Antike Germanenbilder

In the present volume, the author is the first to address the image of the ancient Germanic peoples in its entire extent, as encountered in the visual arts of the Roman Empire. Starting from the varied manifestations of the ancient image of the foreign and the barbarian, an attempt is made to define the image of the Germanic peoples within the phenotype of the Roman image of the northern barbarians. It becomes clear that the Roman image of the Germanic peoples was related to the earlier image of the Gauls and was developed in the same way. This development took place most probably in the middle Augustinian age under the impression of the Roman incursions into Germania. It can be assumed that images of the Germanic peoples were created in particular in the context of military events. The ancient image of the Germanic peoples has essentially all the characteristics of an enemy image, and as such is part of Roman triumphal iconography. The production appears to have been particularly strong during the age of the Marcomanic wars with their serious threat to Rome. Nevertheless, it was that period in particular that also provided images of the Germanic peoples that do not represent images of an enemy. Although the Roman image of the Germanic peoples came to an end of the beginning of the third century AD after a period of roughly 200 years, its models were to remain part of the triumphal iconography of late antiquity.