what do they tell us about their owners?
03:12Archaeologist Jörgen Ilkje has been trying to solve this mystery.
03:16He suspects that the army was defeated
03:19and that the winners destroyed the valuable weapons
03:22and offered them to the gods as a sign of gratitude.
03:25Jörgen Ilkje has used the objects found
03:28to make a list of the most valuable weapons in the world.
03:32Jörgen Ilkje has used the objects found
03:35to reconstruct the system of organization of the warriors.
03:39If we imagine an army of 1,000 warriors
03:42and look closely at their equipment,
03:45we will clearly see that there was a defined hierarchy.
03:48Someone had to be in command.
03:50Otherwise, it would never have been possible to lead such an army in a war.
03:54Here in the north of Denmark, iron ore was extracted.
03:57But gold, bronze and silver had to be imported.
04:00These precious metals that we have found among the equipment
04:03were evidently reserved for the army leaders.
04:08Therefore, the armed groups were not wild hordes,
04:11but they were perfectly structured.
04:14Around a third of the army were standing warriors.
04:17The distribution of gold, bronze and iron makes that extreme clear.
04:21Their leaders had good contacts with the Roman Empire,
04:24which was the one who provided them with weapons.
04:27Who were those warriors?
04:29Jörgen Ilkje suspects that the spearheads will provide him with a clue.
04:33Each type of spear can be classified incorrectly.
04:36The archaeologist believes that the group came from Norway
04:39and that the attack was well prepared and carefully planned.
04:45But only after observing through a magnifying glass,
04:48he discovers the crucial clue.
04:50Runic symbols with a clear message.
04:55The runic inscription is clearly legible.
04:58In the three objects the same legend appears.
05:01Vagnillo is a name.
05:04One of the runic inscriptions is sealed.
05:07That means that the spears were already massively produced.
05:12This is the equipment of a complete army of more than a thousand men
05:15who came from Denmark in search of war.
05:19But were defeated.
05:21These are their weapons.
05:23The weapons of the defeated.
05:25That the victors threw into the lake as a sacrifice for the gods of war.
05:32The armament treasure of Gellerup
05:34confirms a change of great reach in Germany.
05:41In the third century many of the old Germanic tribes were dissolved.
05:45Small warlike groups were slowly transforming into new and large tribes,
05:50such as the Saxons, the Franks, the Alamans, the Burgundians and the Goths.
05:56Not only did they fight among themselves.
05:58The military leaders of those great tribes
06:00soon began to challenge the Roman Empire as well.
06:07The headhunters kept stepping on my heels.
06:10Hours passed and I kept running.
06:14Suddenly I saw the Roman border in front of me.
06:17This was where our land ended.
06:20But what did I have to lose?
06:22I had no choice, I had to risk it all.
06:26The slave traders could not follow me beyond the border.
06:35A Roman chronicler tells.
06:38Emperor Adrian had made large trunks of united wood
06:41encroach on the ground to mark a border with the land of the barbarians.
06:48At the beginning of the second century,
06:50the Romans fortified the northern border of their empire.
06:53The Limes, as they were called,
06:55had in palisades, ditches and 900 atalañas.
06:58They were designed to protect the empire of the Germanic tribes.
07:01The Limes crossed 500 kilometers of forests.
07:05After the Great Wall of China,
07:07it is the largest structure the world has seen.
07:10For the Germanic tribes they were a clear sign.
07:13This is where the power of Rome began.
07:18The wall of Adrian in northern England
07:21was built shortly after the Limes.
07:23It continues to be an imposing example
07:26of how the Roman border fortifications dominated the landscape.
07:30They represent Adrian's foreign policy in the form of stone.
07:34Rome had surpassed the peak of its power
07:37and was enclosing behind its borders.
07:41The remains of the Germanic Limes
07:43can only be observed by carrying out an exhaustive inspection.
07:47An example of this is a section of the remains of the wall
07:50and the strip in the current German state of Gese.
07:53Unlike in England, the Limes of northern Germany
07:56were made only of wood and earth.
07:59In palisades and ditches were important components of the Limes.
08:04What function did the Limes have?
08:07After the devastating defeat in the Battle of Teotoburgo,
08:10in the 16th year of our era,
08:12Rome permanently withdrew to the other side of the Rhine and the Danube.
08:16The Limes closed the space between the two rivers.
08:19At the same time, the empire annexed a particularly fertile area of Germany.
08:25But only slight traces of the border wall of almost 2,000 years of antiquity
08:29can be distinguished in the terrain.
08:32Archaeologists hope to discover new clues through aerial observations.
08:40Climbing over the walls of the Limes,
08:42it is possible to see the remains of the ancient wall
08:45and the remains of the walls of the Limes.
