Ancient Europeans ritually fed the animals that fell in battle. Monk copyist from Lacroix at work

Traditionally ancient history they begin to study from the civilizations of Ancient Egypt, the Sumerians, Babylon. No doubt, these civilizations have made a significant contribution to the development of mankind. But in parallel with the emergence and development of these civilizations in the north, on the territory of modern Russia, events were taking place no less, and probably even more important for world history. These events were connected with the ancient Indo-Europeans, which we will talk about in this post.

Why Indo-Europeans? Back in the 18th century, Europeans who visited India noticed a clear similarity between Sanskrit and European languages. Sanskrit was an ancient language whose position in India resembled that of Latin in Europe, with some Sanskrit texts over 3,000 years old. Similarities were found not only in language, but also in traditions and beliefs, so it became clear that ancient Indians and ancient Europeans had common ancestors.

More than a hundred years of disputes and searches followed, spent on reliably establishing where the ancient Indo-Europeans lived, where their ancestral home was. There has been a lot of speculation on this subject. The German Nazis, for example, at one time announced that the ancient Indo-Europeans, or the ancient Aryans, lived on the territory of modern Germany and represented a special superior race. However, studies have shown a very different picture.

In ancient times, the Indo-Europeans really were one people. They lived relatively compactly in the basin of the Don and Volga, on the territory of modern Russia. The most ancient archaeological culture, for which its Indo-European origin has been proven, is Samara. It belongs to the 5th millennium BC. e., and the area of ​​​​its distribution affects the territory of modern Samara, Saratov and Orenburg regions. In the next millennium, Indo-European cultures expanded their range, capturing the Urals and the Kazakh steppes in the east, and reaching the Dnieper in the west. Up to 3-4 millennium BC. e. Indo-Europeans were a single community.

Who were the ancient Indo-Europeans? They were warlike people, but at the same time they had a developed mythology and valued knowledge. According to the ideas of modern scientists, the society of the ancient Indo-Europeans was divided into three main groups - priests, warriors and those who were engaged in agriculture and cattle breeding. They worshiped various gods, the main of which was the god of thunder and lightning (the same one that in Ancient Russia was known as Perun, and in Ancient Greece like Zeus). The ancient Indo-Europeans believed in an afterlife and the existence of hell and heaven. They also had a cult of heroes, about whose exploits legends were composed.

About 5-6 thousand years ago, the Indo-Europeans made one of major discoveries in the history of mankind - they invented the wheel and learned how to harness horses to wagons. This event turned the history of Eurasia upside down. Soon the warlike Indo-Europeans, who by that time already knew how to smelt copper and bronze, moved in all directions from their ancestral home.

The resettlement of the Indo-Europeans (red color shows the distribution by the middle of the III millennium BC and orange - by the I millennium BC)

The Indo-Europeans were divided. Part of the Indo-Europeans moved to Europe, the entire local population living there was conquered and assimilated (it is believed that the only fragment of pre-Indo-European culture is the small Basque people in Spain). Indo-European peoples in Europe created outstanding ancient civilizations of Ancient Greece and Rome, while the "barbarians" living to the north - Slavic, Germanic and Celtic tribes were also Indo-Europeans. Part came to Asia Minor (the territory of modern Turkey). The Indo-European people of the Hittites created a powerful kingdom and were the first in history to master the smelting of iron. Part of the Indo-European tribes, having lingered for some time in the Southern Urals, moved south, coming first to Central Asia and then to India and Iran. It was these peoples who called themselves Aryans and were the very first to write down their myths in Sanskrit. The oldest Vedas are believed to have been written down in the 16th century. BC e. Finally, part of the Indo-European tribes moved east, reaching the Yenisei and settling in northwestern China. In a relatively short period of time, the Indo-Europeans occupied most of Eurasia.

The Celts can safely be called the core of the formation of almost all the titular nations of Central Europe. One and a half thousand years before the birth of Christ, the tribes of the Celts concentrated only in the eastern part of France, in the part adjacent to it West Germany, southern Belgium and northern Helvetia, or Switzerland. But already in the 4th century BC, the Celts began to spread rapidly throughout the European part of the continent.

They reached the territory of modern Poland and Western Ukraine. Their raids are well remembered by the Balkans and the Apennines. With their ferocity, they made a huge impression on the inhabitants of Iberia (this is the current Spanish kingdom), and on the Saxons who inhabited the British Isles. They reached the territory of modern Scotland, Ireland, assimilated and drastically changed the attitude of the population of all of the above territories.

History of occurrence

The Celts are not aliens from distant continents. These are related tribes that lived in the Rhine valley, in the upper reaches of the Danube, in the upper reaches of the Seine, Meuse and Loire. The Romans, sincerely surprised by their appearance and manners, called them Gauls. Here is the toponymy famous words: Gallic rooster, Galicia, Helvetia, halit.

But the word "Celt" has several artificial origin. It was proposed by Lloyd in the 17th century. A linguist who studies the linguistic similarity of different historical and ethnographic regions of Great Britain noted the similarity between them. He also gave them the name "Celtic group", which took root, becoming a household name for all ethnically homogeneous peoples, even before our era, "spread out" throughout Europe. The southern part of the continent did not succumb to expansion, although it was pretty frightened by such aliens.

Religion

The Celts are one of the most famous pagans, whose sacred traditions are being actively restored and theatricalized today. The Celts had an extensive pantheon of divine beings: Taranis and Esus, Lug and Ogmius, Brigantia and Cernunnos. But they did not have a single supreme deity, such as Zeus, Odin, Perun or Jupiter. It was replaced by the World Tree. In 98%, this was the name of the most sprawling and powerful Oak in a grove close to the Celtic settlement.

The oak was served by druid priests. They avoided human victims, but in case of urgent need they could water the root system of the head Oak with human blood. The priests were engaged in rituals and cults, the education of the children of the tribe. In addition, the priests owned the last word at any Judgment.

