This transcript examines Caesar's portrayals of the Germanic tribes he encountered, who were seen as rough and threatening the stability of the region. It also raises the question of whether the Roman influence may have dulled the barbarian edge of the Celtic tribes without providing the benefits of a centralized state like system.
The notion that ancient tribes were either "soft" or "tough" is challenged by the fact that Caesar's war commentaries suggest there was movement on the softness-toughness scale, and the Gallic tribes in particular were more advanced than commonly acknowledged.
Caesar saw the Gauls as ultimately assimilable into the Roman empire, but some historians argue that he may have misjudged the severity of the conflict. Nonetheless, he continued to make the Celtic side appear admirable in order to set the stage for possible incorporation into Rome in the future.
The arrival of the Barbarians as a national security problem for Rome can still be seen as a major crisis in the modern world if an unknown hostile group of people suddenly appears on the border in large numbers, as it did for Rome with the Goths. The cultural estuary, where different early European cultures mixed, is still debated to determine whether the Goths were Germanic or Celtic or a mix of the two.
Romania experienced a surge in the popularity of left-wing politics after World War I due to the forces at play in the region, but ultimately, the National Peasants Party won the election with an overwhelming vote. While the organized far-right in Romania was still smaller than the progressive left, they were aggressive and carried out violent fascist marches and attacks.
Historians challenge the idea that the tribe of Celtic people that sacked Rome were conquerors and instead suggest they might have been a group of hired mercenaries. Evidence from archaeological findings suggests that the sacking of Rome may not have been as terrible as previously thought, with no indication of a "terrible Carthaginian solution type burning to the ground or anything."