08:48Climbing over the walls of the Limes,
08:50it is possible to see the remains of the ancient wall
08:53and the remains of the walls of the Limes.
08:56This expert is able to recognize remains in the terrain,
08:59such as graves, ceilings and walls,
09:02even if they have thousands of years of antiquity.
09:05The archaeologist is lucky,
09:08the light conditions are favorable.
09:11He has discovered a sign that only an expert is able to see.
09:14He has discovered a sign that only an expert is able to see.
09:17A dark discoloration in the terrain.
09:20This is where the Limes were located in the past.
09:23This is where the Limes were located in the past.
09:26And those marks, of a lighter tone, are the foundations of two atolls.
09:29And those marks, of a lighter tone, are the foundations of two atolls.
09:32Archaeologist Egon Schallmayr has also been examining the route of the Limes.
09:35Archaeologist Egon Schallmayr has also been examining the route of the Limes.
09:38The researchers of the Limes are continuing a task
09:40that began under the auspices of the German government in 1892.
09:43The work carried out by the first researchers was fundamental.
09:46The work carried out by the first researchers was fundamental.
09:49But currently many assumptions must be reviewed.
09:52A hundred years ago, people thought that the Limes were a border for the war of wear and tear.
09:55A hundred years ago, people thought that the Limes were a border for the war of wear and tear.
09:58That is, for the military defense against the invaders,
10:01mainly the German invaders.
10:04But today we know more about it,
10:07and we can affirm that the Limes were a barrier of political, economic and population control.
10:10But today we know more about it,
10:13and we can affirm that the Limes were a barrier of political, economic and population control.
10:16That means that the Romans controlled the movements of the population
10:19and also the flow of products that entered the empire through specific border passages,
10:22where they were applied to aranceles
10:25and people were forced to identify.
10:31I wanted to escape crossing the border,
10:34but I ran into some Roman guards.
10:38They told me that it was forbidden to enter the empire with weapons.
10:43As I had no money on me, they arrested me.
10:51The Germans who entered illegally into Roman territory
10:54were treated by the Romans as prisoners of war.
10:57The risk of being discovered was high,
11:00since the Roman border was controlled with an ingenious system.
11:04The atalayas were the backbone of the border line.
11:07The atalayas were the backbone of the border line.
11:10They were in sight of each other
11:13so that the soldiers could have an uninterrupted vision of the border.
11:16They were also scattered through the forest
11:19so that the soldiers could control the area located in front of the Limes.
11:22A watchtower could house up to 8 soldiers.
11:25A watchtower could house up to 8 soldiers.
11:28These remained in their positions for several weeks, uninterruptedly.
11:31They stored their supplies in the towers and cooked their own bread.
11:34They stored their supplies in the towers and cooked their own bread.
11:37The most important mission of the troops of the Limes was to give the alarm,
11:40emitting horn signals in the event of an attack.
11:43At night they used torches to stay in contact with the neighboring towers
11:46At night they used torches to stay in contact with the neighboring towers
11:49and with smaller fortifications inside, guarded by cavalry troops.
11:52It was a simple but effective alarm system,
11:55like a kind of archaic radar.
11:58The Limes were an important element
12:01in the Romanian border defense against the Germanic tribes.
12:09Of course, the Romans placed their troops on the border line.
12:12Of course, the Romans placed their troops on the border line.
12:15From there they controlled the area several kilometers beyond the wall.
12:19And if a threat arose, the troops were informed and they were able to react.
12:22And if a threat arose, the troops were informed and they were able to react.
12:25They invaded the enemy territory and tried to restore peace.
12:29And when a group of Germans crossed the Limes,
12:32the guards gave the signal of alarm.
12:37Intervention troops mounted,
12:39stationed at a greater distance from the Limes,
12:41intercepted the invaders.
12:43If the Germanic tribes still managed to enter the territory
12:47and returned loaded with large boots,
12:49the Roman alarm system again gave the warning to the mounted troops.
12:55These intercepted then the invaders
12:57when they tried to cross again to Germany.
13:03The German Commission of the Limes rebuilt
13:05one of the fortifications or castles guarded by mounted troops,
13:08the Saalburg in S.
13:10Here the riders were located day and night,
13:12prepared to respond to any attack.
13:18But for a long time in the Limes,
13:20the battles were an exception.
13:22The norm was to maintain a reduced and peaceful traffic on the border.
13:25There is archaeological evidence that proves it.
13:28Klaus Berman has found direct evidence in the Limes.
13:32In this aerial photograph we can see perfectly
13:35that the Limes had a slit.
13:38Behind that slit there was an atalaya.