The average Celts believed in an afterlife, so they accompanied the dead with many necessary items, from plates and weapons to wives and horses. But they usually cut off the heads of enemies, because they believed that the human soul lives in the head. In the course of hostilities, they cut off and collected the heads of enemies, hanging them from the saddle. Having brought home, they nailed it over the entrance to the dwelling. The most valuable enemy heads were kept in containers filled with cedar oil. In scientific circles, the idea is circulating that later these heads were participants or objects of religious cults.

social organization

The Celtic tribes lived like typical tribal societies with a pronounced patriarchal character. At the head of the communities were priests and leaders, constantly pulling the "blanket" of power over themselves. Judicial power was nominally in the hands of the head of the clan. But very often he listened to the opinion of the Bregons. This is the lowest division of the druid priests, which was engaged in the interpretation of laws and monitored the observance of all required rites.

Male warriors were the backbone of the society of the Celtic tribes. It was they, the father or the eldest son, who received the ransom for the daughter when she got married. By the way, according to local laws, she could do this no more than 21 times. In the event of a divorce, women could take all their property.

The Celts had a very developed system of fines and ransoms. For example, for the murder of one man, the culprit had to pay the relatives of "7 slaves". Living slaves were the main monetary unit of the Celts. As a last resort, they were replaced by cows. There were penalties for beatings, mutilations, for injuries, for killing from an ambush or unintentionally taking the life of a member of the clan. The amount of payments was adjusted depending on what status the affected Celt occupied in society. The richer he was, the more his death "cost" the killer.

The first Celts lived in dugouts, caves and huts half dug into the ground. Later, they began to build stone fortifications - oppidums. These are examples of the first European fortresses. With the development of civilization, they turned into entire fortification cities. The Celts-men were engaged in hunting, war and fishing. But the abundance of slaves allowed individual clans to engage in agriculture, moreover, quite effective. The Celts perfectly mastered the art of smelting and metal processing, cattle breeding and maintained trade relations with most of the European peoples that had not yet been captured.

The Celts are considered one of the most ferocious and tough warriors of the European continent. A huge impression on the opponents was made by the invasions of practically naked people, painted in blue paint and with their heads smeared with lime. In order to impress opponents not only by sight, but also by sound, they screamed and howled into special pipes, which were called carnyxes, and looked like the heads of wild animals. They had helmets on their heads, in which cock feathers were stuck. By the way, the Romans, who first saw the Celts on the battlefield, that is why they called them Gauls, that is, roosters.

Having sorted out and established a hierarchy within the Alpine territory, the Celts loudly declared themselves to the whole of Europe, attacking Massalia 600 years before Christ. This is today's Marseille and the former Greek colony. Blue naked people with tattoos and rooster feathers on their heads, screaming and smelling like lions, bears or wild boars, made an oppressive impression on opponents, sowed horror and panic, so they easily won.
After 200 years, after such striking episodic attacks, the Celts managed to capture Rome. Simultaneously with this event, the eastern groupings of the Celts began to move along the Danube, to the Balkan Peninsula, to the northern part of modern Greece. The attempt of the odious leader of the Celts, Brennus, to plunder the temple of Delphic Apollo and cut off the head of the statue of the Sun God dates back to the same time. But the thunderstorm that began frightened off the superstitious barbarians, giving Delphi the opportunity to admire their temple for another couple of centuries.

King Nicomedes the First (281-246 BC), sitting on the shaky throne of Bithynia in Asia Minor, invited a group of Celts, literally 10 thousand people, with wives, children, cows and slaves, to cross the Bosphorus and support him in dynastic wars . It was these ten thousand mercenaries that became the basis of Galatia, a state that existed for four hundred years in the vastness of modern northwestern Turkey.

Thus, the Celts very successfully settled on the mainland of Europe and firmly entrenched in the British Isles and Ireland. In those places where they were opposed by the empire, in the manner of Rome, the migratory military maneuver did not work. Therefore, the south of Iberia, the Apennine Peninsula and coastline The Balkans remained uncaptured by the barbarians. In these parts, they were only allowed to conduct trading operations and sometimes practice the art of surprise raids and primitive blitzkriegs.

The Irish and Cornish, the Bretons and the Scots, the Welsh, the East French, the Belgians, the Swiss, the indigenous people of Bohemia, and the West Germans today consider the Celts to be their ancestors.

Thracians

The Thracians became famous all over Europe because of their two tribesmen: the singer Orpheus and the rebel Spartak. The place where this ethnic group was formed and lived, Xenophanes and Herodotus called the Balkan Peninsula. The Thracians occupied the territory from the Pinda ranges and the Dinaric highlands to Staraya Planina and the Rhodope inclusive. They were recorded in the western part of Asia Minor, on the territory of the modern Turkish ulus of Anatolia. But beyond the Carpathian arc, the ethnic group that gave the world the legendary lyre musician did not spread.
Due to the fact that the now dead language of the Thracians belongs to the Indo-European language family, it is assumed that the representatives themselves ancient people came to the Balkans from South Asia. One of the large-scale stops of the ancestors of the Thracians, who left a number of characteristic artifacts there, was their long-term parking on the territory modern Ukraine. In the very center of the state, in the Belogrudovsky forest of the Cherkasy region, tulip-shaped vessels, scoops, agricultural implements made of bronze, but with silicon inserts, were found.

Having “lit up” in the 11-9th century BC on the Podolsk Upland, between the Dnieper, the Southern Bug and the Dniester, the ancestors of the Thracians migrated beyond the Carpathians, to the Balkans, in order to form in this fertile area into a single ethnic monolith.

