HATRED AND AWE. THE AMBIVALENT ATTITUDE OF THE GERMANS TOWARDS THE ROMAN EMPIRE IN THE FIRST CENTURY CE

The Germanic tribes which lived on the both banks of the Rhine in the first century CE had different experiences with the Roman empire, and often, they were not entirely sure which attitude toward Rome they should adopt: whether unambiguously positive or negative. Their ambivalent attitudes were thus characterized by the symptomatic hatred directed toward the Roman occupation of the Germanic territory on the one hand, and by the awe before the Roman authorities on the other.