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00:01From the mists of the north, Germanic tribes headed south,
00:05reaching as far as the borders of the Roman Empire.
00:09Barbarians, the Romans called them.
00:12But in 375 AD, the most feared of all warriors
00:17descended upon Europe murdering and pillaging.
00:21The Huns triggered a great migration.
00:24Hundreds of thousands of Goths, Vandals, and Franks
00:27went in search of a new homeland.
00:31They sacked Rome.
00:35Some tribes disappeared almost without trace.
00:39Others left behind valuable treasures.
00:43The Germanic barbarians were to become the founders of Europe.
00:53Around the time of the birth of Christ,
00:55the odyssey of the legendary Goths began.
01:00At the same time, the Romans and the Karuskans
01:03were locked in mortal combat.
01:05The barbarians rocked the Roman Empire and entered history.
01:23Graves are often the only traces of the Völkerwanderung,
01:27the great tribal migrations.
01:29In the Natural History Museum of Budapest,
01:32the mortal remains of thousands of people are stored.
01:37The skull of a Gothic woman.
01:39The skull of a Gothic woman.
01:42Who was she?
01:44What did she look like?
01:52Agnes Kushta is restoring this unknown woman's face
01:56after more than 1,500 years.
01:58She s not just inventing it.
02:00In weeks of hard work,
02:02she has been reconstructing it
02:04on strictly scientific principles,
02:06using only the shape of the skull.
02:08the human being.
02:13This biometric procedure was developed by forensic scientists
02:17to identify the dead.
02:23And this is what she looked like when she was alive.
02:27A simple woman from the great tribe of the Goths.
02:31The Goths rocked the Roman Empire
02:34and wrote themselves into history.
02:41She knew the history of her forebears.
02:45The Roman Gothic writer, Jordanus,
02:47wrote the origins and deeds of the Goths,
02:50popularly called the Saga of the Goths,
02:53from the knowledge of the old,
02:55from songs and the stories people told.
03:00Out there in the Germanic Sea
03:02lies a great island called Skansa.
03:05The Goths set forth from this island
03:07with their king, Bering.
03:13From Skansa, present-day Scandinavia,
03:16the Goths had crossed the Baltic.
03:20It was the first great migration of the Goths.
03:35As soon as they left their boats and set foot on land,
03:38they immediately gave it their name.
03:41It is said that there is still a land there today
03:44called Gotiskanza, the coast of the Goths.
03:52Around the time of Christ's birth,
03:54far away in Rome,
03:56they had already heard of the Goths,
03:59who lived at the end of the world
04:01on the Polish Baltic coast.
04:10They had come over the sea in just three boats
04:13to escape the eternally dark and inhospitable north.
04:21But, as often happens,
04:23one of the boats arrived later,
04:25and so the Goths gave this clan the nickname Gippids,
04:29which in their language means the Slow Ones.
04:37Which wasn't altogether inappropriate, added Jordanus,
04:40because they were sluggish of spirit
04:43and ponderous in their movements.
04:51Jordanus called Scandinavia the Vagina nationum,
04:55the womb of the tribes.
04:57From there, the Goths had set out
04:59to settle along the coast of Poland.
05:01Around the time of Christ's birth,
05:03the whole Baltic area was influenced
05:06by the culture of the Goths.
05:13Gotiskanza, the hinterland of the Gothic coast.
05:19The saga of the Goths is a great legend.
05:22In ancient times,
05:23the Goths' origins in the far north
05:26gave them prestige and an identity.
05:28Their name carries a certain power to this day.
05:32But does Jordanus' account match historical fact?
05:39The Polish archaeologist Andrzej Kokowski
05:42is looking for clues in the area the Goths settled.
05:47Not far from the mouth of the Vistula,
05:50irregular blocks are set in large, distinctive stone circles.
05:55Their exact meaning is still a puzzle.
05:57Perhaps they were a kind of observatory.
06:01It's been established, however,
06:03that the stone circles served as a place of worship
06:06and a burial ground.
06:08Studies have shown that at the end of the first century AD,
06:12the blocks were arranged in circles
06:14and the burial mounds were made.
06:20Archaeologist Andrzej Kokowski
06:22is sure that this was done by Goths.
06:27The stone circles,
06:29which we have on the cmentarges,
06:30such as Odry,
06:31like Wensiory,
06:32are such a point of access to Skandynawii.
06:36They have analogies,
06:37parallel to Skandynawii.
06:39And through these circles
06:41was the first attempt
06:42to identify the region
06:45in the literature
06:46and history
06:46as Goths' Kansa.
06:48And here,
06:49the most likely,
06:50the king of Beric
06:50has brought their own
06:52and here,
06:53the buildings
06:54and here,
06:55the cmentarges,
06:57which are the subject
06:57of our interest.
06:58of their interest.
07:01To Kokowski,
07:02the stone circles indicate
07:04that the Goths
07:05came from Skandynavia.
