Furor teutonicus
Furor teutonicus means "Teutonic frenzy / lust for attack" or in a broader sense "Germanic spirit / lust for attack".
The expression is mostly attributed to the Roman poet Marcus Annaeus Lucanus (39–65 AD), in whose work Bellum civile it appears for the first time according to today's sources ( Liber Primus, 255 f. ). So he made reference to a supposedly stand-out characteristic of the Germanic tribe of the Teutons : the angry, merciless (with themselves), oblivious frenzy of the Teutons in battle. The expression reflects the horror that the emerging Roman Republic first encountered Germanic tribes on their Italian territory in the 2nd century BC. Had seized.
Quotes from antiquity:
"In battle they cheered because they hoped to be able to leave life in a glorious and happy way."
"They attacked with the speed and violence of a firestorm: daring and fearless, with animal voices and terrible screams."
The Teutons traveled through Europe with the Cimbrons and Ambrones in search of new land. They met 113 BC. Chr. In the Eastern Alps on troops of the Roman Empire . The Romans, under the command of the consul Papirius Carbo, tried to lure the Teutons into an ambush. However, they underestimated the wanderers' military potential and lost the Battle of Noreia .
In further clashes, such as the Battle of Arausio ( 105 BC ), the Romans suffered further sensitive defeats. One was afraid that the entourage would move towards Rome and seal its downfall. In retrospect, however, this fear was probably unfounded, there was no political will to occupy Rome.
The trunks separated again and could be placed individually. Gaius Marius defeated the wandering peoples of the Teutons and Ambrones in 102 BC. At the Battle of Aquae Sextiae and 101 BC. Chr. The Cimbri in the Battle of Vercellae .
Even so, the danger of an invasion from the north appeared great after this experience and remained a constant cause of concern for the Romans. Centuries later, this concern was confirmed with the smashing of the Western Roman Empire in the Great Migration .
The term furor teutonicus has been used as a winged word for German aggression since the Middle Ages. As a figure of thought, Johannes Fried believes , he can be found, for example, with Johannes von Salisbury in 1160, when he was angry about the behavior of Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa in the investiture dispute . The French-born commentator uses the adjectives "stupid" and "quick-tempered" and speaks of the "raging" of the Germans and thus uses the attributions to the German people that have been handed down since Lucanus.
literature
- Christine Trzaska-Richter: Furor teutonicus - The Roman image of Teutons in politics and propaganda from the beginnings to the 2nd century AD. Bochum Classical Studies Colloquium Volume 8, Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Trier 1991, ISBN 3-88476-014-9 .
- Johannes Fried: The beginnings of the Germans. The way into history, Berlin 2015 [EA 1994], ISBN 978-3549074664 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Johannes Fried: The beginnings of the Germans. The way into history, Berlin 2015 [EA 1994], p. 19.