Religion

The Thracians were pagans who believed in animal gods, in gods - tamers of natural elements. According to them, the soul of a deceased person moved to the World of Ancestors and led a life there similar to that of the earth. In order to facilitate the existence of a fellow tribesman in another world and save his body from desecration by people and beasts, the Thracians built dolmens, or stone tombs, for their dead. For richer people, real "afterlife palaces" were created. They had a spacious burial chamber, a dromos corridor and a vestibule in which potential disturbers of the peace of the body were waiting. unpleasant surprises like a collapsed ceiling or a snake nest. For poorer tribesmen, individual small burial chambers were cut in the surrounding limestone or marl rocks.

During the formation of sacred beliefs, there was an alternation of the significance of female goddesses responsible for fertility, water, earth, and male images represented by gods, lords of hunting, lightning, wars and blacksmiths. The periods depended on what exactly they were doing in this moment Thracians. They lived on the fertile lands of Ukraine and the Balkan Peninsula, doing agriculture, female goddesses became more important. During periods of migration and search for new lands, when new territories had to be recaptured, male gods came to the fore. By the way, it was at this time that the role of priests decreased. But, as soon as the Thracians found a more or less stable haven, the priests again gained strength.

Agricultural products or the results of hunting were sacrificed to the gods; traces of human sacrifices have not been found to date.

social order

The Thracians in the period BC are the canonical representatives of the primitive communal system. They lived in scattered tribal groups, with an obligatory leader and chief sorcerer. The status of a member of the community directly depended on his wealth, the more horses, cows and food supplies a person had, the more his fellow tribesmen listened to his opinion. Women's rights were not infringed. But, before the main migration to the Balkans, polygamy was widespread among the Thracians, which also depended on the status of the “husband”. The richer a man was, the more wives he could take on his support.
The Thracians actively used the work of slaves. Slaves were both prisoners of war and trespassing fellow tribesmen.

By the beginning of our era, Thracian society was divided into clear classes: princes, warriors, free people engaged in agriculture, trade or crafts, and slaves. With special talents or luck, there was a transition from one social category to another.

Thracian settlements differed geographically. Those peoples who are grouped in the territory modern Bulgaria, Slovakia, surrounded by forests and hidden behind mountain ranges, built unfortified settlements and considered mountain rivers, thickets and ridges to be the best elements of fortification.
The southern Thracians, who lived on the coast of the Adriatic, Mediterranean, Marmara and Pontic Seas, were forced to defend their own, open to all sea ​​travelers, settlements. Therefore, they fortified their settlements and built primitive but effective fortresses.

Wars with other nations and migrations

The heyday of the Thracian people fell on the 1st-5th century AD. There were more than two hundred Thracian tribes, therefore, for the convenience of study, scientists divided them into four regional groups.

The first group includes, in fact, Thrace. This is a historical and cultural region that occupies the territory of today's Bulgaria and the European territory of Turkey. Other, no less famous region compact residence of the Thracians, called Dacia. These are the lands of today's Romania. The third and fourth regions, Mysia and Bithynia, were nearby, on the peninsula of Asia Minor, on the coast of the Marmara and Pontic Seas, only one to the west, and the other to the east, ending at the very ridges of the Pontic Mountains.
Soon after the resettlement of the Thracians to the Balkans, the great migrations of the so-called "peoples of the sea" began. This gave them a chance to firmly gain a foothold on the land they had chosen. Until the fifth century BC, the Thracians were mainly occupied with intra-tribal conflicts and attempts to unite under the rule of one leader, a potential monarch.
The result of long negotiations and episodic wars was the emergence of the Odrysian kingdom, which became the largest state of its time. The last state of the Thracians formed before our era is Dacia. Gathered under his control all the lands inhabited by this ethnic group, the king of Burebista. By force and power of arms he united in single organism huge territory. This included lands from the Southern Bug itself, the Carpathian valleys, all of Bulgaria, Moravia and Staraya Planina.
After Burebista was killed by the rebels, the unification was continued by King Decebalus. For this, he had to fight all his life with the Romans, who did not want the appearance of a single Thrace. Emperor Trajan spent five years of his life conquering the kingdom of Decebalus. After the defeat of the Thracian troops, the king stabbed himself with a sword, and the Romans turned Dacia into their colony.
A little later, already in the 5th century AD, the Celts came to the lands of the Thracians, knocked out the Romans and formed their own kingdom, the Gallic one, choosing the city of Tilis for the capital. Over time, the Thracians successfully assimilated with the Scythian plows, therefore they became the basis for the formation of the southern branch of the Slavs: Bulgarians, Slovaks, Czechs, Yugoslav peoples.

Goths

The peak of the influence of the Goths on Europe fell on the 1st-8th century AD. Many Swedish kings and Spanish aristocrats proudly call themselves descendants of one of the most significant peoples in Europe. The formation of the ethnic group itself took place in the southeastern part of the Scandinavian Peninsula, even before our era. This is the territory of today's Sweden. The Gothic historian of Alanian origin Jordanes of Croton called this place Scandza. A separate line in the definition of the area where the Goths were identified as a people is the island of Gotland, a narrow arrow stretching along the coast of Sweden.

History of occurrence

In the first century AD, Berig, a charismatic leader and northern "Moses", launched the entire European process of the "Great Migration". Berig and his loyal people, on three ships, sailed across the Baltic Sea, landing in the north of modern Poland, in the region of Gdansk, Sopot and Gdynia. The epic about the motivation of people, swimming and the first steps in Pomorie are described by the historian Jordan in the work "Getica".
The passengers of the three ships gave birth to three basic tribes: the forest tervings, the steppe greitungs, and the powerful and aggressive Gepids. In the meantime, having united, they forced out the vandals and ruts who had already mastered it from the fertile Pomorye. The union of three Gothic tribes took shape in the so-called Wolbar culture.
The oppressed ruts and vandals began to move south, to an even more comfortable Mediterranean. The Roman Empire felt the consequences of such a global migration. The Goths themselves, led by the leader Filimer, moved south in the 6th century, occupying almost the entire territory of modern Ukraine and Romania, giving rise to the unique Chernyakhiv culture.

