Barbarians

by Peter Bogucki

  The Gundestrup Cauldron, showing its composition of panels depicting deities and exotic animals. One of the most famous panels is in the interior right, showing an individual with an antler headdress holding a snake.

  The Barbarian World in AD 100

  By AD 100, the Barbarian World had shrunk considerably due to the absorption of Gaul, Lesser Germania and much of Britain into the Roman Empire. Only Ireland, Scotland, Scandinavia and the lands east of the Rhine and north of the Danube were still in the hands of barbarians. Even in these areas, the Roman Empire had an impact, and its products and practices passed through the porous frontier to be incorporated into the ways of Iron Age elites. Within the Empire, native peoples, barbarians by genome, continued many of their traditional ways and occasionally took up arms against their occupiers.

  The heterarchy of the Barbarian World in which authority was distributed across many categories of society was most pronounced at this time. This social structure was the key organizational difference between the Barbarian World and the hierarchical Roman Empire with its delineated structure of deference and command. Barbarian kings shared power with priests and warriors who were successful in trade, battle, agriculture and ritual.

  It was a violent time. A war party could descend without warning, gliding across water in increasingly sophisticated watercraft, and then celebrate their victory with a massive sacrifice of war booty. Ritual killings whose victims are found in bogs were common occurrences. Barbarians served as mercenaries in the Roman army and learned its military practices, which could be turned against the Romans. Perhaps the reason the Romans made no further attempts to pacify Germania Magna was that native people had learned how to fight them.

  Despite Roman occupation of much of it, the Barbarian World was as interconnected as ever. Britain and Continental Europe were bound together by trade and shared practices. Germania Magna and southern Scandinavia were also tightly coupled. Artefacts such as the Gundestrup Cauldron show how objects could be crafted far away from where they entered the archaeological record. The Roman Empire was starting to unravel, however, and the next several centuries were times of upheaval and change.

  FIVE

  BARBARIANS BEYOND THE IMPERIAL FRONTIER

  By the early second century AD, the Roman Imperial frontier had been more or less established in final form. In the north, Hadrian’s Wall would soon be built across northern Britain between the North Sea and the Irish Sea to be a visible symbol of Roman power and to integrate garrisons along its length. The northern frontier in Britain would be further extended in AD 138 with the building of the Antonine Wall across the neck of Scotland, although Imperial control in the intervening area was short-lived. Ireland continued to lie outside the Roman frontier. Although some Roman artefacts are found in Ireland, no conclusive evidence of Roman settlement has appeared. This is not to say that no Roman ever set foot in Ireland. The island was clearly known to the Roman world, and commerce across the Irish Sea followed kinship connections that spanned Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Ptolemy’s narrative and map, drawn from Roman military sources in the second century AD, shows Ireland and mentions specific tribes, such as the Iverni in today’s Co. Cork.1 According to Tacitus, around AD 81 the Roman general Agricola planned to invade Ireland and even had an Irish quisling ready to install as a leader, but disturbances in Scotland led to postponement of the invasion.

  The Roman Imperial frontier in Continental Europe continued to be defined largely by the Rhine and Danube that formed the western and southern edges of Germania Magna.2 It followed the Rhine past Cologne (Roman, Colonia Agrippina) to near Mainz (Roman, Mogontiacum). From there, it ran overland on lines that resulted from small Roman advances into the southern edge of Germania Magna during the first and second centuries AD (the so-called Raetian Limes, or frontier) before reaching the Danube just upstream of the old oppidum at Kelheim. From there, the frontier continued downstream past Vienna (Roman, Vindobona) and around the Danube bend to Budapest (Roman, Aquincum). The land frontier across southern Germany was vulnerable, and thus it was heavily fortified with garrisons and watchtowers built in multiple layers along valleys and roads. Despite these fixed defences, the Raetian Limes were porous, and during the late third century AD they were largely abandoned in favour of a frontier along the upper Rhine and upper Danube.

