Editing Germans (section)

===Ancient history===
{{See also|Germania Antiqua|Limes Germanicus|Germanic peoples|Germania}}
[[File:HRR 10Jh.jpg|thumb|The [[Holy Roman Empire]] in 972 (red line) and 1035 (red dots) with the [[Kingdom of Germany]], including [[Lotharingia]], marked in blue]]
The first information about the peoples living in what is now Germany was provided by the Roman general and dictator [[Julius Caesar]], who gave an account of his conquest of [[Gaul]] in the 1st century BC. He used the term {{lang|la|Germani}} to describe the [[Germanic peoples]] living on both sides of the [[Rhine]] river, which he defined as a boundary between geographical [[Gaul]] and [[Germania]]. He emphasized that the {{lang|la|Germani}} originated east of the river, and that this river border needed to be defended in order to avoid dangerous incursions. Archaeological evidence shows that at the time of Caesar's invasion, both Gaul and Germanic regions had long been strongly influenced by the same [[Celts|celtic]] [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] [[material culture|culture]].<ref name="Heather"/> However, the [[Germanic languages]] associated with later Germanic peoples are indeed believed to have been entering the Rhine area from the east in this period.{{sfn|Minahan|2000|pp=288–289}} The resulting demographic situation reported by Caesar was that migrating Celts and Germanic peoples were moving into areas which threatened the Alpine regions and the Romans.<ref name="Heather"/>

The modern German language is a descendant of the Germanic languages which spread during the Iron Age and Roman era. Scholars generally agree that it is possible to speak of Germanic languages existing as early as 500 BCE.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=32}} These Germanic languages are believed to have dispersed towards the Rhine from the direction of the [[Jastorf culture]], which was itself a Celtic influenced culture that existed in the [[Pre-Roman Iron Age]], in the region near the Elbe river. It is likely that [[Grimm's law|first Germanic consonant shift]], which defines the Germanic language family, occurred during this period.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=89, 1310}} The earlier [[Nordic Bronze Age]] of southern Scandinavia also shows definite population and material continuities with the Jastorf Culture,{{sfn|Timpe|Scardigli|2010|p=636}} but it is unclear whether these indicate ethnic continuity.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=11}}

Under Caesar's successors, the Romans began to conquer and control the entire region between the Rhine and the Elbe which centuries later constituted the largest part of medieval Germany. These efforts were significantly hampered by the victory of a local alliance led by [[Arminius]] at the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in 9 AD, which is considered a defining moment in German history. While the Romans were nevertheless victorious, rather than installing a Roman administration they controlled the region indirectly for centuries, recruiting soldiers there, and playing the tribes off against each other.<ref name="Heather"/>{{sfn|Moser|2011|p=172}} The early Germanic peoples were later famously described in more detail in ''[[Germania (book)|Germania]]'' by the 1st century Roman historian [[Tacitus]]. He described them as a diverse group, dominating a much larger area than Germany, stretching to the [[Vistula]] in the east, and [[Scandinavia]] in the north.