It is important to remember, however, that Norse warriors did not represent a professional class of society. They were farmers - or most of them were -, and although a wealthy man could indeed provide for a small group of well-armed men, the majority of them were equipped with whatever private weapon they might have …
Continue reading Norse Technology and Warfare (in a nutshell) – part 2
Around 500 BCE, the Iron Age reached Scandinavia, allowing the Norse tribes to create items with something available on their land, instead of seeking materials away from home as in the case of bronze. This meant that iron tools, as well as weapons and armours, could be produced more easily. Such a change in the …
Continue reading Norse Technology and Warfare (in a nutshell) – part 1
Fierce warrior, defensor of Europe and Christianity, and nicknamed “The Hammer” for his prowess, Charles Martel was the last true ruler of the Frankish Merovingian dynasty (his successor, Childeric III, was placed on the throne by Martel’s sons, who eventually dethroned him, thus ending the Merovingian line). Although nowadays he is regarded as one of …
Continue reading Charles Martel and The Battle of Tours (in a nutshell)
Although Roman legions were formidably strong, they were best suited to fighting enemies on foot; against horsemen wielding swords, they could gather in a defensive formation and break the attack using gladius and pilum once the enemy had approached enough, but archers on a horse represented a dangerous issue for the legionaries.An example of such …
We all know the greatness of Rome, but how did it manage to become, arguably, the most important empire of history?Surely not through peace and mere trades.War represented the blood and bones of every Roman, and it could not be otherwise, since its founders, the brothers Romulus and Remus, were the children of no less …
Believed to have originated in Scandinavia, the Vandals were an East Germanic tribe, first mentioned in the Natural History of Pliny the Elder (77 CE), then by Tacitus in his Germania (98 CE). The origin of their name is still covered in mystery, and we cannot even tell for sure if Vandals was actually their …
They lived along the Baltic coast and in the area of modern Schleswig, and although the Roman historian Tacitus knew nothing of them when he wrote the Germania in the 1st century CE, they surely were to play a prominent role in the following centuries. The Saxons were a Germanic tribe who appeared in all …
A question comes naturally: who led the early Germanic communities?Did they have a king or a ruler similar to the Roman model?Well, it seems that no central authority was present, at least at the time when Caesar writes: while in peace, a local figure would sometimes interfere with the disputes within the village - or …
Based on the description provided by Julius Caesar, we know that the Germanic peoples were mostly pastoralists - relying on milk, cheese and meat -, and agriculture was developed only limited to grain, root crops and vegetables. From the Roman perspective, we also know that horses and cattle, in general, were of poorer quality compared …
Tacitus also distinguished the individual tribes and their territories: the Chatti lived in modern Hesse, the Frisii inhabited the coastland between the Rhine and the Ems, while the mouth of the Weser was home of the Chauci and Cherusci (Arminius’ tribe). The Suebi occupied the territories of Thuringia, Saxony, Brandenburg and Mecklenburg, with Semnones and …
Within the Wolf's Mind 