Roman ideological influences in Germania?

Abstract

A recent archaeological research trend claims great Roman ideological influence in Germania or parts thereof, especially in the military, cultic and burial spheres of society. This article investigates through tests of three groups of archaeological material in South Scandinavia whether the Romans were directly involved in the process of "Romanization", or whether the Roman influences are more indirect. The first part of the article consists of a presentation of the recent research into the matter as well as a discussion of the concepts "Roman import" and "Romanization", as well as an analysis of the feasibility of using the Roman written sources in conjunction with archaeological material. In the second part it is shown through archaeological cases that the Roman influence of South Scandinavian archaeological material must be regarded as indirect rather than direct in strong contrast to many recent studies of the matter. It is concluded that while direct "Romanization" may be observed in a few areas close to the borders of the Roman Empire this cannot possibly hold true for South Scandinavia.