13:41It was a typical border crossing of the Limes.
13:44We can deduce that his commitment was the following.
13:47When a group of Germanics, for example merchants,
13:50tried to enter the empire in the Roman province,
13:53the soldiers reviewed the articles they transported
13:56and also charged them with tariffs.
13:59Once the procedure was completed,
14:01they were allowed to enter and also sell their products in the markets.
14:04Then they returned to Germany by the same border crossing.
14:11Ancient sources reveal vivid examples of peaceful border traffic,
14:15such as cattle trade with the guards in the Limes.
14:18A business that both sides benefited from.
14:21The Roman soldiers needed fresh meat
14:24and the Germanic peoples were interested in Roman luxury goods.
14:35One of the most exuberant Germanic burials
14:38is the tomb of Prince Goebbels in Thuringia.
14:41It confirms that the Germanic nobility
14:43was passionate about Roman luxury goods.
14:46It is a treasure of incredible wealth.
14:49Coins and finely carved Roman jewels,
14:52but also a magnificent gold and silver coffering.
14:57They are valuable symbols of status,
15:00which left no doubt about the privileged position of their owners.
15:04But why a Germanic prince,
15:06almost 400 kilometers from the border,
15:08wanted to take to the other world Roman coffering?
15:12Matthias Becker was one of the directors of the excavation
15:16when the treasure was discovered.
15:18For him it is a clear demonstration
15:20of the ties that united the Romans and the Germanic tribes
15:23in the third century.
15:28Roman articles also shed light
15:30on the daily culture of the Germanic nobility.
15:33The relationship between the Romans and the Germanic tribes
15:36was not defined only by confrontations and military raids,
15:40but also by multiple peaceful interactions,
15:43such as trade, banquets or even gifts.
15:46What the discoveries made in the tomb of Goebbels
15:49make perfectly clear
15:51is that the Germanic people
15:53tried to imitate the style of Roman life.
15:55The prince of Goebbels used objects
15:57from the culture of Roman drink on his table.
15:59Probably he was addicted to the Roman model
16:01when he drank in society,
16:03something that he had possibly known
16:05through his experiences in the empire.
16:07Then he copied it on his land,
16:09and gave it to his Germanic compatriots.
16:13Humble people could only dream of such luxuries,
16:16both in Germany and in the Roman Empire.
16:21People capable of preserving their freedom
16:24on both sides of the Limes
16:26could be considered fortunate.
16:28Slavery was the dark side of ancient societies.
16:32I got rid of the Germanic headhunters,
16:35but now they had sold me to the Roman circus.
16:40I landed among the gladiators.
16:43Soon I had to defend my life
16:45fighting as a mercenary,
16:47a fighter with a net.
16:50Among the other fighters there were captives like me,
16:53but also professional gladiators.
16:55It was clear who would be my opponent.
16:57A strong-armed and well-trained executioner.
17:00A fighter with a sword.
17:02Did I have any chance against him?
17:09Bread and circus was what the Romans offered
17:12to all their subjects throughout the empire.
17:15In Augusta Treverorum, the current Trier,
17:18spectators occupied their seats
17:20at the first hour of the morning.
17:23In the circus various everyday objects were sold
17:26with reasons of gladiators.
17:30Bottles to drink with representations
17:32of combat scenes.
17:34Glasses in the shape of a helmet and decorated lamps.
17:37They are a clear demonstration
17:39that the gladiators were the idols of the masses.
17:44The doors of the amphitheaters were called
17:46vomitoria, vomitorios.
17:48That is, the place where the spectators
17:50entered and left.
17:52From there the masses accessed
17:54jubilant and expectant to their seats
17:56to witness the imminent show.
17:58Many gladiators of Augusta Treverorum
18:00were Germanic captives on the other side of the Limes.
18:08The day of the games had come.
18:13Which of us would leave the circus alive?
18:16Who would not return?
18:21With the entrance of the gladiators
18:23the bloody games to life or death began,
18:26with the Roman rulers seeking
18:28to win the sympathy of the people.
18:37Morituri greets you.
18:39Those who are going to die greet you.
18:44That was the greeting that the gladiator
18:46directed to the nobles who sponsored the event,
18:48senators and personalities of the province.
18:50The Germanic gladiators were
18:52considered especially good,
18:54so the rich and powerful liked
18:56to have Germanic escorts.
19:00Germanic escorts were popular
19:02until ancient times,
19:04particularly among emperors,
19:06when foreigners were not interested
19:08in internal intrigues or
19:10Roman murder conspiracies.
19:12The Suetonian imperial biographer
19:14admired Germanic escorts
19:16for being the most loyal of all units.