Religion

In spite of a huge impact ready for modern ethnic European solitaire, accurate information about religion is not preserved. The main source about them is the work of the historian Jordanes. And since he was the current bishop of Croton, he deliberately did not pay any attention to the host of gods of the early pagan Goths.
A smaller but more reliable source is the Herver Saga. It mentions only the god of battles, thunder and lightning - Donar, but does not deny the existence of other divine beings. The clergy did not have much influence on the bulk of the population. They lived separately from the tribe, in the Mirkvid forest, among fabulous and mythical creatures. There is a version that the Ukrainian-Romanian Molfars received power and knowledge precisely from their Ostrogothic ancestors.
The early Goths burned their dead, the later ones carefully laid them out in the burial grounds. Metal ornaments, goblets, combs and ceramic dishes were found next to the dead people more than once.
More information has been preserved about the sacral preferences of the Visigoths. In the 4th century, the leader Freitigern, seeing great benefits in a centralized religion, ordered a Christian priest from the Byzantine emperor Constantius II and the archbishop of Nicomedia.
The priest Vulfil, an ethnic Goth, arrived at the Visigothic leader. It was he who helped turn Freitingern's subjects into Christians. Bishop Ulfilas compiled the Gothic alphabet and, using it, translated the Bible into his native language. In the 6th century, all the Visigoths, given by King Reccared, converted to Christianity.

social organization

The powerful Gothic people did not have a permanent leader, only situational leaders appeared, whose influence was lost after a raid, advance or military action against the enemy. AT Peaceful time or an episodic lull, the entire Gothic people was divided into genera. At the head of each was his leader, who jealously guarded his authority and land.
The leaders of the most large births could join with their compatriots in vassal relations. To some, sayons or vigilantes, the leaders issued weapons. Others, bucellarii or boyars, received weapons and decent plots of land. The leaders had unlimited power, and especially in the battle period and the period preceding it.
Initially, back in those days when the Goths had just set foot on Polish soil, the leader was chosen by an assembly free people. In the period from the first to the seventh century, the right of succession to the throne and the right to elect constantly replaced one another, causing instability in society, inter- and intra-tribal squabbles.
Women of the early Goths had more rights than those that ladies of the 5th-8th century could enjoy. The people used the work of slaves, fortunately, the wars regularly supplied free labor.

Wars with other nations and migrations

The basis of the power and expansion of the Goths was laid in an ideal military organization. The main structural unit of the army was considered a dozen fighters. They were managed by a dean. Hundreds were made from dozens. She obeyed the centenary. Hundreds were made into a thousand, headed by millennials. But the millenarians themselves did not plan battles, but only obediently carried out orders that came from the leader, leader, later the king, or his monarch-substitute - duki. In battle actions, the late Goths willingly replaced the infantry with cavalry.
The tribes of the Goths already in the 3rd century split into two parts. During the active, combat displacement from the territory of modern Moldova, then Dacia, the Romans, great people scattered in different directions.

The first is the eastern branch. They are the descendants of the Greytungs - people of the boundless steppes, or Ostrogoths. They engaged in a dense development of the territory between the Dnieper and the Dniester within the borders of modern Ukraine, Transnistrian Moldavia, the Danubian part of Romania and a small part of modern Russia, represented by the Taman Peninsula. The historian Herodotus, traveling along the Northern Black Sea coast, was surprised by the beauty, freedom and martial art of Gothic women. He “settled” his Amazons, who became a legend, right here, in the interfluve of the Dnieper and Dniester. From their position, the Goths were pushed back by subsequent invasions of the Goons.

The second branch are the heirs of the Tervingi. They are Western Goths or Visigoths who moved west.
The Visigoths crossed the Bosporus and ended up in Greece, where they marked themselves by plundering the Chalkidiki peninsula and attacking Thrace. We visited Corinth and raced on horseback through Athens. In the Balkans, after a skirmish with the Visigoths, Marcus Aurelius fled, leaving the lands of modern Serbia to the enemy. A little later, the Goths caught up with the Romans, and once again defeated their army at Andrianople. The last chord, before walking a victorious march along the entire Apennine coast, was the destruction of Rome by the troops of Alaric.
After this, the Visigoths in the 5th century AD. invade Iberia, Gallicia and establish their kingdoms everywhere. Then they had to defend their lands from the warlike Franks, African Arabs and the strengthened troops of Emperor Justinian. Until the 9th century, the Goths were completely assimilated with the local population. All that remained of them were beautiful legends, the linguistic bases of a number of modern languages, and unique jewelry artifacts, such as treasures with many crowns found in Toledo and Jaén.

Etruscans

The Etruscans are a people who once lived in the central part of the Apennine Peninsula. This is today's Tuscany, Lazio, Umbria and Emilia-Romagna. Much of what is today considered to be primordially Roman traditions was inherited by the Romans from the Etruscans. For example, gladiatorial fights or masked saturnalia, the culture of ablution and koafur in terms, funeral rites and the high art of sculptural and mosaic images.

Origin

Already in the 7th century BC, the inhabitants of Etruria, today's central Italy, mastered writing and the art of conveying forms and emotions with the help of a chisel and brushes. There are two main versions of the origin of such a highly civilized people. According to the first, the Etruscans lived in the Apennines since the Stone Age, developing on this land, learning and establishing themselves as one of the most advanced peoples in Europe. According to the second version, the ancestors of the Etruscans settled this fertile land, migrating here from the east.
Herodotus believed that great architects and sculptors came here from Asia Minor. In time, he connected this migration with the completion Trojan War. The settlers called themselves Tyrrhenians or "children of the sea". At the same time, the name of Aeneas emerges, allegedly leading the migration of the ancestors of the Etruscans to the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Today most of accept the second, Trojan-Aeneas version of the origin of the cultural ancestors of the Romans. The intermediate point of the migration of the flow of Trojan refugees was the island of Sardinia. A great many early artifacts have been found on it, similar to those left by the Etruscan culture on the peninsula.

