Roman Influence in the North

Extract

It is often assumed that Roman culture, which spread over almost all Europe, came to an end in the north at the Limes, which, of course, followed the lower course of the Rhine and part of the Danube, thus excluding most of Germany. But there is evidence that the free Germans traded with the Empire, and in the museums of Scandinavia there are numerous Roman objects which were found in the surrounding country, and which prove that even in Denmark and the southern parts of Norway and Sweden the inhabitants were ready to acquire things made according to Roman fashions, and that as time went on the natives were deeply influenced by these artifacts, even in their own manufactures.