19:22A Roman mosaic recalls scenes of the circus.
19:26It also shows a fight between
19:28a executioner and his opponent, a mercenary.
19:31The mosaic was discovered near Trier.
19:35The fascination for games of life or death
19:37covered all layers of Roman society.
19:45I was waiting for my turn.
19:48I was waiting for my death.
19:55I heard the noise of combat
19:57and the frenetic masses outside.
20:04The public wanted to see blood
20:09and their wishes were fulfilled.
20:17The gladiators waited in their cells
20:19for the time of their fight.
20:21Their desperation must have been immense.
20:25A source refers to 30 Germanic war prisoners
20:28of the Saxon tribe.
20:30They strangled each other.
20:32The last survivor swallowed a sponge.
20:36They took their lives to avoid
20:38the bloody spectacle in the arena.
20:41But the games continued
20:43with new supplies of human material.
20:52I swore that my blood
20:54would not stain the wheel that afternoon.
20:58My opponent was a veteran,
21:00a first-class sword.
21:05My only chance of survival
21:07was to fight with speed and skill.
21:15Virtually no one opposed
21:17gladiator fights.
21:19In Rome, the Seneca philosopher was the exception.
21:23It is a massacre.
21:25There is nothing a gladiator can protect himself with.
21:28Why bother?
21:30It would only prolong his agony.
21:32Why resist so vehemently to die?
21:36When a gladiator fell to the ground,
21:38the spectators shouted,
21:40He has fallen, he has fallen.
21:42And the public decided whether to die or live.
21:49I was already sentenced,
21:51but I did not give up.
21:54Fast as lightning,
21:56I took advantage of the moment.
22:00And Votan rewarded me with victory.
22:07He had won me my freedom.
22:15A wooden sword was the prize
22:17for gladiators especially valiant.
22:20They were granted freedom.
22:22According to some testimonies,
22:24gladiators were also rewarded with money.
22:26But the number of gladiators
22:28who could celebrate a happy ending
22:30had to be exceeded.
22:35I had been told of a great city
22:37on the banks of the Rhine.
22:39The Agrippina Colony.
22:41There you could get any wish
22:43to come true if you had money.
22:45I had never seen a city like this.
22:47I was curious.
22:51In ancient times,
22:53Agrippina was the largest city
22:55in the north of the Alps.
22:57In the square of the cathedral,
22:59an arch of the northern Roman door
23:01has survived to this day.
23:03From here, one of the two main streets
23:05led to the Forum.
23:09In the third century,
23:11the Agrippina Colony was in its heyday.
23:13The small settlement
23:15that Emperor Augustus had built
23:17for the Germanic tribe of the Ubios
23:19had become an image
23:21of the Roman Empire.
23:23Up to 40,000 people,
23:25between natives and Romans,
23:27lived peacefully
23:29in this shell of the Roman civilization.
23:39The Ubios had become
23:41unconditional citizens
23:43of the Roman Empire.
23:45They wore their hair
23:47according to Roman fashion,
23:49no one wanted to give up
23:51life in the city
23:53and return voluntarily
23:55to the forests of Germany.
24:01In the 50s of our era,
24:03the city founded by Augustus
24:05was granted the status of Colony.
24:07It was baptized as
24:09Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.
24:13Granddaughter of Emperor Augustus,
24:15Agrippina was the driving force
24:17of that movement.
24:21It would be unfair not to mention
24:23that Colonia would not exist
24:25without Agrippina,
24:27at least with that name,
24:29because Agrippina was born
24:31in that city of the Ubios
24:33and when she married her uncle,
24:35Emperor Claudius,
24:37in the year 48 of our era,
24:39he wanted to equal his husband
24:41in his external prestige.
24:43Claudius had been born in Lyons,
24:45so he took his name.
24:47Claudia was also part
24:49of the name of Lyons,
24:51so it was Agrippina's wish
24:53that her hometown
24:55was elevated to the status of Colony
24:57and took her name.
24:59Hence, Colonia Claudia Ara Agrippinensium.
25:05And its most singular feature
25:07was that it was the only colony
25:09in the entire Roman Empire
25:11that took the name of a woman.
25:15The Empire tolerated the faith
25:17and culture of the subdued peoples,
25:19a formula thanks to which
25:21the Agrippina colony was a success.
25:23The Ubios were allowed
25:25to continue to worship their godmother,
25:27the Matrona.
25:29That cult would even be adopted
25:31by the Romans later.
25:35In Colonia the archaeologists
25:37have made excavations
25:39in the immense palace
25:41of the Roman governor.
25:43In Colonia, on the banks of the Rhine,
25:45resided the Praetorium,
25:47which at that time was the center
25:49of the governmental district.