07:07Poland became,
07:08as the saga of the Goths
07:10tells us,
07:11their second homeland.
07:13The scientific community
07:14is not in complete agreement,
07:16however.
07:18But from here too,
07:20the Goths moved on.
07:22From the coast
07:23to the Germanic Sea
07:25they soon advanced
07:26into the interior
07:27of the country
07:28and subjugated
07:29all their neighbours.
07:31They themselves
07:32remained free.
07:33That was their good fortune,
07:35their advantage
07:36and their desire.
07:44Gradually,
07:45the Goths moved up
07:47the Vistula.
07:47At first,
07:48only individual
07:49family groups set out.
07:51each new generation
07:53settled only
07:5430 to 50 km
07:55further south.
08:02At this stage
08:03there was no
08:04mass exodus
08:05as there had been
08:06over 200 years earlier
08:07when tens of thousands
08:09of Cimbrians
08:10and Teutons
08:10had set off
08:11on their great trek.
08:17The Goths
08:18were still just looking
08:19for new,
08:20two better settlements
08:21a little further upstream.
08:24Near Mazlamesch
08:26in southern Poland
08:27where they settled,
08:28Kokowski made
08:29a sensational find.
08:30The remains
08:31of a boat burial.
08:33At first
08:34it could only be
08:35made out by experts
08:36but then
08:37the shape
08:38of a boat
08:38in the earth
08:39became clearly visible.
08:43in this grave
08:45a Gothic woman
08:46was buried
08:47in a seated
08:48position
08:49as though
08:49sitting on the
08:50port of a boat.
08:51This was clear
08:52from the position
08:53of the bones.
08:56of a boat
08:57of a boat
08:58of a boat
09:01of a boat
09:04of a boat
09:16of a boat
09:18of a boat
09:26of a boat
09:27has been uncovered.
09:28It's the largest
09:29ancient necropolis
09:30in Poland.
09:33Several hundred
09:34skeletons
09:35lie here
09:36close together
09:37but how did the
09:38archaeologists know
09:39they were Goths?
09:40Because
09:41unlike other
09:43Germanic tribes
09:44the men
09:44were buried
09:45without their swords
09:46and daggers.
09:48their gods
09:49must have objected
09:50to the jangling
09:51of weapons
09:51in the next world.
09:54The Goths
09:55who were buried here
09:56says Karkovsky
09:57were originally
09:58a quite
09:59insignificant tribe
10:00only as a result
10:02of their migration
10:03did their name
10:04go down in history.
10:08One of them
10:09was this Gothic woman.
10:11Her forebears
10:12came from Poland.
10:13She herself died
10:14in Hungary
10:15a thousand kilometers
10:16south of her
10:17ancestors' homeland.
10:19The Goths
10:20had traveled
10:21that far south
10:22and would go
10:24much further still.
10:29The rich jewelry
10:31found in the
10:32Polish graves
10:32testifies to
10:34the extensive
10:34trade relations
10:35of the Goths
10:36from the far north
10:37to distant lands
10:39under a southern sun.
10:41A tortoiseshell
10:42was laid in the
10:43graves of the dead
10:44to bring good luck.
10:49These brightly colored
10:51glass beads
10:51came from
10:52North Africa
10:53and Palestine.
10:54They were made
10:55into valuable jewelry
10:56for a Gothic woman
10:57on the Vistula.
11:00A shell from the Black Sea
11:02worn as an earring.
11:06The Goths themselves
11:07made large quantities
11:09of staghorn combs
11:10which they exported
11:12as far as the Roman Empire.
11:16in return
11:18they received
11:19precious essences
11:20from the
11:20Near East.
11:21Traces of them
11:23have been found
11:23in these perfume
11:24containers.
11:25The lure
11:27of Roman culture
11:28would have contributed
11:29to their leaving
11:30the Vistula
11:31and moving south.
11:39the Vistula
11:40and the Vistula
11:43and the number
11:45of his people
11:45continued
11:46to increase.
11:47He decided
11:48to migrate
11:49with his wife
11:49and child
11:50in an armed company.
11:54So Yordanus reports.
12:04around 175 AD
12:06the long march
12:07of the Goths
12:08began in what
12:09is now Poland.
12:11Clans
12:11and tribes
12:12joined forces
12:13and moved
12:14down the Vistula
12:15in the direction
12:15of the Danube
12:16and the Black Sea.
12:19Ultimately
12:20this Gothic migration
12:21would contribute
12:22to the overthrowing
12:23of the ancient world
12:24but at this stage
12:26the Goths
12:27had not yet appeared
12:28on the Roman horizon.
12:30Rome wanted
12:31to extend
12:32its dominion
12:33beyond the Rhine
12:33as far as the Elbe.
12:35So in 9 AD
12:37Varus
12:38was sent out
12:39with three legions
12:40to subdue
12:41free Germania
12:42for Rome.
