Who Did You Say They Are?
     The Alemanni, or Alamanni if you prefer the English spelling.
      You're wondering why you haven't heard of them if they were such a thorn in Rome's side (and they were). Well, actually you probably have. Their name survives in the French and Spanish words for Germany: Allemagne, and Alemannia, respectively.
     The reason they didn't persevere to become a dominant force post ancient times is a little complicated. The Franks became the dominant force in Europe after the collapse of the Roman Empire in the fifth century AD. They were ready to step into the political, economical, and social void left by the contracting Roman influence. One of the reasons was they were willing to mold their society on Rome's example. They couldn't reproduce the brilliance of Rome -- the ensuing centuries were called the Dark Ages -- but they managed to hold things together until the Renaissance.
     However, the Alemanni were always fiercely independent of Rome. Some of this attitude can be traced back to the treatment they received from the Roman emperor Caracalla at the beginning of the third century AD. He nearly destroyed the tribe through treachery and deceit, and apparently they never forgot or forgave. They even sided with the Huns during their rampage through Europe in the fifth century AD.
     As the Franks rose to power they recognized the independent nature of the Alemanni. The Frankish king Clovis subjugated them in battle near the end of the fifth century. They became part of the Frank empire but still under home rule, as it were. When the Alemanni began to agitate for independence in the eighth century, their nobility, over a thousand men, were called to the Frank court, arrested, and executed.  Rule over the Alemanni homelands was given to Frankish dukes.
    The Alemanni retreated into themselves. Their dialect of German is still spoken, especially in the Black Forest area of Germany and also in  Switzerland, Austria, and the Alsace region of France, . They have started to rediscover their proud history. There has been an increase in archaeological digs, and road signs in their traditional homeland are in both German and Alemanni.

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There's nothing like being there!

This past fall my husband and I were fortunate enough to visit the area of Germany I have been writing about. What a thrill to stand on the banks of the Rhine, tour ruins of Roman fortifications, and walk through the Black Forest.

We spent one day in Rottenburg am Neckar, a lovely town on the banks of the River Neckar. This is the site of the Fortress Hill and Berand's settlement.















               Rottenburg am Neckar

















          A hilltop overlooking the Black Forest
                just east of Baden-Baden

There was too much to absorb in the short 2 weeks were there. We'll just have to go back!

 Alemanni Territory, AD 260

Gallia and Italia, AD 260

Illustration: Sword and Dagger

The illustration featuring Berand's sword Wolf-tooth and his gilt-handled dagger also shows a ghosting in of Wotan, the Alemanni's god of war. He was also god of poetry, royalty, knowledge of the runes, and spell-casting. Quite a resume!

Wotan was often imagined as a wanderer wearing a wide-brimmed hat and leaning on a staff. His weapon was a spear named Gungnir. Sometimes he rode a flying, eight-legged horse named Sleipnir between the land of the living and the underworld. His other familiars were two ravens and two wolves that would travel the world and bring the god all the news of his realm. He is shown with one eye. According to Teutonic mythology, he sacrificed his other eye at the Well of Knowledge in exchange for wisdom.

Wotan's name was invoked by warriors before every battle, but he was a fickle deity, sometimes choosing to turn his back on his supplicants and give victory to the enemy.

At the time of my story, Wotan had gained popularity over Tiwas, the original ruler of the pantheon, who was worshiped more in connection with law and order, although he, too, was a god of war.

Wotan gradually lost favor with the Alemanni when they were subdued by the Franks and were converted to Christianity beginning in about the fifth century AD. Wotan continued under the name of Odin with the Vikings and the Scandinavians as late as the twelfth century AD.

          The Lorica Segmentata

     The first illustration in White Horse, Black Raven is of a Roman legionary wearing  the type of body armor common during the era of Roman called the Principate, roughly 27 BC - 284 AD.  It was constructed of a series of soft iron plates held together with leather straps and fastenings made of copper alloy.  It weighed approximately twenty pounds and provided excellent protection for the upper arms and shoulders. Unfortunately, it also was a little restrictive for deep breathing.

     The segmentata could fit a range of body sizes and it could collapse down on itself for easier packing and transport. The strips of iron plating could be replaced without too much difficulty if they were damaged. This made the armor a little less expensive to maintain.  On the other hand, the copper of the fittings set up a chemical reaction with the iron plates causing corrosion, and they seemed to break easily.  There a many examples of fittings found in Roman military sites.

     Archaeologists and historians had known of the segmentata for centuries but had never known how they were constructed. Then the bits and pieces of six segmentata were found in a box buried near a fort on Hadrian's Wall.  From these remnants archaeologists were able to reconstruct the armor.

     The Alemanni did not make their own armor.  Instead it would have come as spoils of war, taken from slain Roman soldiers or from armories of captured forts and military bases.