The Tungri (or Tongri, or Tungrians) were a tribe, or group of tribes, who lived in the Belgic part of Gaul, during the times of the Roman empire. They were described by Tacitus as being the same people who were first called "Germani" (Germanic), meaning that all other tribes who were later referred to this way, including those in Germania east of the Rhine river were named after them. Their name is the source of several place names in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, including Tongeren, and several places called Tongerloo, and Tongelre.[1]
The etymology of the name of Severians is controversial. Though it is similar to the Slavic word for "north" (sěver)
Yes, the 'Germanic' label is particularly problematic - as you've pointed out, it was largely foisted on the people living outside the Roman empire by those living within it, and depends entirely on seeing the world from a Roman perspective.
How does *serwo- come to mean 'slave', I wonder? I mean, it's got to be seruus, hasn't it?
Any article on the word slave will tell you that so many Slavic people where taken into slavery that some languages took the root slav- for the word slave. It all go back to Latin -->Old French-->English, not Greek.
daft said:How does their fate compare to dozens of entire Slavic tribes, now mostly unknown (except for those that dig into the topic, like Domen), which perished as a result of western (and Byzantine/possibly also Norse) enslavement?
daft said:So what drove Slavs to invade Byzantine lands? How were they able to defeat the fine Byzantine armies?, capture their cities?
What tactics and weapons did they use in order to defeat the Byzantines?
:
[B]"(...) Slavs, unlike all other peoples, do not keep prisoners of war in perpetual slavery, but they demarcate for them a limited period of time, after which they give them a choice: they can either return home if they purchase their freedom, or stay among them as free people and friends. (...)"[/B]
So, according to "Strategikon", Slavic tribes used to incorporate captives into their ranks. They had an unusual habit of liberating their slaves and incorporating them into their communities as free people.
Therefore Slavic tribes which emerged in the Balkans must have included a lot of descendants of former Roman citizens who got captured by Slavs, then liberated and assimilated into their communities.
[I]"(...) In Illyria and Thracia, from the Ionian Gulf to Byzantine surrounding cities, where Hellas and Chersonese regions are situated, (...) the Sclavenes and the Antes, penetrating practically every year since Justinian administering the Roman Empire, were inflicting irreversible damage to their inhabitants. In each invasion I estimate 200,000 Romans were either enslaved or killed (...)"[/I]
daft said:The spelling is based on Old French esclave from Medieval Latin sclavus, "Slav, slave," first recorded around 800. Sclavus comes from Byzantine Greek sklabos (pronounced sklä′vōs) "Slav," which appears around 580.
Christians had a Church-imposed ban on enslaving other Christians. They could only enslave Pagans (and Non-Christians in general).
There was even such an episode - a scandal - in the Frankish Empire, when Bishop Agobard of Lyon (lived in 779 - 840) mass-baptised - by simply sprinkling holy water at them - entire convoy with slaves of Jewish slave traders, that was moving through Lyon to Marseille.
Then Bishop Agobard ordered Jewish traders to release their slaves, because they were now Christians and thus had to be freed.
Jews issued a complaint against Agobard to local authorities of Lyon, but they decided that the Bishop was right. Then traders started an appeal to the King. The King ruled that Agobard had the right to do that, but at the same time he forbade such practices in the future.
Domen said:One thing that I didn't like about Heather's account is that when describing the size of Slavic tribes invading the Balkans, he "forgot" about the account of Menander Protector, which says about the incursion of one group (one tribe?) of ca. 100,000 Slavs into Thrace around year 577 - 578 AD.