12:43The mission
12:44ended
12:44in a disaster.
12:48Skulls
12:49of Roman legionaries.
12:50They were smashed
12:51by Germans
12:52with cudgels
12:53as sacrifices
12:54to Odin.
12:55The Karuskans
12:57had defeated
12:57the best army
12:59in the world.
13:02Rome
13:02was stunned.
13:05Quinctili
13:05ware legiones
13:07rede.
13:08Varus
13:09give me back
13:09my legions.
13:11The head
13:12of Varus
13:12had been cut off
13:13and sent
13:14to Emperor Augustus.
13:21Varus
13:22not until six years
13:23after the Varus
13:24battle
13:24did the Roman commander
13:25Gamanicus
13:26venture near
13:27the Teutoburg forest
13:29again.
13:30He had the task
13:31of looking for
13:32the mortal remains
13:33of the legions.
13:34He was supposed
13:35to bury
13:35Roman disgrace
13:36and shame
13:37for all time
13:38bone by bone
13:40skull by skull.
13:47the Roman historian
13:49Cassius Dio
13:50described what
13:51the search party
13:52found
13:52to his horror.
13:55and now they
13:56contemplated the
13:57sight of the
13:58misfortune.
13:59It was dreadful
14:00to look at
14:01and full of
14:01terrible memories.
14:03The skeletons
14:04of mules
14:05lay everywhere.
14:09In heaps
14:10or scattered around
14:11Germanicus
14:12found bleached
14:13human bones.
14:14Friend and foe
14:15could not be
14:16distinguished
14:16as if they were all
14:18blood relatives.
14:25in the clearing
14:26stood the
14:27barbarians' altars.
14:28On them
14:29the Karuskans
14:30had slaughtered
14:31their most distinguished
14:32prisoners.
14:36As sacrifices
14:38to their gods.
14:43They had nailed
14:44the legionaries' heads
14:45to trees
14:46or set them on poles.
14:51And they had skinned
14:52with the cavalry horses.
14:59The grisly battle
15:00had lasted
15:01for three days
15:02in the autumn
15:03of the year nine.
15:05Fifteen thousand
15:06legionaries
15:07had lost their lives
15:08on the battlefield.
15:16Germanicus
15:17had the bones
15:17buried
15:18and collected
15:19everything
15:19from the battlefield.
15:23He must have missed
15:24this parade
15:25mask
15:25of a Roman captain.
15:31Almost 2,000 years
15:33later
15:33retired British
15:35Major
15:35Tony Clunn
15:36walks over
15:38a field
15:38near Osnabrück.
15:39He's looking
15:40for the site
15:41of the Varus battle.
15:44It has already
15:45been sought
15:45in more than 700
15:46different places.
15:47It fell
15:48to hobby
15:49archaeologist
15:50Clunn
15:50to make a discovery
15:52to make a discovery
15:52at the right spot.
15:55At no time
15:56did we find anything
15:58that would indicate
16:00there had been
16:00any battle here.
16:02All we found
16:02was coins.
16:03But 18 months after
16:04looking for the first
16:06artefacts
16:07we then went on to
16:08and we were very lucky
16:09to find
16:10in the three different places.
16:15These lead slingshot
16:18or they called
16:19Schleudeblee.
16:20And in essence
16:22once Professor Schlueter
16:23and the archaeological team
16:25had examined these
16:27and agreed that they were
16:29Schleudeblee
16:30the whole area
16:31became doubly of interest
16:34because now we have
16:35a place where
16:36not only coins
16:37were lost
16:38we have a place
16:39where people were
16:39fighting.
16:41And that tended
16:42to endorse
16:43the statements
16:44that Momsen
16:45had made
16:45many years before
16:47that this could
16:48possibly be the site
16:49of the Varus battle.
16:50And that was
16:51the start for us.
16:54Major Clunn
16:55has shown
16:55the professional
16:56archaeologist
16:57the way.
16:58He's found
16:58what the poet
16:59Heinrich Heine
17:00later called
17:01the classical morass
17:03in which Varus
17:04became bogged.
17:07Not
17:08in the Teutoburg forest
17:10but here
17:11is where the Roman Empire
17:13suffered
17:13one of her greatest
17:14defeats.
17:15The Varus battle
17:16took place
17:17at Calcriza
17:18near Osnabrück.
17:19Here
17:20the Karuskan tribe
17:21fought to keep
17:22Germania
17:23free of Roman rule.
17:28The site
17:29measures well over
17:3030 square kilometers
17:32an enormous challenge.
17:34For the first time
17:35in the history
17:36of archaeology
17:37an ancient
17:38battlefield
17:38is being
17:39systematically
17:40explored.
17:45Head archaeologist
17:47Susanna
17:48Wilbis-Rost
17:48is studying
17:50the soil profile.
