Like the Celts, the Germans were a warrior people. Some eastern Germanic groups, like the Goths, were notable cavalry soldiers. Germans rarely fought the pitched battles beloved by the Romans, preferring surprise raids and guerrilla warfare, melting away before determined attacks; this made it almost impossible for the Romans actually to conquer them.
Swords were highly prized and belonged only to the well-to-do. Javelins and spears were a warrior's main weapons but throwing axes also became popular. Generally the Germans did not use body armour, though a leader might don a helmet.
From Classical authors we learn that in Germanic society power depended on military prowess and the ability to attract followers. Rather than being tribes with settled boundaries, the Germans were politically fluid, confederacies forming to attack an attractive target, often an area of the Roman Empire.
Defeated enemies might be slaughtered; alternatively the high Roman demand for slaves ensured a ready market for war captives.