  Frontier hinterlands

  The frontier during the late years of the Empire had a hinterland on both sides, so it was both a boundary and a borderland that extended for some distance into Roman-controlled territory on one side and a similar distance into barbarian lands on the other. On the Roman side, the frontier was also a fortified zone with a mix of legionary camps, civilian towns, villas and farms as well as native villages and farmsteads. Natives and Romans coexisted tensely but for the most part amicably. The population in the Roman provinces was a heterogeneous mix of people who had lived there previously, those who had been relocated from another part of the Empire and many who had moved into the Imperial zone from beyond the frontier. Roman administrative policy did not prevent this movement so long as it did not threaten the Empire’s authority. Over time, natives began to assume positions within the Roman administrative structure.

  On the other side of the frontier lay the barbarian lands. Those close to the frontier felt the Roman presence very strongly. There was a high intensity of interaction between people living in the Roman-controlled zone and those living just beyond it. Roman goods along with Romans themselves, passed through the permeable frontier fairly easily. The archaeologist Peter Wells describes a process of ‘incorporation’ in which non-state societies that interact with imperial states become interlinked economically and socially with the more powerful polity.3 Elites adopted Roman things to display their status and prestige, and barbarians crossed the frontier to serve in the Roman army. Despite tensions and sometimes open conflict, the ‘default setting’ for Roman–barbarian relations, according to the historian Guy Halsall, was ‘quiet coexistence’.4

  Areas close to the frontier were inundated with Roman goods, which then spread far and wide into the Barbarian World. By the third century AD, Roman-trained craftsmen were active in frontier areas on the barbarian side of the Rhine and Danube, making pottery and glass. Roman products reached the Barbarian World in several different ways. Trade across the frontier led to trading posts and emporia on the barbarian side of the frontier to facilitate commerce. Booty from military raids was a source of weapons. Roman subsidies and gifts to their clients, their pay to barbarian mercenaries and souvenirs brought back by mercenaries were also important conduits for Roman goods and coins. The gifts and subsidies to barbarian clients turned into tribute and payoffs to buy off hostile warlords and maintain peace and quiet. The Romans hoped that if they fed the barbarian crocodile long enough, the crocodile would eat them last.5

  At the same time, there was little Roman influence on the lives of ordinary people. The settlement structure of hamlets and villages, and the fundamental techniques of farming and animal husbandry, remained relatively unchanged from the High Iron Age. It was mainly barbarian elites who adopted Roman customs, entered into clientship relationships with Roman authorities and otherwise exploited their Roman connections to their personal advantage.

  One characteristic of the Roman provinces that did not cross into the barbarian world was urbanism in the form of agglomerations of population that served administrative, industrial and ceremonial functions. Examples of Roman urbanism stared barbarians right in the face along the frontier, from Noviomagus (modern Nijmegen in the Netherlands) to Aquincum (today’s Budapest). These places flourished in the second and third centuries AD and were hearts of commercial and administrative activity for their hinterlands. Barbarians made no effort to imitate these urban communities, and the central places they established in parts of northern Europe were hardly urban in their structure. True urbanism in Europe beyond the Imperial frontier would have to wait until later in the first millennium BC.

  S
ervice in the Roman armies was an important social strategy for young barbarian men as well as being financially rewarding. Across northern Germany, Roman military items appear in male graves during the first two centuries AD.6 These finds signify that the men had served in the Roman army and came home with enhanced status as a result. When they died, it was seen as important that this status be displayed with their bodies when they were buried.

  In addition to mercenaries, what else did the Romans receive from the barbarians? For the most part, barbarian products did not leave much trace in the archaeological record. These include cattle, meat products, fish, goose quills, spices, honey, beeswax, fur, fleece and even, according to some, the hair of blonde maidens!7 Slaves, as always, were important commodities, especially since barbarian polities frequently fought each other and captured opponents who could be traded to the Romans. Baltic amber can be clearly sourced, and it flowed south to the frontier. Archaeologically, it may appear that more things from the Roman side crossed to the barbarian side, but in reality Roman goods were simply durable products like metals, pottery, coins and glass, while the barbarians traded in perishable goods.