Religion

The great people had a host of gods, but did not forget to deify the forces of nature. The main god was Tin, belonging to Heaven. His wife and assistant were Menrwa and Uni, respectively. The deities of a smaller caliber included 16 more gods responsible for their own sector of the sky and the branch of earthly work. In addition to them, the deities of the third echelon included spirits living in plants, stones, rocks, in streams and lakes. Separate respect was given to the god of the sea and the master of the underworld. He was settled, either in the vent of Etna, or in the crater of Stromboli, constantly bursting with fire. He was represented by Aeneas in the form of a fiery demon with dancing snakes on his head.
The Etruscans respected and served the spirits of their ancestors. Small food and jewelry-souvenir sacrifices were regularly made to all the gods, trying not to miss or forget anyone, so as not to anger.
In special cases, human sacrifices were appointed. In times difficult for the whole people, the most exalted members of society killed themselves with their own hands, sacrificing them. When rich and respected people died, the Etruscans forced captives or slaves to fight among themselves, until the first death, so that the blood and soul of the deceased would propitiate the god of the underworld, who accepted the soul of their deceased.
Having moved to Italy, the Etruscans began to cremate their dead on fires, the size of which corresponded to the status of the deceased. After that, the ashes were collected and placed in an urn. All urns were buried in specially designated cemeteries - fields of urns.
social organization
The entire territory of the Etruscans was divided between twelve policies. Each was headed by a king. But the power of the king was like that of the high priest in Egypt. The kings were engaged in rituals and harmonization of moods between gods and people. Political power, the treasury and international, or rather interstate relations, were in the hands of the princes, who received their positions by hereditary or elective methods.
Only King Lukomon managed to become the king of Etruscan Rome, who gathered in his hands all the powers of the first person of the state. He moved the princes to a lower position. The role of adviser, boyar, senator, but nothing more.
Women had the same status as men. Their position in society was determined by their wealth. All women and men, except for the priests, cut their hair short. Cultists only removed them from their foreheads using a gold or silver hoop.

Wars with other nations and migrations

The son of the Greek Demarat, Lukomon (second half of the 7th century BC), who became the first real Etruscan king, opened the era of power and greatness of the Etruscans. Under him, the Roman Empire became the center of 12 colonies inhabited by kindred peoples. At the same time, there was a constant, purposeful expansion in southern regions Apennine Peninsula.
After the murder of Lukomon, power passed to his son Servus Tullius. Servus killed brother- Tarquin the Proud. He gladly tried on the toga of the new Roman king. He was a tough monarch, with the manners of a tyrant and a sadist, therefore, although he regularly expanded the territory of his kingdom within the boundaries of the Apennine Peninsula, he was captured and expelled from Rome in disgrace. The Etruscans moved from the phase of the monarchy to the phase of the Republic.

After this, the Etruscans captured almost the entire central part of modern Italy, gained access to the ports of the Adriatic Sea and established active trade relations with the Greek policies.
Trade with the Greeks did not prevent them from entering into permanent military alliances, and from time to time from fighting against them. So they "gave" Sardinia to the Carthaginians, but conquered Corsica from the Greeks.
Then began a period of military and territorial degradation. The Syracusans took Corsica and Elba from the Etruscans. The Republicans lost influence in Latium, lost the roads that connected them with Campania and Basilicata. Rome was lost (the battle for Fidenae and Vei) and Bologna was given to the Gauls. The temporary truce of the conglomerate of Perugia, Croton and Arezzio with the Romans no longer saved the great civilization.
The Etruscans first became allies of the Romans against a more powerful and terrible enemy, the Gauls. Then, already together, only under the Roman banners, they took part in the first and second Punic Wars, which the Romans started against the Carthaginians. Due to the fact that not a single Etruscan settlement raised an uprising in a difficult period for the Romans, they were recognized as equivalent to the new owners of their land.
Then the Etruscans were granted Roman citizenship, and they very organically merged into the Roman Empire, bringing with them a high aesthetic culture and original rituals. Longest of all, as purebred Etruscans, the haruspex, long-haired priests-soothsayers, held out. As early as 199, Etruscan speech could be heard on the streets of Rome and on the shores of the Tyrrhenian Sea.
Roman art of this period is called Etruscan-Roman, and the most complete collection of artifacts, jewelry, especially brooches, sarcophagi, sculptures and black-bodied ceramics can be seen in one of the Vatican Museums, in 9 rooms of the Etruscan Museum.

Vikings

History of occurrence
Anxiously looked at the waters of the Atlantic and mediterranean sea residents of coastal settlements. After all, at any moment narrow ships with bright sails and rearing stems could appear from there. In a matter of minutes, ruthless warriors jumped off them, burned houses, killed townspeople and retreated with lightning speed, taking away all the most valuable and edible.

The Vikings called themselves people who inhabited the Scandinavian and Jutland peninsulas. The peoples most affected by their raids Western Europe called them Normans. And although in our time the word "Viking" is a symbol of fearlessness, courage and heroism, but, both in the Scandinavian sagas and in European chronicles, the term has a sharply negative connotation to refer to those who left their native land for the purpose of robbery.

