Germanic Tribes' Social Structure?

[the last donut of the night]

I'm curious as how germanic tribes' societies functioned around the wars of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. I've heard they were fairly egalitarian, but I doubt it. Thanks.

[ComradeOm]

We know very little. Almost all our information about these tribes comes from Roman sources, archaeology or projecting back from the early medieval period. The latter is surprisingly important as people often forget that the basis of modern European civilisation/society was laid by these 'barbarians' and not Rome

I'm going from memory here, but Germanic societies (a vast collection of tribes who later migrated and settled into most of Europe) tended to be very different from Rome or other pre-medieval societies. The basic building block of their society was the immediate family - as opposed to strong extended families or clan affiliations - and slavery was uncommon and tended to consist of defeated enemies. Freemen predominated and settlements were typically small. There were kings but no elevated/isolated landowning nobility or warrior caste

Course this is very much a generalisation. The book that you probably want, although I haven't read it in years, is Todd's The Early Germans

[Dimentio]

Land was only owned privately for shorter amounts of time. The chieftain decided how the land should be divided for seven years. Then they divided it up once again.

[Tommy4ever]

I might be mistake with slightly later Germanic tribal groups but I believe their leadership was fairly progressive (for the Dark Ages).

Kings were elected by the nobles but their positions were very unstable. If Kings were unsuccessful they would frequently be overthrown by their people.

I know that this doesn't seem like much but it ensures that they had at least capable leaders who weren't chosen merely due to their birth.

[Dimentio]

Actually, the more advanced they got, the more they resembled the Romans. The last elective Germanic Monarchy was Sweden during the middle ages (1025-1523).

Moreover, Rome had basically installed the foundations of feudalism already in 284-305, during Diocletian's reign, with zero Germanic influence. The Germans only provided a part of the super-structure.

[Comrade Wolfie's Very Nearly Banned Adventures]

Actually, the more advanced they got, the more they resembled the Romans. The last elective Germanic Monarchy was Sweden during the middle ages (1025-1523).

The HRE was elected, and that title lasted in some form until 16th Century.

[Tommy4ever]

The HRE was elected, and that title lasted in some form until 16th Century.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/09/Friedrich_von_Amerling_003.jpg/410px-Friedrich_von_Amerling_003.jpg (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/09/Friedrich_von_Amerling_003.jpg)

Actually the Holy Roman Empire ceased to exist in 1806. Francis II (above) was the last Emperor.

However it must be noted that between 1437 and 1806 there was only one Emperor (who only ruled for 3 years) who was not a Habsburg.

[Pavlov's House Party]

I'm curious as how germanic tribes' societies functioned around the wars of the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. I've heard they were fairly egalitarian, but I doubt it. Thanks.

Caesar's "The Conquest of Gaul" deals with the Germans quite a bit. IIRC they only elected leaders (who were re-callable) during wartime and other crises. The basis for election was martial prowess and/or for being old. This wasn't the case for all tribes though; as some did have hereditary rulers, but as was pointed out before in the thread these happened to be the ones in closer contact with Rome and Gaul. Women were relatively equal with men in most tribes, and would accompany their husbands to war so the men would fight harder in the fear of their wives being killed or captured. Unlike many other tribal societies, the Germans were monogamous and shunned adulterers

I haven't read the whole thing myself, but "Germania" by Tacitus is probably what you'd want to look into if you want a source from that era. Skip to about chapter 7, where it starts describing German tribal society in detail (the beginning is Romano-centric ethnography). Keep in mind that you're always taking a gamble when reading period sources about this subject. Some authors such as Caesar "barbarised" them as much as possible to justify their military actions, while others - mainly Tacitus, idealized the Germans as possesing the highest forms of "Roman virtues"; bravery in battle, monogamy, honesty & hospitality.

[Dimentio]

The HRE was elected, and that title lasted in some form until 16th Century.

That depends. They were elective because of ideological reasons (Republican inheritance from Rome) and practical reasons (the central authority had collapsed after Friedrich II). In Sweden, there was an unbroken tradition of elective kings during the Middle Ages, only interrupted by the Kalmar Union.