  Barbarians beyond the frontier zone

  Outside the borderland zone of intense interaction between Romans and barbarians, some parts of northern Europe felt the impact of Rome’s presence more keenly than others. Roman goods, weapons and ideas penetrated far into eastern and northern Europe during the first centuries AD, often brought back by natives of these areas after military service. Elsewhere, as in Ireland, Roman culture had little impact on High Iron Age society, although interesting developments occurred nonetheless, known through archaeology.

  ‘Royal’ sites in Ireland

  During the final centuries BC and first centuries AD, Ireland served as an insular laboratory for the emergence of decentralized authority and elite status. Of particular importance are four Iron Age sites, traditionally termed ‘royal’ sites, that were taken up into Irish legend and myth as the seats of kings. The royal sites occupy prominent locations in the landscape and have very complex ‘biographies’ of construction and use that archaeologists are trying to untangle. They include Navan Fort (also known as Emain Macha) in Co. Armagh, Rathcrogan (also known as Cruachain) in Co. Roscommon, Dún Ailinne (also known as Knockaulin) in Co. Kildare, and Tara in the Boyne valley, Co. Meath. Some smaller sites, such as Cashel in Co. Tipperary, possibly served similar functions.

  These four sites share several characteristics.8 A large elevated area in the landscape, high enough to be called a ‘hill’ but certainly not a mountain, with a commanding view of the surrounding area, was enclosed with a bank and ditch. At Dún Ailinne the enclosed area covers 13 hectares (32 acres), while at Tara the interior of the enclosure is about 6 hectares (15 acres). In at least one case, Navan Fort, the ditch is inside the bank, suggesting that it had no defensive purpose. These locations had already been the scene of earlier ceremonial or mortuary activity. For example, the evocatively named ‘Mound of the Hostages’ at Tara is really a Stone Age passage tomb. In their interiors lie traces of multiple, overlapping circular enclosures, sometimes presenting themselves as ‘figure-8’ patterns. At Dún Ailinne, these were circular timber structures that increased in diameter over time, the largest being 43 metres (141 ft) across. Narrow passages and gates lead into them, so they have been interpreted as locations of ceremonial performances with access limited to the entitled.9 A complex circular timber building was found in Navan Fort, consisting of five concentric rings of posts surrounded by an intricate exterior wall about 40 metres (130 ft) in diameter. This structure has been interpreted as an immense ceremonial roundhouse with a tall conical roof. It subsequently burned down and became covered by a huge mound.

  Royal site at Dún Ailinne, Co. Kildare, Ireland, from the south. Top of hill is enclosed by a ditch.

  Dating the Irish royal sites is very difficult, and it is still a bit hazy as to whether they all were in use concurrently. Navan Fort seems to have been the earliest, beginning in the middle of the first millennium BC. Even at this early date, it had long-distance connections and was a place to which gifts were brought, shown by the find of the skull of a Barbary ape (Macaca sylvanus) from North Africa dated to the fourth century BC. The animal bones from Navan Fort include twice as many pigs as cattle and many more pigs than sheep and goats, suggesting a collection associated with feasting. The ceremonial roundhouse was used briefly in the first century BC, but Navan Fort continued to be in use through the first century AD, perhaps later. Rathcrogan and Tara seem to have followed Navan Fort chronologically, and radiocarbon dating points to a span between the last two centuries BC and the second and third centuries AD. Dún Ailinne appears to be the last of these sites in use, with dates from the second century BC to the fifth century AD.