25:51During that period,
25:53a constant flow of petitioners,
25:55diplomats and imperial mail
25:57filled the important rooms.
25:59But the Praetorium also had
26:01a symbolic meaning.
26:05Rome tried, as far as possible,
26:07to show its greatness
26:09in a visual way.
26:11That was also the function
26:13of the Praetorium.
26:15In particular,
26:17through the 180 meters of façade
26:19that occupied the banks of the Rhine.
26:21It is not difficult to imagine
26:23the impression that the embassies
26:25of the Germanic tribes should feel
26:27at the greatness of such a colossal building
26:29when they came to parliament
26:31with the governor.
26:33And the same should happen
26:35inside, whose sumptuosity
26:37was undoubtedly equal to that
26:39of the outside world.
26:41Surely it had a great profusion
26:43of marbles, mosaics and all kinds of luxuries.
26:45It was really the embodiment
26:47of the power of Rome
26:49at the service of the foreigners
26:51who entered the building.
26:53Such a demonstration of power
26:55seemed to be aimed
26:57mainly at the barbaric Germanic tribes
26:59on the other side of the Rhine.
27:01Rome saw itself as the bearer
27:03of civilization.
27:05An ancient poet expressed it like this.
27:07The word Romans
27:09has become the embodiment
27:11of a single people.
27:13Everyone comes to them
27:15as he goes to a market,
27:17each one waiting to get
27:19what he has come to look for.
27:23When I arrived in the Agrippina colony
27:25I stopped in a tavern.
27:29Some Roman soldiers
27:31were sitting at a table
27:33playing dice to kill time.
27:35The Romans must have thought
27:37they would have it easy
27:39with a German like me.
27:41They ignored that the game of dice
27:43is one of our favorite pastimes.
27:49Tacitus wrote
27:51the Germanic peoples
27:53play dice completely sober
27:55as if they were dealing
27:57with a very serious matter.
27:59That day my luck
28:01seemed to have no end.
28:03I won one game after another.
28:05When the Romans lost all their money
28:07they put on the table
28:09the only thing they had to bet on.
28:11Some bright yellow stones.
28:17The legionaries called them
28:19the gold of Germania.
28:21But they also fell into my hands.
28:23The Roman naturalist Plinio
28:25said the following
28:27about the origin of this gem
28:29very appreciated in Rome.
28:31There is no doubt that the amber
28:33comes from the islands
28:35of the northern seas
28:37and the Germanic peoples
28:39know it with the name
28:41Glaesum.
28:43The etymology of the English word
28:45glass
28:47comes from the Germanic term
28:49Glaesum.
28:51In ancient Rome
28:53amber was bought and sold
28:55at a high price.
28:57After being processed
28:59and polished in the Roman workshops
29:01amber was also used to decorate
29:03the Germanic women
29:05as the princess of Haslibe.
29:11The coin found between his teeth
29:13witnessed his adoption
29:15of Roman beliefs.
29:17It was a tribute to the boatman Caronte
29:19who died crossing the Estigia lagoon
29:21towards the Avernus.
29:23In the 3rd century, being buried
29:25following the Roman customs
29:27was considered a sign of wealth
29:29and power by the Germanic nobility.
29:31Colonia Agripina, the current Colonia
29:33was an important center of commerce
29:35of jewelry of value.
29:37While I was looking for an amber
29:39I saw that they were also
29:41trading with slaves.
29:43I looked at a young woman
29:45who pleased me
29:47and I felt compassion for her.
29:51The seller wanted to bargain with me
29:53as if we were in a cattle market.
29:57But I did not hesitate long
29:59and I gave him the sum he asked me.
30:05His name was Farah.
30:07He came from Germany,
30:09just like me.
30:13The great demand for slaves
30:15was closely linked to the Germanic prisoners
30:17captured in the Limes.
30:19The person who fell into the hands
30:21of a slave trader
30:23had practically no chance
30:25to regain his freedom.
30:27I was scared.
30:29However, when I saw that my intentions
30:31were good, I began to trust me.
30:37Together we left for our homeland
30:39on the other side of the border.
30:41We walked for many days
30:43until we finally reached
30:45the land of my parents.
30:51Suddenly we fell into an ambush.
30:53We were surrounded
30:55by a group of men.
30:57But they were young warriors
30:59of my clan.
31:03The paths of fate are mysterious.
31:05This unexpected reunion
31:07filled us with joy.
31:09I told the young warriors
31:11my adventures in the Roman Empire
31:13on the other side of the Limes.
31:19Like me, they had managed to escape
31:21from the slave traders
31:23and now they lived in the forest.
