Imagine how the people that lived there must have felt being invaded by the Romans👀
Well, it paid their student loans…
When the trees start to speak proto-german.
Germania wasn’t conquered afaik?
Romans did this in Dacia too and allegedly exterminated all local males. After 175 years they left, probably defeated by the cold, fog AND the Carpathian wolves, bears …
Imagine not invading a tree farm.
From what I have read they shat bricks
If you are really quiet, you can still hear Caesar screaming at Varus.
Imagine doing that for 25 years of service (default army tour of duty) from syria to scotland before retiring
If anyone is interested in roman history, there’s a podcast called ‘The history of Rome’ on Spotify.
Goes into alot of detail, including the Gallic wars. I’ve really enjoyed it myself.
And encountering pissed-off Germanic tribes
Pretty confident seeing as they were just head and shoulders above the rest of Europe at that time.
I doubt the Roman legions were scared of some deep dark forest.
It likely wasn’t darker. There were still lots of wild herbivore animals clearing the growth. Modern tree farms are way denser than old growth forest with a healthy fauna.
like “heh, another forest”
Looks really lovely part of forest, even road for MTB.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
It’s where fairytales are made. Great photo!
Not a forester, but I suspect most forests would have been virgin, old growth 2000 years ago. So yes, probably taller trees with larger trunks and more understory, which would have made it darker with poorer visibility.
Well, from time to time, the Romans would just cut them down. Didn’t Caesar more or less cut down an entire forest to get rid of a hostile tribe?
The Black Forest got it’s dark look only very recently. The whole forest got cut down and replaced with only spruce around 300 years ago. Before that it was a pretty open, standard mixed forest and not particularly dark. The name Black Forest comes historically rather form the fact that it was a dangerous place, not from physical darkness.
This is a farm, not a forest.
It doesn’t look especially dark or scary compared to our wintry Finnish forests, like you can see even sun.
Pretty sure there are forests in Italy.
When looking at the picture, I thought: Wow, this looks very similar to the view I had while hiking on Saturday. Looking at the title and the fact that I was hiking in the black forest, blew my mind 😀
From the point of Rome, an empire centered on the Mediterranean which considered Syria and Egypt as core regions, Britannia and Germania were such awful and distant places. The concept of modern Europe, centered on the Rhine and the Danube, was born with Charles the Great.
lol anyone who thinks this is even vaguely foreboding should take a look at a proper nordic troll forest, if you can see more than 10 meters then it’s not really even a forest.
We sure showed them!
On that note, I highly recommend the show “Die Barbaren” (not sure what it’s called internationally) on netflix. Great show set in that time period.
Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead!
PULLO!!!! SINGLE FORMATION!!
Not that abnormal? Lol you think the Romans had never seen a forest?
Oh! As an archaeologist this place is super duper amazing. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the Germanic tribes and the forests of modern day Germany were a walk in the park for a Roman soldier. The north-western border of mainland Europe can only be compared to what Vietnam was to USA. A scary, thick forest with tribes and strange people who had no idea why the romans where there and had close to zero interest in having the romans and conquers. Just imagine being a 19 year-old Roman soldier in the year 100 AD for a minute:
It’s cold, dark, you hear strange sounds and smell weird smells. The enemy has trousers, weird rituals (you were told in Rome that these people sacrifices and eats children) and are prone to torturing their prisoners, if you are to believe the rumours. It’s miserable and when you have guard duty, it’s *boring* and scary at the same time. This goes on everyday until you are relieved and switched back to the fort. But its the way back thats really scary. The paths you follow goes between earth mounds said to be burial mounds, the tribes are known to stalk legions for a long time before striking. Did you just hear a branch? Are they sitting in the trees? Or was that just an elk or an escaped ox? The dark, ancient woods are impossible to look through for more than a half a stadium at most (approx. 300 feet/90 meters). Back in camp, when you finally get there, life is tedious and boring. Military life has at all times been 90% chores and 10% fighting if that. You receive a letter that your fat uncle has finally died and that Trajan has become consul in Rome. You also learn about a big wedding among the nobility, as Trajan’s cousin Hadrianus has finally married some brat. You lost that bet, as you had money on him never finding a woman. But all this doesn’t matter, as you are approx. 7 stades (4000 feet) away from all that.
The rain just started again, you have mud in your teeth and ears and the stories the old centurions told about the 17th, 18th and 19th legion who was slaughtered in these forests all those years ago haunts your dreams. But only for a short time. The hoarse centurion yells in the yard. It’s time to do it all again.
I imagine the invading Romans would’ve been very confused to find a plantation of Douglas Fir trees. A species from North America which was introduced to Europe in the 19th Century.
33 comments
Imagine how the people that lived there must have felt being invaded by the Romans👀
Well, it paid their student loans…
When the trees start to speak proto-german.
Germania wasn’t conquered afaik?