  Whether or not they were literally ‘royal’, these large sites were clearly central places within the intertwined political and ritual landscape of Iron Age Ireland. They share basic organizational principles and are on similar scales, but each differs from the others in details of its configuration, suggesting that there was room for local interpretation of shared ideology. Another question is, if these were locations of congregation and ceremony, where did people live? Archaeologists hope to figure out what these ‘royal’ sites meant to the communities that built them and how they relate to historical texts that mention them centuries later.

  Composite plan of superimposed circular features at Dún Ailinne interpreted as ceremonial enclosures.

  Veterans and merchants bring Rome to the Baltic

  During the first centuries AD, High Iron Age societies flourished in southern Scandinavia and on the Baltic coasts of Poland and Lithuania. They continued along a developmental path from those described in the previous chapter, but even at this distance, Roman objects played a transformative role. In the borderland closer to the frontier, both mercantile trade and political actions accounted for widespread dispersal of Roman objects. By the third century AD, a great wave of Roman products reached the Baltic shorelines and southern Scandinavia.

  In many cases, these products are practical. Across northern Poland, over a thousand pieces of distinctive pottery, known as Samian ware, from workshops in Gaul and the Rhineland have been found.10 Sometimes the distances that goods travelled are remarkable. For example, a type of metal cauldron made in the Meuse valley is called Vestland because they are abundant in that region of southwestern Norway.11

  Once Roman coins got beyond the frontier zone, their function changed. Rather than serving as all-purpose money in mercantile transactions, coins played special roles as prestige objects. Although lower-denomination coins like silver denarii and bronze–brass sesterii may have continued to play a commercial role, they are frequently found in ceremonial or ritual contexts. Denarii occur in votive and war-booty offerings in southern Scandinavia, while in northeastern Poland sesterii were placed in the mouths of the dead in graves of the second century AD.12 Gold coins such as solidi, introduced in the fourth century AD, were especially prized in the Barbarian World for socially or politically motivated payments, such as tribute, ransom, bridewealth and dowries and also blood money. Since they had ceased to have a face value as currency, gold coins were often melted down and refashioned into ornaments, including medallions called ‘bracteates’ and small gold ‘figure foils’.

  One of over 100 wood-lined wells at Kwiatków, Poland, along the ‘amber route’ from the Baltic to Italy.

  During the fourth and fifth centuries AD, solidi were especially in demand in Scandinavia. At Store Brunneby on the island of Öland, a hoard of seventeen solidi was found strewn across a field.13 They were made between AD 394 and 451, dating their deposition to the second half of the fifth century AD. The Store Brunneby solidus hoard is only one of many deposits on Öland, along with others on Bornholm and Gotland, as well as on the Swedish mainland. Fischer writes of a ‘gold haemorrhage’ from the Western Roman Empire that arrived in Scandinavia with returning m
ercenaries.14

  Amber from the Baltic coast was highly prized by Romans. Archaeologists have described an ‘amber route’ that led from areas in the eastern Baltic south through central Poland, through the Moravian Gate between the Carpathian and Sudeten mountains, and eventually reaching the Roman frontier on the Danube.15 In reality the amber route was probably a wide corridor with many branches responding to demand from Roman jewellers, rather than a single trail. The collection of amber was probably managed by enterprising barbarians, but Pliny mentions a Roman soldier called Iulianus who travelled to the Baltic (or commissioned a traveller) to buy amber during the first century AD.16 Other Romans followed, and locations such as Kalisia (identified as the modern Polish town of Kalisz) are noted on Ptolemy’s map of Germania from the second century AD. Low-denomination Roman coins in graves and hoards across northern Poland are probably related to the amber trade.

  Central places in the north

  In southern Scandinavia, settlement complexes during the fourth and fifth centuries AD reflect integration greater than that seen in the clusters of High Iron Age farmsteads. Scandinavian archaeologists refer to these as ‘central places’ to indicate that multiple functions now converged in what was still essentially a rural settlement pattern.17 Central places are not towns but rather ‘localized geographies of settlement’ that formed the focus of agricultural and craft production, sacred activities and prestige displays.