31:25That same night
31:27we formed a sworn group
31:29of which I assumed command.
31:39The runic sealed our pact.
31:41With magical symbols
31:43I summoned Botan, our supreme god.
31:47The runes
31:49would transmit their power to us.
31:57The runes are written characters
31:59but they are also endowed
32:01with a religious meaning.
32:03The linguist Edith Marle
32:05has been trying for years
32:07to decipher them.
32:09Some words have lost their meaning
32:11and we find them unintelligible
32:13while others can be translated
32:15still 1,700 years later.
32:21A crucial element to decipher them
32:23is the words that have persisted
32:25in the German language
32:27since modern German
32:29developed first from the language
32:31of the Germanic tribes.
32:33All the words that appear
32:35still exist in the modern German language.
32:37The Germanic word Schamel
32:39which means foot
32:41is similar to the German word Schemel.
32:43Also the word Alki
32:45is similar to the German word Elch.
32:47In English Elch, Alce and Scadi
32:49is very similar to Schaden
32:51which means wounded.
32:53The inscription of the banquet
32:55therefore says Alce Wounded
32:57referring to the hunt of this animal.
32:59The images support the runic writing.
33:01Those that appear in the bones
33:03refer to the magical banquet.
33:05The word of the ancient German
33:07Rune means inscription
33:09but also message or secret.
33:11A rune is composed of
33:13three graphic elements
33:15branch, hook and rod.
33:17The characters were often written
33:19in Aya wood, Buche in German
33:21which is precisely where the
33:23German word Buchtabe comes from
33:25which means letter.
33:27There are also runes carved
33:29in this fragment of skull
33:31which served as amulet.
33:33What does the inscription say?
33:35Did the Germanic people believe
33:37that they could cure diseases
33:39by means of runes?
33:41Edith Marl managed to decipher
33:43and translate the runic phrase
33:45inscribed in the bone.
33:47Ulf and Odin and the great Tyr.
33:55The hole against the pain helps
33:57and the elf is defeated.
34:01The inscription on the skull fragment
34:03is undoubtedly a healing spell.
34:05And since it is a fragment of skull
34:07it is likely that it was a spell
34:09against the headache.
34:11It is possible that the purpose
34:13was to cure the jaqueca
34:15trying to convince the elf
34:17to abandon his head
34:19through the hole.
34:21However, the spell was not whispered
34:23or sung simply
34:25but was expressed in writing.
34:27And it was not so that it could be easily remembered
34:29but because the Germanic people
34:31attributed their writing to certain powers.
34:33They believed that the spell
34:35once written
34:37was two or three times more powerful
34:39and effective.
34:41At the tip of the spear
34:43of Burlingame's tomb
34:45are engraved also some runes.
34:49Gitori
34:51means
34:53grant me power and glory.
34:55The runes had the ability
34:57to strengthen the desire
34:59to obtain the help of the gods.
35:01The Germanic world
35:03consisted of many gods
35:05but what did they look like
35:07to the Germanic people
35:09these great deities?
35:11Very few images have come to us.
35:13The golden amulets called
35:15Brakteates are the only vestige
35:17that has come to us
35:19that represents the Germanic gods.
35:21A rider going to war.
35:23On the back of his horse
35:25the divine granter of victory.
35:27He assured that the rider
35:29of the spear would rise victorious
35:31over his enemies.
35:33The Brakteates describe the world
35:35of the gods with a graphic language
35:37full of mystery.
35:39The meaning of these representations
35:41is quite enigmatic to us.
35:43Alexandra Pech has been trying for a long time
35:45to decipher these images.
35:47The most surprising fact is that
35:49all the Germanic people
35:51have the same adventures and legends of Botan
35:53from Scandinavia to Elrin.
35:55The divine legends
35:57were transmitted only orally
35:59until at the beginning of the Middle Ages
36:01the first written testimonies appeared.
36:05These are images
36:07that illustrate key scenes
36:09of the Germanic religion.
36:11To be able to interpret these images
36:13we need to know the context
36:15the historical background in which they are based.
36:17It is like trying to decipher
36:19the meaning of the Christian cross
36:21without knowing the story behind it.
36:23It would be impossible.
36:25So we must look for the historical background
36:27to be able to reconstruct them.
36:29Since the Germanic tribes
36:31did not leave any written document
36:33we have to resort to parallel stories
36:35extracted from another context.
36:37And that parallel tradition
36:39we find it in the second enchantment
36:41of Merseburg.
36:45The manuscript tells the story
36:47of the healing of a horse.
36:49Fol and Botan went to the forest.
36:51Baldr's horse twisted a leg.
36:53Then Botan recited
36:55the spells he knew.