17:51To get
17:52at the evidence
17:53of the ancient
17:53drama
17:54the researchers
17:55must dig down
17:56at least a meter.
18:00everything that is
18:01found is of interest
18:02to the archaeologists
18:03even if it's only a few
18:05ordinary nails
18:06from a legionary
18:06sandal
18:07or the fragment
18:08of a bronze
18:09jug.
18:15exploring a battlefield
18:17says Wilbis-Rost
18:18is like doing
18:19a scientific
18:20jigsaw puzzle
18:21with tens
18:22of thousands
18:23of pieces.
18:26Square meter
18:27by square meter
18:29archaeologists
18:30are reconstructing
18:31the site
18:32of the ancient
18:32massacre.
18:33Thousands of bones
18:35have been found
18:35including
18:37entire skeletons
18:38of mules.
18:43Even now
18:44the terrible presence
18:46of death
18:47still hangs over
18:48the finds.
18:49They speak
18:50of the fall
18:50of a great army.
18:54The most sensational
18:55find
18:56a Roman officer's
18:57parade mask.
18:59Germanicus's search
19:00party missed that.
19:03And this cameo
19:05on a scabbard.
19:07Such things
19:08simply don't get lost
19:09unless
19:11it's in battle.
19:17This could have been
19:18the key to Varus's
19:19war chest.
19:20In the end
19:21it's the coins
19:23which prove
19:23that the Varus battle
19:25really took place
19:26in Calcriza.
19:26most of them
19:28were minted
19:29under
19:29Emperor Augustus.
19:31The most recent
19:32coin dates
19:32from the year
19:33nine,
19:34the year of
19:35the Varus battle.
19:42There were rumors
19:43then about a planned
19:44German revolt,
19:46Cassius Dio reported.
19:49Varus was to go
19:50into battle
19:50against the agitators
19:52with three legions.
19:53He had collected
19:55taxes from the
19:55Karuskans
19:56as if they were his
19:57subjects and treated
19:58them like slaves.
20:02The Germans tolerated
20:04that as little
20:05as they did
20:05the foreign rule.
20:07They were enraged
20:08but not openly.
20:10They pretended
20:11to be friendly
20:12and lured Varus
20:13into the woods.
20:28Varus had felt safe.
20:30After all,
20:31the Karuskans
20:31had been allies
20:32for many years.
20:33Many were even
20:34Roman mercenaries
20:35in high ranking
20:36positions.
20:38Now,
20:38they resorted
20:39to arms
20:40for the sake
20:41of their freedom.
20:49Arminius,
20:50the Karuskan prince,
20:51did not engage
20:52the Romans
20:53in pitched battle
20:54but with
20:54Germanic guerrilla tactics.
21:02Guerra,
21:03the Germanic word
21:04for confusion,
21:06entered many languages
21:07as the word
21:08for war.
21:12Lightly armed,
21:13familiar with the Romans'
21:15methods of warfare
21:16and at home
21:17in the forests,
21:18the Germans
21:19made easy work
21:20of the legionaries.
21:24The bloodbath
21:25lasted three days.
21:28The Romans
21:29were slain
21:29one by one
21:31by the very enemy
21:32the Romans themselves
21:33had always slaughtered
21:35like animals.
21:38a whole army
21:40was wiped out
21:4115,000 legionaries.
21:44Rome's aura
21:45as an unbeatable
21:46world power
21:46was gone.
21:52Just what had
21:53the Romans wanted
21:54in Germania?
21:55After all,
21:56they could have
21:57founded towns there
21:58with theatres
21:59and schools.
22:00they could have
22:01brought Roman civilization,
22:03abolished blood feuds
22:05and introduced
22:06the rights
22:07of citizenship.
22:08If they had treated
22:10the barbarians
22:11as they called
22:11the Germans
22:12differently,
22:13history might have
22:14taken a different course.
22:16But it didn't.
22:22Tacitus wrote,
22:23the Caruscan prince,
22:26Arminius,
22:27had dared challenge
22:28the Roman people
22:29at the peak
22:29of the empire's power.
22:32Victorious in war,
22:33he was indisputably
22:35the liberator
22:36of Germania.
22:41In the 19th century,
22:43Arminius was celebrated
22:45as a freedom fighter.
22:49But was he really
22:51concerned with freedom?
22:52Or did he just want
22:54to become king
22:55of the Caruscans?
22:56We will never know.
22:57But either way,
22:59the Caruscans
23:00had taught the Romans
23:01a bitter lesson.
23:05For over 20 years,
23:07the Romans
23:07had been tackling
23:08the bellicose Germans
23:09with little success.
23:11This dark land
23:13with its unpredictable people
23:15was not worth the blood
23:16of one single legionary,
23:18wrote Tiberius.
23:20The legions were withdrawn
23:22from the land
23:22of the Germans
23:23and sent back
23:24to the Rhine
23:25and the Danube.