But, no matter how they are called, the place of origin of the legendary warriors is the territory of the modern Norwegian, Danish and Swedish kingdoms. The history of the military glory of the Vikings began from the edge of Fennoscandia, when the Scandinavian tribes, genetic relatives of the Angles and Danes, forced the nomadic Finns to the east, to places abounding in swamps and lakes. The exact time of the appearance of Viking ancestors in Scandinavia is unclear, but artefacts left by hunters and gatherers dating back 10-9 thousand years ago have been found in Finnmark and Nurmer.

social organization

The ancestors of the people who became Vikings lived in scattered groups or counties. 20-30 such groups were enough to create local conflicts, maintaining excellent combat readiness of all warriors and organizing regular quarrels between leaders, kings or jarls in the local way.
In order to coordinate the actions of the jarls, to analyze land claims and issues of succession to the throne in each county, a single assembly was created - Ting. Ting did not have a permanent center. All free Scandinavians could attend the meeting. But only a group made up of representatives from each county dealt with the cases. The only condition was that the representative did not directly depend on his jarl.
Each county was divided into smaller structural units, hundreds or herads. It was ruled by a hersir, who received a position from his parent. It was they who resolved civil litigations, but the kings were engaged in the "international" policy of their county, became the head of the army during hostilities. And although it was believed that the king was of divine origin, and the tribesmen paid him a tax, the so-called viru, but as soon as the king began to openly infringe on the rights of his tribesmen or went against their interests, he could be killed or expelled from his native land.
The Vikings were led by jarls and cuirassiers. The bulk of the Normans were free peasants or bonds. It was they who, suffering from the scarcity of local soil, went on distant campaigns. It was they who, having set sail from their native shore, instantly turned into Vikings.
A small part of society was made up of slaves, who were mined during military campaigns. It is worth noting that the children of a slave could become a Jarl or Khersir. Slaves were not allowed to the Thing.
A special position was occupied by the Hirdmanns, the king's retinue. They were at the maintenance of the monarch, protected him from the insinuations of his fellow tribesmen and accompanied him on the hunt, and formed the core of the army.
The boundaries between members of class groups were not rigid. Thanks to his personal merits, a slave could become a free man. Women occupied a worthy place in society, attended feasts and could fully inherit the property of their parent. And a certain Freydis, the daughter of Eric the Red, even led a trip to Vinland, killing all her competitors at the end of the voyage.

Religion

The restless and warlike nature of the Vikings was fully consistent with their gods. All the deities of these legendary pagans lived in the majestic fortress - Asgard. The citadel occupies a central place in the human world, in Midgard. The walls and towers of the divine fortification reach the sky, and from enemies of any plan they are protected by thick walls and sheer cliffs.
The most important god is Odin. He was considered the creator of the Universe, he was the best interpreter of runes and knew all the sagas in the world. He was in charge of the war and distributed the victories. He was in charge of a dozen Valkyrie maidens. It was Odin who was considered the owner of the Valhalla palace, in which he received the souls of the Scandinavians who died in battle. Everyone who honestly died moved to the palace, where there was an uninterrupted feast, the warriors told sagas, sang and danced.
Odin's wife, Frigga, was responsible for marriage, love and childbearing. She was considered a seer, but preferred not to share her knowledge with people. The god Thor, the master of thunder and lightning, protected Asgard, Middlegard and Valhalla from the giants.

Wars with other nations and migrations

Wars with other peoples and migrations are directly related to the existence of the very concept of "Viking". When a resident of the Scandinavian Peninsula, and later of Jutland, left motherland in search of prey, they began to call him a "Viking".
There are two main streams of migration, accompanied by active hostilities. The inhabitants of the territory, which is occupied by the modern Swedish kingdom, were oriented to the southeast. The silhouettes of the Varangian-Viking Drakkars were well known in the valley of the Dnieper, the Vistula, on the Daugava, on the Niva. They even managed to get to the valley of the Northern Dvina, which they called the land of Biarmia. But the bulk of the operations were trading, because the ancient Russians fought no worse than the Varangians. Many of the failed Varangians had to earn money by being hired by the whole team in the squad of the Russian prince. Such a phenomenon was very common, bringing benefits to both parties.
Another stream, from the lands of today's Norwegian and Danish kingdoms, was oriented to the West. In the deltas of the Elbe, the Rhine, the Seine, the Thames, the Loire, the Charente and the Garron, the local population looked warily into the sea, expecting raids by warriors with whom it was impossible to negotiate. Due to their low landing and the ability to move both due to the force of the wind under sail and due to rowers, drakkars, coming from the sea, easily climbed up large rivers, robbing cities. The warlike Normans are well remembered on the coast of Spain and France. There is evidence that they even reached Byzantium.
In the year 960, Gardar Svafarson's ship was thrown out by a storm on the island of Iceland. Already 14 years later, the Vikings began to colonize and populate this region, which is as harsh as Scandinavia, but which had an additional attraction due to the sources thermal waters. The reason for all the migrations and military raids of the Vikings was a very inefficient agriculture in narrow mountain valleys and a high density of "hungry mouths" in seaside areas where fish could be fished.

Over time, the nobility of the Vikings began to consider their main source of enrichment, namely military raids aimed at Western, less eastern and central Europe. And a breakthrough in shipbuilding, namely the art of building longships, provided the Vikings with free, easy and graceful movement throughout the North Atlantic.

Germans

History of occurrence

The core of the formation of the ethnos of the ancient Germans was the middle part of Europe from the Oder to the Rhine. In addition to these lands, now occupied by the FRG, western Poland, the Netherlands and Belgium, traces of an ancient people are found in the south of Jutland and on the southern edge of eastern Scandinavia, which belong to today's Kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden.
The Germans began to be considered a full-fledged ethnic group only in the 1st century BC. And already from the beginning of our era, the Germans began to actively "spread" along Central Europe attacking even the northern borders of the great, seemingly eternal, Roman Empire. The result of the attacks of the Russo-headed barbarians was the fall of the Western part of the Roman Empire, and various traces of the presence of the Germans were found on a vast territory from Cape Roca to the Crimean Peninsula and from the English Channel to the southern African coast of the Mediterranean Sea.
Initially, the Germanic ethnos was compared with the Celts. Only the former was considered even more wild and pristine in terms of culture than the Celts, who fought naked, blue and with rooster feathers on their heads. In order to somehow distinguish their unpredictable northern neighbors, the Latins began to call them "Germans", which means others.

