‘Angry, reckless, savage’: Problematising the Hypermasculine Germani

Rhiannon Evans considers the nexus of gender, ethnicity and social order to explore Caesar’s depiction of the Germani and Tacitus’ renegotiation of it. In Caesar’s work, the rash and violent Germani display a toxic hypermasculinity which subverts any claim to something like Roman humanitas. But Tacitus depicts them as both exemplary and toxic in the Germania, a text which itself has fuelled a disturbing and aggressive form of masculinity in modern Europe. These ‘written Germani’ appear during times of tectonic social change: the breakdown of the republic and the aftermath of a hated dictator’s murder. In each context the Germani allow the author to comment on how outrageous masculinity breaches the limits of libertas and damages society irreparably.