23:26Nonetheless,
23:28the situation
23:28remained unstable.
23:30After the Varus battle,
23:32Roman sovereignty
23:33stopped forever
23:34at the Rhine
23:35and the Danube.
23:37The garrisons
23:38at today's cities
23:39of Xanten,
23:40Cologne
23:41and Mainz
23:41became the first towns
23:43of the Roman provinces
23:44along the Rhine.
23:47But the approaches
23:48were unprotected.
23:49So,
23:50a 550 km long
23:53fortified wall
23:54known as the Limes
23:56was built
23:57right across Germany.
23:59Of the over 60 Limes forts,
24:02only Saalburg
24:03near Bad Homburg
24:04has been completely reconstructed.
24:08After almost 2,000 years,
24:10remains of other forts
24:11can still be found
24:12in many places.
24:14Every 10 km,
24:16Rome strengthened
24:17the boundary
24:18of its empire
24:19with these forts.
24:21Cohorts of 500 legionaries
24:23and cavalrymen
24:24were stationed there.
24:25They acted as
24:26reconnaissance patrols,
24:27border guards
24:28and tactical reserves.
24:34The Chatton resisted
24:36the occupation
24:36of Saalburg.
24:38Their tribal areas
24:39lay in the Taunus
24:40area of Hesse
24:41and they made
24:43frequent forays
24:44into Roman territory.
24:47When the Germans
24:48persisted
24:49in attacking the Romans
24:50as was their way
24:51and then withdrawing
24:52safely
24:53into the depths
24:54of the woods,
24:55the Emperor
24:55had tracks cut
24:57into the forest.
25:00The Latin word
25:01limes simply means
25:03a connecting route
25:04for border patrols.
25:06These tracks
25:07can still be found
25:08in many places.
25:11The northern border
25:13of the Empire
25:13was supposed to appear
25:14mighty and intimidating.
25:19Where the Germans
25:20are not separated
25:21from us by rivers,
25:22King Hadrian
25:23had massive tree trunks
25:24rammed into the ground.
25:26In this way,
25:27he put up a wall
25:28between us
25:29and the barbarians.
25:31The border guards
25:33came from
25:33the Mediterranean.
25:35We can imagine
25:36just how unpopular
25:38was the rainy,
25:39cold country
25:39full of barbaric
25:40Germans.
25:42Service there
25:43was by no means
25:44safe.
25:45In one grave,
25:46archaeologists
25:47found 93
25:48cut-off Roman hands.
25:51More than 900
25:53of these watchtowers
25:54stood along the limes.
25:55But they weren't
25:57an insurmountable
25:58bulwark,
25:59says historian
26:00Egon Schallmayer.
26:02The limes
26:03was not
26:05a
26:05machine
26:06to be
26:07to be
26:11completely
26:11und
26:12a
26:12a
26:12a
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26:45He was controlled here.
26:47The one who wanted to go out had to legitimize himself.
27:15In particular demand with the Germans were Roman luxury goods
27:20like precious glassware from Cologne.
27:25In turn, hides were exported to the Roman Empire
27:29and, the latest thing in Rome, long blonde plaits.
27:38As the Germans loved brightly coloured fabrics and shields,
27:42they even imported dyes such as cobalt blue from far off Egypt.
27:51At the checkpoints, not only imports and exports were controlled,
27:55but also, and this will sound familiar, economic refugees.
28:00The daily trickle of people into the Roman Empire.
28:04Limus historian Schallmeier is convinced
28:06that the Germans didn't see the Romans only as their enemy.
28:14The Germans were the one who had a bronze,
28:20a fantastic bronze,
28:22a fantastic piece of bronze,
28:24a fantastic equipment,
28:26a fantastic equipment,
28:27a great place,
28:27a great place,
28:27a great place,
28:28a great place.
28:32And if the Germans came over the border,
28:36and they were lucky to have to be in the provinces,
28:39to be able to do it,
28:40or they were also as military groups as a military group,
28:45then they had to be in the Roman Empire.
28:47And if you compare it to the Roman Empire,
28:51the Roman Empire,
28:51at the start of the war,
28:52the German Empire,
28:53it was very clever if you were American.
28:56Because the army were the Americans,
28:59who made new freedom,
29:02and some of them were along the way.
29:04Some of them were along the way.
29:05In the Antilles,
29:07some of them were along the way.
29:08And some Germans were along the way,
29:09and some of them were along the way.
29:11so they could not even be among Germans.
29:15Tens of thousands crossed the border, being legionaries was like having a green card.
29:21Many even became Roman citizens, with a right to baths, bread and circuses, pensions and
29:27a burial place for all eternity, such as the Germanic horseman Bassus, whom they called
29:35Flavus the Blonde.
29:40One of his duties to Rome was to prevent other Germans from crossing the border illegally.
29:47In many parts of the Empire, the border started to come under increasing pressure from barbarians.
