Germania
- For alternate meanings see Germania
(disambiguation)
In the Roman era Germania was the Latin
name for a geographical area that stretched from the west bank of the Rhine to a
vaguely-defined eastern frontier with the forest and steppe regions of modern Russia and Ukraine.
Germania was inhabited by different tribes, mostly Germanic but
also including Celtic, Baltic
and Scythian, or steppe elements. Though Germanic tribes were in the majority, the
ethnic makeup was complex and changed over the centuries as a result of migrations. Most of the Germanic peoples probably spoke Proto-Germanic languages.
Germania was defined by Rome as having two regions: 'the inner Germania', west and south of the Rhine, occupied by the Romans,
and 'the free Germania' east of the Rhine. The occupied Germania was divided into two provinces: Germania Inferior (approximately corresponding to the southern part
of the present-day Low Countries) and Germania Superior (approximately corresponding to present-day
Switzerland and Alsace).
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