Spreading across Europe, the Germans actively assimilated with the captured peoples. So they replenished their gene pool with Celts and Slavs, Goths and a number of small tribes who hid from the Great Migration of Peoples in the rather isolated Alpine mountain valleys. But the basis of the nation is still considered those tribes that originally lived at the mouth of the Elbe, in the south of Jutland and Fennoscandia.

Religion

According to Strabo and Julius Caesar, the Germans were far less pious than the Celts. They endowed with divine power only sunlight and moonlight and the warmth that fire exudes. But the German customs to know the future surprised even the Romans. Like a terrible fairy tale, the peoples of Europe passed on to one another stories about gray-haired witches cutting the throats of their victims. By the way the blood fills the fortune-telling cauldron, women determined the outcome of future battles, the fate of a newborn or the life path of a new leader.
Having settled in Europe, the Germans acquired a small host of their own gods, borrowing them from the captured tribes. This is how the myth about the god Mann, who gave birth to their people, appeared. The ancestors of today's Danes and Germans began to recognize classical Greek and Roman gods such as Mercury or Mars. A special place was occupied by the cult of women. Each of them implied the divine principle, which makes it possible to reproduce their own kind.

Having known foreign gods, the ancient Germans did not lose their love for various fortune-telling. Soothsayers actively used runes, the insides of birds, the neighing of sacred horses. Predictions of the outcome were popular important battle obtained by simulating a duel. In the “probe”, an honorary tribesman and a prisoner from a potential enemy converged in a mortal battle. In the 4th century, Christianity began to penetrate the lands of the ancient Germans.

social organization

At the head of the tribe, the clan were leaders - military leaders. They were surrounded by a ring of elders, experienced warriors, and prophetic priests. The bulk of the warriors were formed by free Germans. They were the main force and voice popular assemblies where they came in full military attire. By the way, it was here that the next leader and new military leaders were chosen, responsible for the outcome of future battles.
The lower social levels were occupied by freedmen and slaves. The slave was obliged to pay the owner a dues, and he could kill him with impunity.
With the beginning of our era, the Germans appear kings, whose power was inherited. But before the next war, despite the presence of a king in the region, a leader was still elected, authorized by the function of a commander. Both kings and leaders had their own squad, which they fed, armed and clothed. Money was paid only after another successful robbery or military raid on neighbors.
Elders, elderly and experienced warriors, were engaged in the division of land, sorted out property and interpersonal disputes. In order to make decisions faster, the power of the elders was reinforced by a detachment of warriors who were supported by the community.
According to the notes of the same Julius Caesar, who wanted to know everything about his opponents thoroughly, the ancient Germans did not have their own land plots. Each year, the king, chief or elder was engaged in the redistribution of land suitable for cultivation. Therefore, most members of the community preferred to engage in animal husbandry. Cows and sheep have long been the most stable currency. This was until the Germans copied the very concept of “money” from their enemies and launched their own coins into circulation.
At the beginning of the first century, the Germans had poorly developed handicrafts, shipbuilding, and even the manufacture of fabrics from plant fibers. Both women and men wore cloaks and capes made of animal skins. Pants were worn only by the richest citizens. The family of the average German lived with their cattle in a long, one-story house covered with clay.

War with other peoples and migrations

For the first time, Europe spoke about the Germans when northern colonies The Roman Empire in the 103rd year attacked Teutonic tribes. The new barbarians made an impression on a more civilized people, so the myths about them were filled with new, chilling details.

For several centuries in a row, the Germanic tribes fought with the Roman Empire. The most famous battle took place in the Teutoburg Forest (September 9th year), during which 3 Roman legions were destroyed. Throughout the 2nd century, the Germans attacked, and the Romans tried to maintain at least their former borders.
The ferocity and attacks of the young tribe were so great that, due to their unwillingness to compete with the Germans for the lands of Dacia, the Romans left immediately after the death of Emperor Decius. But, despite the retreat, with the beginning of the Great Migration of Nations, the Germans still penetrated and settled in Roman lands. This happened in the 4th century.
In the 5th century, the Germans began to attack the Roman Empire from the other side. They easily knocked out the Roman governors from Iberia, the land of the present Spanish kingdom. Then they became famous in the wars with the Huns, converging on the Catalaunian field in battle with the hordes of Attila.
After that, the Germans began to take Active participation in the appointment of emperors by the Roman Empire. Romulus Augustus, who tried to show independence, was deposed, which provoked the beginning of the end of the Great Empire. In 962, King Otto the First began to form his own Roman-German Empire, which included more than a hundred small principalities.
The ancient Germans formed the basis of a number of European peoples: Germans, Danes, Belgians, Dutch, Swiss and Austrians.

Ancient Europe

A significant part of the most reliable evidence of life in hitherto unknown millennia has come to us from a completely unexpected source. In accordance with the generally accepted theory, which declared the so-called Fertile Crescent (plains stretching from Persia to Syria) as the cradle of civilization, Ancient Europe was for a long time considered only a cultural swamp in which the Minoan and Greek civilizations flourished for a short time, and even then only under the influence of the East. Now, however, a completely different picture is emerging.

"We are introducing a new definition of 'civilization of ancient Europe' to refer to the totality of properties and achievements of various cultural groups in southeastern Europe during the Neolithic-Chalcolithic period," writes the archaeologist. University of California Maria Gimbutas in her book Goddesses and Gods of Ancient Europe. In this truly revolutionary work, the author systematizes and analyzes hundreds of archaeological finds made in the territory from the Aegean and Adriatic Seas (including islands) to Czechoslovakia, Poland and Western Ukraine.