29:53In 260, Frank and Allemanic hordes managed to break through the Limits and push deep into
30:00the Roman Empire.
30:05The Romans had already begun to give up the Limits, withdraw their troops and move them
30:10to other border areas.
30:15Because, in Rome, they had other concerns.
30:19The Empire that reached from the Nile to the Atlantic, from the Caucasus to Gibraltar, was
30:25waging war on many fronts.
30:27Everywhere they were short of troops and money.
30:30The Empire had long ago abandoned its outposts in the lands of the barbarians.
30:36Roman world supremacy had again been pushed back to the Rhine and the Danube.
30:46Rivers were a considerable obstacle for Germanic troops, so the Romans underestimated what was
30:53happening on the far bank of these frontiers.
30:56In the third century, powerful Germanic forces were building up everywhere.
31:04The Goths were part of the avalanche of tribes that were to become a danger to the Roman Empire.
31:10From the Vistula, they travelled along the Dnieper towards the Black Sea.
31:28The Goths left their second homeland too, with their wives and children.
31:34They were searching for new territory that could take them in and feed them.
31:43Why were entire tribes migrating?
31:47Because of privation, overworked soils, overpopulation?
31:55There are many explanations, but people have always sought a better life by moving on.
32:04Many sayings express this idea.
32:07Settling is not part of humankind's basic genetic makeup.
32:12Only trees and flowers have roots, people have legs.
32:17A fugitive and a vagabond shall thou be.
32:21This spirit is more true of the Goths than of any other people of antiquity.
32:27Not until the Goths started looting along the borders of the Roman Empire did Rome take note of them.
32:34In 275 AD, some of them reached the Crimean Peninsula and the coast of the Black Sea.
32:46The ruins of the Greek port Kasonisos.
32:49It was part of the Roman Empire.
32:52Here, Goths had their first encounter with ancient civilisation.
32:56Yodanus wrote,
33:00Close to Roman culture, they became more human and more civilised.
33:08The Crimean Goths became allies of the Empire.
33:13In the mountainous hinterland, there was room for them.
33:16The first of the wandering Germanic tribes to settle, they found a homeland here for centuries.
33:27They built their cities in the strangely beautiful cliffs.
33:31These so-called Gothic fortresses are unique evidence of the great migration of tribes.
33:45The streets of their capital, Dori.
33:49On either side, houses were hewn into the rock.
33:53Some were cramped, others positively princely with magnificent views.
33:59In the valleys and plains, the Crimean Goths cultivated vines and vegetables.
34:08Historian Alexander Gertsen from Simferopol has been coming to this quiet mountain platter for years.
34:16He knows the thousand-year history of the Goths better than anyone.
34:23The point is that the northern part of the Byzantine tribes were threatened to be threatened by the Byzantine tribes.
34:31For many centuries, there was a threat of their invasion.
34:35And Goths served as a kind of live weapon for the Byzantine territories,
34:43which was used in the northern-west Crimea.
34:47like many romans the goths too became christians their churches in the cliffs are a reminder
34:5760 000 goths lived in crimea in the middle of the 6th century it was said of them of all
35:04peoples
35:04they are the most hospitable they are skilled attending their fields and are competent warriors
35:09in the secluded world of the mountains they survived for centuries the gothic language
35:16could still be heard here in the 17th century in crimea as everywhere the most important evidence
35:29of the migrant germans is to be found in their graves a richly decorated diadem made of gold
35:36and decorated with jewels as was the gothic fashion
35:46typical of gothic dress are these bow fibula a kind of large safety pin with which they held
35:53their cloaks and robes together practical and attractive at the same time
36:05the crimean goth's jewelry did not only come from east roman goldsmiths the goths also started to
36:12create their own designs from the step dwellers of the east they took the motif of the eagle
36:23for archaeologists two of the principal markers of the germanic migrations are the eagle and bow fibula
36:32which are often the only physical trace of their wanderings they've been found in the balkans
36:37italy and spain crimea is particularly rich in such finds
36:44the archaeologist alexander aibabin has investigated hundreds of gothic graves and has found many such eagle
36:52buckles the eagle buckles but also such little boy german so for who can zabarge in or lockout or
36:59which is to change it's not only a prince of mine of the book nou carashenic
37:05symbolize it's true meaning german soft sobode a katarrel kitsa katoose kato parit with so
37:11the duality is obviously not is a type of character one of the greatest of the lago
37:20which carried the chosen up to heaven.
37:23Spreading from the east, the eagle became the sign of the Goths.
37:28It was to accompany them on all their journeys through Europe.
37:40While some of the Goths found a home in Crimea,
37:43other Gothic tribes were still on the move.
37:46Of their wanderings, only sagas tell the tale.
37:50The physical evidence has vanished.
37:58They have no houses, no dwelling places,
38:00apart from those which weariness creates for a day.
38:08What were their lives like?