36:57If the bones, if the blood,
36:59if the limbs twist,
37:01bone with bone, blood with blood,
37:03limb with limb,
37:05may all be united.
37:07And indeed, this theme can be contemplated
37:09in the stylized form of this golden amulet.
37:11Botan
37:13is healing with his dance
37:15a wounded horse.
37:19More than 900 amulets
37:21have been found from Norway to the Danube.
37:23And over and over again
37:25the same themes are repeated.
37:27Did the Germanic tribes share
37:29the same cult or uniform?
37:33Until now we had assumed
37:35that they were small groups
37:37grouped around their respective leaders.
37:41In that case, it would have been
37:43to wait for each of these groups
37:45to develop their own graphic language,
37:47as well as their own written language.
37:49However,
37:51we have only reached
37:53a single graphic language
37:55and a single runic writing,
37:57common to all of them.
37:59In this sense, it could be said
38:01that the Germanic tribes
38:03used a single corporate design
38:05to represent themselves
38:07and to distinguish themselves
38:09from the cultures of their neighbors.
38:11It is a surprising revelation.
38:13Despite the wars
38:15all of them were united
38:17by the same faith.
38:19One of the evidence
38:21that proves how strongly rooted
38:23the gods were in the beliefs
38:25of all the Germanic tribes
38:27can be found in the names
38:29of the days of the week
38:31that the Anglo-Saxons still keep.
38:33The goddess Freyja gave them
38:35Friday, Thursday, and Wednesday.
38:37Grant me power and glory.
38:39With Botan's blessing
38:41we were eager
38:43to leave.
38:45I showed my men
38:47the last piece of gold
38:49I had left.
38:51And I told them
38:53the immeasurable wealth
38:55that awaited us
38:57in the Roman Empire.
38:59But to do this
39:01we had to cross the Limes
39:03stealthily.
39:07Germanic armed groups
39:09organized raids
39:11They looted everything they could
39:13transport.
39:15The barbarian treasure of Neupoz
39:17is one of those war booty.
39:19It was found in the Rhine.
39:21Its value is incalculable.
39:23More than a thousand individual pieces
39:25whose total weight
39:27exceeds 700 kilos.
39:31How far did the Germanic armed groups
39:33penetrate the interior of the Roman Empire
39:35during their raids?
39:37The archaeologist Matthias Kohl
39:39found some answers in another treasure
39:41found in the Rhine.
39:43The treasure of Hagenbach.
39:45The booty plates stolen from a temple
39:47are a very clear clue.
39:49In them are the names of their benefactors
39:51because they were used at the time
39:53as thanks or petitions to the gods.
39:57The archaeologist discovered that most
39:59of the names came exclusively
40:01from the region of Aquitania,
40:03at the foot of the Pyrenees.
40:05This implies that the Germanic tribes
40:07entered from the Limes
40:09more than 2,000 kilometers
40:11in the territory of the Roman Empire
40:13in their raids.
40:17When they seized
40:19precious metal objects
40:21the looters did not care
40:23too much about the object itself
40:25although they were beautifully ornamented pieces.
40:27All they were interested in
40:29was the material value of the item.
40:31This plate is a clear example.
40:33As you can see, it is divided in two.
40:35This means that two Germans
40:37divided the object into equal parts.
40:39They did it before crossing the Rhine.
40:41And the most curious fact
40:43about this plate
40:45is not the discovery of both pieces
40:47but the fact that they were found
40:4980 meters away
40:51in a lagoon of gravel.
40:55The looters had to use
40:57at least two rafts to cross
40:59their booty to the other side of the Rhine.
41:01The rafts may have overturned
41:03by Roman patrol boats.
41:07The raids in the Empire
41:09were very risky for the Germans.
41:11However, the temptation
41:13that the Roman civilization posed
41:15made them forget the dangers.
41:21The loot that interested us
41:23was on the other side of the border
41:25in the Roman Empire.
41:27But we did not know
41:29if we could cross the Limes.
41:33There was no Roman soldier in sight.
41:37Was it a trap?
41:39We did not want to risk it.
41:41So we inspected the terrain.
41:51I could hardly believe it.
41:53The watchtower was empty.
41:55There was no guard.
41:57But why?
42:03For a long time
42:05historians believed that the Limes
42:07had been crossed by the Germanic tribes
42:09after a large-scale attack.
42:11But today we know that the cause
42:13was very different.
42:15In the year 260 of our era
42:17Valerius, the Roman emperor
42:19was captured by the Persians.
42:21This fact constituted
42:23the first catastrophe of a long series
42:25of unfortunate events
42:27that shook the Empire.
