Editing Germanic peoples (section)

===Trade===
[[File:Athena-Schale Hildesheimer Silberfund.jpg|thumb|280px|The Minerva Bowl, part of the [[Hildesheim Treasure]], likely a Roman diplomatic gift.{{sfn|Murdoch|2004|p=64}} The treasure may date from the reign of [[Nero]] (37–68 CE) or the early [[Flavian dynasty]] (69–96 CE).{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=92}}]]
Archaeology shows that from at least the turn of the 3rd century CE larger regional settlements in Germania existed that were not exclusively involved in an agrarian economy, and that the main settlements were connected by paved roads. The entirety of Germania was within a system of long-distance trade.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=1274–1275}} Migration-period seaborne trade is suggested by [[Gudme]] on the Danish island of [[Funen]] and other harbors on the Baltic.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=98}}

Roman trade with Germania is poorly documented.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=88}} Roman merchants crossing the Alps for Germania are recorded already by Caesar in the 1st century BCE.{{sfn|Murdoch|2004|p=64}} During the imperial period, most trade probably took place in trading posts in Germania or at major Roman bases.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=89}} The most well-known Germanic export to the Roman Empire was amber, with a trade centered on the Baltic coast.{{sfn|Murdoch|2004|p=65}} Economically, however, amber is likely to have been fairly unimportant.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=95}} The use of Germanic loanwords in surviving Latin texts suggests that besides amber ({{lang|la|glaesum}}), the Romans also imported the feathers of Germanic geese ({{lang|la|ganta}}) and hair dye ({{lang|la|sapo}}). Germanic slaves were also a major commodity.{{sfn|Murdoch|2004|p=66}} Archaeological discoveries indicate that lead was exported from Germania as well, perhaps mined in Roman-Germanic "joint ventures".{{sfn|Steuer|2021|p=461}}

Products imported from Rome are found archaeologically throughout the Germanic sphere and include vessels of bronze and silver, glassware, pottery, brooches; other products such as textiles and foodstuffs may have been just as important.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=87}} Rather than mine and smelt [[non-ferrous metal]]s themselves, Germanic smiths seem to have often preferred to melt down finished metal objects from Rome, which were imported in large numbers, including coins, metal vessels, and metal statues.{{sfn|Steuer|2021|pp=463–469}} Tacitus mentions in ''Germania'' chapter 23 that the Germani living along the Rhine bought wine, and Roman wine has been found in Denmark and northern Poland.{{sfn|Murdoch|2004|p=64}} Finds of Roman silver coinage and weapons might have been war booty or the result of trade, while high quality silver items may have been diplomatic gifts.{{sfn|Todd|1999|pp=87–88}} Roman coinage may have acted as a form of currency as well.{{sfn|Todd|1999|p=101}}