38:11These wandering clans never had more than the bare necessities.
38:17They lived from hand to mouth, hunted whatever they could,
38:21and stole what they didn't grow themselves whenever they could.
38:34Like nomads, they live mainly from grazing cattle,
38:38and so, like nomads, they load their possessions onto carts
38:42and move with their herds wherever they please.
38:52New generations had grown up since they left their homeland in Poland over 60 years before.
39:00They took with them children, women and parents weakened by age.
39:05After long meandering, some settled where the complete lack of means left them.
39:10Others stayed behind at the next best place, exhausted.
39:18That is how Seneca the Elder described the fate of the wanderers.
39:23Today, we would probably call them economic refugees.
39:31After leaving Poland, the group had split around 280 AD.
39:36The Ostrogoths, or Eastern Goths, settled north of the Black Sea.
39:41The Visigoths, or Western Goths, moved to the Danube,
39:46right on the border of the Roman Empire and to Transylvania.
39:51When the Goths were looking for a suitable place to live,
39:55they came to a country which was called Oyum in their language,
39:58which means good land.
40:01They took possession of the desired land.
40:04This is a good place to stay. Let us build huts.
40:12About this, Jordanus has little more to say in his saga,
40:16but researchers today know more about the Goths.
40:19In Central and Eastern Europe,
40:22archaeologists have found traces of over 500 settlements,
40:26signs that the Goths found a permanent home as farmers and shepherds.
40:40Nomads once more became settled farmers,
40:42who sowed for themselves what they reaped.
40:51Unlike the Romans, the Goths built houses not of stone, but of wood,
40:55as they had done in the north.
41:02They use rough tree trunks for everything.
41:04It is not handsome to behold and gives no pleasure to the eye.
41:09In simple dwellings, humans and animals live together under one roof,
41:13warming each other in winter.
41:21What is now Romania became a homeland to them for three generations.
41:32From the far north, the Goths brought their faith in their gods, Gaut and Odin, with them.
41:39Tacitus wrote,
41:40they think it incompatible with the majesty of the divine to confine gods within walls.
41:48Woodland clearings were the Goths' temples.
41:51There, they worshipped their ancestors and made sacrifices to the gods.
42:04The beliefs of their fathers bound the many scattered Gothic tribes and clans together,
42:10and gave them a common identity in foreign places.
42:21They asked the Germanic gods, the Azen, for good harvests and for good fortune in war,
42:27and Fergunis, the god of oak trees, for good weather.
42:34They made bloody sacrifices,
42:36and hung the entrails and hides of sacrificial animals on trees.
42:42And like the Romans, they were proud that their kings were of divine origin,
42:47and descended from the Nordic god, Gaut.
42:53But the old gods, Roman and Germanic alike, were spent.
42:59They no longer provided answers to the questions of the new era.
43:04So, many Goths turned away from the gods of their forefathers and became Christians.
43:09They were the first Germans to be christened outside the Roman Empire,
43:14from a deep belief in the one god.
43:23One of the oldest, most famous and most precious books in the world,
43:29bears witness to the early Christianity of the Goths.
43:32It's the Wulfila Bible, named after the first bishop of the Goths.
43:38It's kept in the Swedish town of Uppsala, the land the Goths first came from.
43:45It's also known as the Codex Argentius, or Silver Bible.
43:51Because the New Testament is written in silver ink,
43:55some pages even in ink of gold,
43:58on purple-dyed parchment from the skin of newborn goats,
44:02a document of untold value.
44:08Wulfila devised the Gothic script from Greek letters and runes,
44:12especially for the Bible.
44:16Only two pages can be seen in the original.
44:19It's said that all the others are kept at a secret place.
44:22The historian Lars Munkhammer says mystification is part of the security measures
44:28surrounding the Wulfila Bible,
44:30the oldest and most important Germanic written record.
44:34He has examined it, but even he is allowed to hold only a facsimile.
44:39The old parchment sheets are brittle and sensitive to light.
44:45Preserving them for posterity is a science in itself.
44:49It's the responsibility of conservator Peer Couled.
44:57A couple of pages have been reproduced in colour from the original.
45:01Peer Couled knows the recipe for the precious dye.
45:04It comes from the glands of the Murex, a marine gastropod.
45:0910,000 are needed for every gram.
45:14In ancient times, purple was reserved for the Roman Emperor.
45:19It was immensely precious, as befits the Holy Scriptures.
45:26In Ravenna, around 510 AD,
45:29the Silver Bible was created by translating Latin
45:33into the vernacular Gothic.
45:36The writing has faded over the centuries,
45:38but has been made legible again with x-rays.
45:44The Wulfila Bible was part of the treasure of the Ostrogoth king Theoderic.
45:50It was so that Theoderic appeared as a Roman king,
45:55but he was a barbarian king.
46:00He was not so barbaric as he thought.