42:29The troops of the border
42:31received the order to withdraw.
42:35The Empire was facing
42:37the greatest crisis
42:39it had known until then
42:41and its services were required
42:43elsewhere.
42:45A civil war had been declared
42:47around the vacant throne of the emperor.
42:51Rome made a drastic decision
42:53in the Limes.
42:55In the year 260 of our era
42:57the soldiers abandoned
42:59the border with Germany.
43:01Rome withdrew behind the Rhine
43:03and the Danube.
43:05The Alamans entered the territory
43:07without opposition, now clear
43:09and located on the other side of the Limes.
43:11The Empire decided to close itself
43:13on a new border behind the rivers.
43:15At dawn
43:17we saw an appetizing objective.
43:19A Roman farm.
43:23But someone had been ahead of us.
43:27After the Roman withdrawal
43:29of the Limes
43:31there was a rapid growth
43:33of the Germanic incursions
43:35in the territory of the Empire.
43:37This fact is documented
43:39by numerous signs of destruction
43:41dating from that time.
43:43The main objectives
43:45of the Germanic incursions
43:47were the rich Roman farms.
43:49What fate occupied the families
43:51established there?
43:53Without the protection of the border soldiers
43:55or the mercy of any attacker.
43:59Archaeologists
44:01continue to make terrible discoveries
44:03dating from the 3rd century.
44:05Skeletons and skulls
44:07with extreme signs of violence.
44:15In the Institute of Forensic Medicine
44:17of Vienna, scientists investigate
44:19how the Roman settlers died.
44:25The forensic scientist
44:27Christian Reiter
44:29received several Roman skulls
44:31from the time of the Germanic attacks
44:33for his later study.
44:37He is trying to find out
44:39what happened between the Germanic invaders
44:41and the settlers
44:43after the troops left the Limes.
44:47In the skull of this child
44:49you can see a fracture
44:51in the temporal frontal region.
44:53It was probably caused
44:55by a forceful object
44:57such as a cart.
45:01This find
45:03is perfectly comparable
45:05to one of the specimens
45:07of our museum
45:09that shows a slit
45:11in the left parietal region
45:13made with this cart.
45:15In the skull
45:17of a Roman woman
45:19he discovered
45:21some curious marks.
45:23Barely perceptible
45:25at first glance,
45:27he found small incisions
45:29in the skull bone
45:31with the help of a magnifying glass.
45:35The interesting thing
45:37in this woman's skull
45:39was the discovery
45:41of very narrow cuts
45:43in the area of the bone
45:45zygomatic.
45:47This suggests
45:49that they tore off
45:51the scalp
45:53and took the hair
45:55and scalp as a trophy.
46:05This man's skull
46:07shows
46:09two signs of violence
46:11in the temporal region
46:13on the right and on the left.
46:17Both have a V-shape
46:19they run towards the outside
46:21of the forehead
46:23and were caused
46:25by an object similar
46:27to a sword.
46:29You can see the deep incision
46:31in the bone.
46:33The sword hit
46:35once here and again here.
46:37This also indicates
46:39that the subject
46:41was probably lying on his back
46:43and was murdered
46:45with two double-edged swords
46:47of the sword.
46:55However,
46:57murder was not the dominant norm
46:59when the clash of both cultures
47:01occurred in the Limes.
47:03Most Germans did not want
47:05to destroy the Roman world,
47:07but to live in it,
47:09not as subordinates
47:11and even less as slaves,
47:13but as free warriors.
47:15Farah and I took possession
47:17of the Roman farm
47:19in the interior of the Limes.
47:21The Romans had abandoned it.
47:23One day it would be
47:25the home of our children.
47:29The abandonment of the Limes
47:31meant the end of the Roman hegemony
47:33on the right bank of the Rhine.
47:35The Roman colonies,
47:37located between the Rhine
47:39and the Danube,
47:41fell again in the power
47:43of the Germans.
47:45The Roman colonies
47:47faced a dilemma,
47:49reach an agreement
47:51with the Alamans
47:53or leave their properties
47:55forever.
47:57In Burlingen, Swabia,
47:59the place where the spear
48:01was found with the runes,
48:03they found post holes,
48:05the characteristic sign
48:07of German architecture.
48:09On the remains
48:11of the Germanic rustic village,
48:13it seems that people
48:15had built a building.
48:17Little by little,
48:19the Germans were establishing
48:21their way over the ruins
48:23of the Roman civilization.
48:25The abandonment of the Limes
48:27gave rise to the beginning
48:29of a new era.
48:31The Germanic tribes would accept
48:33the legacy of Rome
48:35and would lead Europe to its future
48:37under the sign of the cross.
49:01.