The economy of the inhabitants of southeastern Europe seven thousand years ago was by no means primitive. “For two millennia of agrarian stability, their material well-being constantly grew due to the efficient exploitation of the fertile river plains, says M. Gimbutas. - Wheat, barley, vetch, peas and other legumes were grown, all domestic animals that now exist in the Balkans were bred, except for horses. They were well developed: pottery, stone and bone carving, and by the 5500s. BC e. copper processing began in eastern Europe. Trade connections, in all likelihood, perfectly stimulated cultural development ... Drawings engraved on ceramics prove the use of boats, the presence of the sixth millennium.

Approximately between 7000 and 3500 years. BC e. the ancient Europeans developed a complex social structure that included handicraft specialization. Institutions of religion and government were formed. Copper and gold were used to make tools and jewelry. There were even the beginnings of a letter. According to Gimbutas, “If we define civilization as the ability of given people to adapt to environment and develop the relevant arts, technique, writing and public relations, then it is clear that ancient Europe achieved significant success.

We traditionally think of ancient Europeans as barbarian tribes, who, persistently moving south, surpassed even the Romans in their cruelty, finally ruining Rome. Therefore, the evidence obtained by the archaeologist's shovel that the ancient European society was essentially peaceful in nature turned out to be so unexpected and surprising. “The ancient Europeans never tried to live in uncomfortable places, on steep hills, as the Indo-Europeans did later, who built impregnable fortresses on the hills,” writes Gimbutas. - Ancient Europeans preferred Beautiful places, with good water and soil, with available pastures. The typical absence of strong fortresses and stabbing weapons speaks of the peaceful nature of most of these creative peoples.

Moreover, here, as in Çatal Huyuk and Hadjilar, where no trace of military destruction has been observed for more than 5,000 years, archaeological evidence indicates that male dominance was not the norm. “There was a division of labor between the sexes, but not domination of one over the other,” writes Gimbutas. - In the Vinci cemetery, which has 53 graves, male and female burials practically do not differ in the richness of decoration ... From the point of view of the position of a woman, Vinci's evidence points to an equal and clearly non-patriarchal society. The same can be said about Varna: I do not see any subordination inherent in the patriarchal male-female scale of values. Gimbutas emphasizes what many try to ignore: in these societies there is no gender inequality, which lies "in the nature of man."

“The equality of men and women is demonstrated by the decoration of graves in almost all known cemeteries of ancient Europe,” writes Gimbutas. She also notes numerous indications that this was a matrilineal society - a society in which kinship and inheritance were carried out through the mother's line. Moreover, she notes that, judging by archaeological evidence, women played leading roles in all aspects of ancient European life.

“In models of sanctuary houses and temples, and in the remains of actual temples,” writes Gimbutas, “women are depicted leading the preparation and execution of rituals dedicated to various aspects and functions of the Goddess. Huge forces were spent on the creation of cult objects and ritual gifts. In temple workshops, women made and decorated many vessels for various rituals. Next to the temple altar is a vertical loom, on which, perhaps, sacred clothes and temple accessories were woven. The most sophisticated of the creations of Ancient Europe that have come down to us - exquisite vases, sculptures, etc. were created by a woman.

The artistic heritage left to us by these ancient communities, where the cult of the Goddess was the center of all life, is still being dug out of the ground by the archaeologist's shovel. By 1974, when Gimbutas first published a compendium of finds from her own excavations and those of other three thousand settlements, no less than thirty thousand miniature sculptures in clay, marble, bone, copper and gold had been discovered, in addition to a huge number of ritual vases, altars, temples and drawings both on vases and on the walls of sanctuaries.

And the most eloquent of these evidences of European Neolithic culture are sculptures. They give the archaeologist information that is otherwise impossible to obtain, for example, about the styles of clothing, even about hairstyles. They tell about the mythological images of the religious rites of this period. And these sculptures show - here, as in the caves of the Paleolithic, and later in Anatolia and other Near and Middle Eastern Neolithic settlements - these figures and symbols occupy a central place.

Moreover, we have amazing evidence pointing to the next stage in the aesthetic and social evolution of these lost ancient civilizations. For in style and subject matter, many of these figurines and symbols are strikingly reminiscent of those that hundreds of thousands of tourists come to look at, not knowing what they are really looking at: civilization Bronze Age, which later flourished on the legendary island of Crete.

But before we move on to Crete - the only known "high" civilization where the cult of the Goddess survived into historical times, let's take a closer look at what they give archaeological finds to understand the beginnings of Western cultural evolution as well as today and tomorrow.

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Between 2009 and 2014, researchers at the University of Aarhus in Denmark recovered 2,095 bones and bone fragments from the Alken Enge swamps. The remains were located on the territory of 75 hectares, immersed in lake and peat deposits, belonged to at least 82 people, mostly young men. AT new job archaeologists led detailed analysis marks on these remains, which suggests that the traces were left for ritual purposes. Based on the distribution of the bones, the authors estimated the total number of deaths at 380 people, which is significantly more than the population of a single village at that time. This may indicate that there was an army here, consisting of residents of different settlements.

On many bones, archaeologists found traces of severe injuries that did not heal, which speaks specifically of death in battle. Radiocarbon analysis of the remains indicated the same age of the remains. Remains of weapons were also found, including swords, spears and shields. The bones were brought to the site after the battle, as evidenced by cut marks and animal teeth, as well as the location of some of the remains, such as four pelvic bones worn on a stick. "Traces of animal teeth show that animals gnawed these bones from six months to a year, as a result of which the remains should have become at least partially skeletons," the authors write.

Other marks indicate torn ligaments and tendons between the bones. Also, archaeologists practically did not find whole skulls (but found many of their fragments), which may indicate that ancient people intentionally broke them. "Alken Enge provides unequivocal evidence that the northern Germanic tribes had systematic and deliberate procedures for clearing battlefields," the authors conclude. “The practice of dismembering bodies, changing and redistributing bones indicate the ritual nature of the relationship to human remains.”