Romans did this in Dacia too and allegedly exterminated all local males. After 175 years they left, probably defeated by the cold, fog AND the Carpathian wolves, bears …
Imagine not invading a tree farm.
From what I have read they shat bricks
If you are really quiet, you can still hear Caesar screaming at Varus.
Imagine doing that for 25 years of service (default army tour of duty) from syria to scotland before retiring
If anyone is interested in roman history, there’s a podcast called ‘The history of Rome’ on Spotify.
Goes into alot of detail, including the Gallic wars. I’ve really enjoyed it myself.
And encountering pissed-off Germanic tribes
Pretty confident seeing as they were just head and shoulders above the rest of Europe at that time.
I doubt the Roman legions were scared of some deep dark forest.
It likely wasn’t darker. There were still lots of wild herbivore animals clearing the growth. Modern tree farms are way denser than old growth forest with a healthy fauna.
like “heh, another forest”
Looks really lovely part of forest, even road for MTB.
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.
He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound’s the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.
It’s where fairytales are made. Great photo!
Not a forester, but I suspect most forests would have been virgin, old growth 2000 years ago. So yes, probably taller trees with larger trunks and more understory, which would have made it darker with poorer visibility.
Well, from time to time, the Romans would just cut them down. Didn’t Caesar more or less cut down an entire forest to get rid of a hostile tribe?
The Black Forest got it’s dark look only very recently. The whole forest got cut down and replaced with only spruce around 300 years ago. Before that it was a pretty open, standard mixed forest and not particularly dark. The name Black Forest comes historically rather form the fact that it was a dangerous place, not from physical darkness.
This is a farm, not a forest.
It doesn’t look especially dark or scary compared to our wintry Finnish forests, like you can see even sun.
Pretty sure there are forests in Italy.
When looking at the picture, I thought: Wow, this looks very similar to the view I had while hiking on Saturday. Looking at the title and the fact that I was hiking in the black forest, blew my mind 😀
From the point of Rome, an empire centered on the Mediterranean which considered Syria and Egypt as core regions, Britannia and Germania were such awful and distant places. The concept of modern Europe, centered on the Rhine and the Danube, was born with Charles the Great.
lol anyone who thinks this is even vaguely foreboding should take a look at a proper nordic troll forest, if you can see more than 10 meters then it’s not really even a forest.
We sure showed them!
On that note, I highly recommend the show “Die Barbaren” (not sure what it’s called internationally) on netflix. Great show set in that time period.
Three weeks from now, I will be harvesting my crops. Imagine where you will be, and it will be so. Hold the line! Stay with me! If you find yourself alone, riding in the green fields with the sun on your face, do not be troubled. For you are in Elysium, and you’re already dead!
PULLO!!!! SINGLE FORMATION!!
Not that abnormal? Lol you think the Romans had never seen a forest?
Example of primeval forest in Slovenia.
https://www.kocevsko.com/en/kocevsko/
Oh! As an archaeologist this place is super duper amazing. There is absolutely no reason to believe that the Germanic tribes and the forests of modern day Germany were a walk in the park for a Roman soldier. The north-western border of mainland Europe can only be compared to what Vietnam was to USA. A scary, thick forest with tribes and strange people who had no idea why the romans where there and had close to zero interest in having the romans and conquers. Just imagine being a 19 year-old Roman soldier in the year 100 AD for a minute:
It’s cold, dark, you hear strange sounds and smell weird smells. The enemy has trousers, weird rituals (you were told in Rome that these people sacrifices and eats children) and are prone to torturing their prisoners, if you are to believe the rumours. It’s miserable and when you have guard duty, it’s *boring* and scary at the same time. This goes on everyday until you are relieved and switched back to the fort. But its the way back thats really scary. The paths you follow goes between earth mounds said to be burial mounds, the tribes are known to stalk legions for a long time before striking. Did you just hear a branch? Are they sitting in the trees? Or was that just an elk or an escaped ox? The dark, ancient woods are impossible to look through for more than a half a stadium at most (approx. 300 feet/90 meters). Back in camp, when you finally get there, life is tedious and boring. Military life has at all times been 90% chores and 10% fighting if that. You receive a letter that your fat uncle has finally died and that Trajan has become consul in Rome. You also learn about a big wedding among the nobility, as Trajan’s cousin Hadrianus has finally married some brat. You lost that bet, as you had money on him never finding a woman. But all this doesn’t matter, as you are approx. 7 stades (4000 feet) away from all that.
The rain just started again, you have mud in your teeth and ears and the stories the old centurions told about the 17th, 18th and 19th legion who was slaughtered in these forests all those years ago haunts your dreams. But only for a short time. The hoarse centurion yells in the yard. It’s time to do it all again.
I imagine the invading Romans would’ve been very confused to find a plantation of Douglas Fir trees. A species from North America which was introduced to Europe in the 19th Century.