46:04He was much culturally bewandered and ambitious.
46:09He wanted to show the Gothic folk's cultural status
46:14by building beautiful churches.
46:19And even for his christians,
46:24with beautiful biblical scriptures.
46:28And it's probably in that light
46:30you'll see the origin of the Silver Bible.
46:47The Lord's Prayer, spoken in Gothic.
46:53The Christian God was not only the God of the superior Roman culture.
46:58To the Gothic farmers and shepherds,
47:01Christianity was also the religion of the struggling and the heavy laden.
47:05Of fraternal love, redemption and eternal life in paradise.
47:15Many Gothic kings were suspicious of the Christians among their people.
47:19They called them Roman hirelings.
47:21They demanded that they make sacrifices to the gods of their ancestors.
47:27Anyone who refused was persecuted and murdered.
47:31Goths were thus amongst the earliest Christian martyrs.
47:42The relationship between the Gothic kings and the Roman emperors
47:45is illustrated on the most precious coin of the era,
47:50today kept in the Museum of Art History in Vienna.
47:52It was found in Romania.
47:55The treasure of Zilaci Sombio.
47:59Numismatist Gunter Dembski takes care of almost two kilograms of pure gold.
48:07A medallion with the image of Wallens, the East Roman emperor.
48:15Gloria Romanorum.
48:18Emperor Wallens wanted the Goths to know the glory of the Romans.
48:25Roman gold became jewelry for the barbarians.
48:28For the empire and the Goths were not always at war.
48:31Occasionally there were truces bought with gold.
48:35The treasure is the proof.
48:38Roman gold is not only a beautiful piece,
48:41but it is also the greatest and hardest gold gold medalion,
48:45that is from the antiquity ever delivered.
48:48It has about 412 grams of gold medalions.
48:52With these medalions did Rome first of all
48:55have a very high value to high personalities,
49:00which made it so well to feel,
49:03to be loyal to Rome.
49:05And also to support Rome as a war.
49:10It was ultimately much more expensive than war itself.
49:14And it was also a kind of,
49:17you can say, a kind of debt for peace.
49:22Roman pledges for peace.
49:24Among them the heavy gold medalion of Emperor Wallens,
49:28with which he bought peace from the Goths.
49:35The Danube in Romania, once border of the empire.
49:40In September 369, a historic meeting took place here
49:45between the Goths and the Romans.
49:52A Tannerich, speaker of the Gothic kings, a declared enemy of Rome.
49:58He had sworn never to set foot on Roman soil.
50:04So, Emperor Wallens reluctantly agreed to meet him at a neutral place.
50:11It was really beneath his dignity to make any concessions to the barbarians,
50:15but after three years of war, it was better to talk to the other side.
50:20So, they met for a Gothic Roman summit in the middle of the Danube.
50:33In the story, as handed down to us by Amanianus Marcellinus,
50:39Wallens was angry.
50:42He could not quell the Goths on the far side of the Danube.
50:46His troops were no match for their guerrilla fighters,
50:49and the war was costing him a fortune.
50:59A Tannerich, too, came only reluctantly.
51:03His Goths were not strong enough to destroy the hated Roman supremacy.
51:09So, they had to negotiate.
51:16Wallens had A Tannerich addressed as Rex, king of the Goths.
51:21He understood this as Rex, and was angered, as that was an inferior rank.
51:28Neither of them addressed his counterpart directly.
51:31The discussions were carried on through legates.
51:34A Tannerich asked the emperor for peace and free trade.
51:39Wallens had his legate reply that he would permit controlled trade
51:43at two border checkpoints.
51:45That was his best offer.
51:50A Tannerich also wanted a free hand in the persecution of the Gothic Christians,
51:55the Romalings, as he disparagingly called them.
52:01Wallens wasn't interested in the fate of his Christian brothers on Gothic territory.
52:06A Tannerich could do with them as he pleased.
52:08As for the rest, they would come to an agreement.
52:16In view of the benefit to the state, Emperor Wallens has decided to grant peace to the Goths.
52:25Pax et Amicitia.
52:28In the middle of the Danube, between two equals, a pact promising peace and friendship between the world power and
52:36the Goths.
52:36All seemed well in the world.
52:40But then, mounted hordes appeared on the horizon.
52:45The Huns.
52:46The most terrible warriors of all.
52:50In 375, the great tribal migration began.
52:54Fleeing Germanic tribes passed through the Roman Empire.
52:57A storm swept Europe.
53:03The battle for Rome had begun.
53:18Fleeing Germanic tribes, the Washington magma,
53:19the German magma, the Knights of the Great.
53:26The Frenchman, the Land of Christ.
53:30The Frenchman, the leader and the ghost.
53:30The Frenchman, the Frenchman, the US,
53:32They chose him for the first time.
53:33the Catholic man, the Greek man.
53:33Had to come to the east,
53:37How did he find his head in the west?
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