I am nearing the end of a listen to Mike Duncan's "History of Rome" podcast and have taken an interest in the "barbarians" that Rome was dealing with over the course of its imperial era (so I guess roughly 27BC - 476 AD), and would like to learn more in a systematic way, especially about the transformations that occurred for them over the course of the Roman imperial era.
Duncan discusses certain trends with them only in passing, but the impression I get is trends of increasingly large and increasingly stable political formations, to some extent "Romanized" by the adoption of some Roman political structures and methods. One general trend I think I've picked out is of increasingly large and increasingly stable alliances for military ventures. I have little idea how much these particular observations are genuinely true--I share these impressions to convey the types of transformations I'm interested in learning more about, rather than to try to tell you I "know" these specific dynamics were real and true.
I have not read far into it yet, but for similar reasons I've picked up Chris Wickham's Framing the Early Middle Ages. I'm basically looking for something with a similar methodology, but for these peoples from 0-400 rather than his timeline of 400-800.
Any help or correction you can offer is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Hi! The topic of the 'barbarian tribes' is quite expansive - notably also because there were many kinds of barbarians living across different frontiers.
As to the various tribal confederations across the Rhine, what we used to know comes from Tacitus. More recently archaeology, and inferences made from post-Roman kingdoms retaining aspects of societal organization from olden days. So most of what I say will be from that perspective while trying to incorporate some of the archaeology and theories involved in Guy Halsall's Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West 376-568.
For the Germanic tribes, it seemed that they were indeed closely linked with the Roman Empire west of the Rhine, as confederations formed on its border. These political units were often led by leaders that often seemed to have suborned other local leaders through military power, or the giving of gifts; mostly Roman prestige items such as badges of office, gold-and-metalwork. This made control of the trade with the Roman Empire very important. The largest settlements are indeed located close to the Roman frontier with the largest being of some 200 family units, in the modern Netherlands. There were some fortified settlements, though quite a few peoples east of the Rhine seemed to have lived a semi-nomadic existence.But even in places such as faraway Denmark, you can see larger settlements forming based on trade with the Romans.
Further south, in the lands of the Alemanni (think roughly Baden-Wurttemberg, southwest Germany) large quantities of Roman metalwork have been found, across several fortified hill sites, and even some former Roman villas seemed to have been inhabited by the Alemanni. They seemed to have had a tight-knit political unit, in Germanic terms at least, and a political organization uncharacteristic of other trans-Rhenan societies. Undoubtedly also because of their close association with the Roman frontier, and Roman trade and Roman forms of rulership. These platforms for rule can be quite shaky for the already insecure forms of 'barbarian' rulership, but the economic and ideological dependence on the Roman world seem to have been very important, at least in the areas just across the Rhine. Kings had to balance their economic relations with the limes and the needs of their people in terms of war, raiding, and so on. Roman material culture seemed to have been used in displays of power and status, as well as frequently come up as grave goods in the burials found by archaeologists.
Our understanding of this world is largely dependent on archaeology. The few Roman sources we have that write about 'barbarians' living across the Rhine are rather scant, and of dubious value.
If you have Wickham's book, you will already be learning about the post-400 societies. The book I used in here, as I already mentioned, was Guy Halsall's Barbarian Migrations and the Roman West 376-568. It mostly deals with late antiquity, but it takes its time to set up the pre-migration era 'barbarian' world and comes highly recommended. For a specific and very expansive look on one people, I also recommend Peter Heather's The Goths.
I'd be happy to answer any follow-up questions you might have, or recommend more books when I can.