New Netflix drama series The Barbarians sets grungy, unruly Germanic tribes against the mighty Roman legions. Along the way it also asks us to think again about nature, empire, civilisation and what is right today.
Spoiler, not spoiler. We already know who wins. It was over 2,000 years ago when the tribes annihilated three legions of the Roman army – as many as 12,000 men of the world’s most powerful fighting force – in the deeps of Germania’s forests. This battle in the Teutoburg forest – in what became North West Germany – shook the world and began the end of the Roman empire.
It’s not the result that is most interesting though: it’s how and why it happened. And, while the series takes quite a few liberties with what really happened, at its core it is based on the history – mainly recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus, the Barbarian tribes having no literary culture.
But the series is not only about what happened in 9AD. It also raises questions about Germany today and contemporary judgements about who’re the good guys and who’re the bad.
At the centre of the conflict is Arminius, a Roman legionnaire, who as boy named Ari was son of a Germanic chief. Ari was given-up by his father to Rome as a pledge/hostage to keep the peace.
As the series starts, Arminius returns as part of the occupying army to his old village – and his dad. The Germanic tribes are simmering in revolt as the legionaries strip the villages of their possessions as tributes to Rome. Arminius’ childhood friends, Thusnelda and Folkwin are even involved in the underground opposing the occupation.
Where will Arminius turn – should he fight for Rome or for the revolting Barbarians?
As a clue Laurence Rupp, the actor playing Arminius, told the Welt newspaper “No one is always a hero. Everyone does things that are not okay. That’s what I wanted to show with Arminius”
Arminius aka Hermann: still controversial in Germany
Amazingly Arminius really existed and much of the story of what happened to him in the show is true. Thusnelda is also real character from the times.
As Germans we should know about Arminius. He is the first German hero and was hailed for centuries.
But many Germans don’t know about him anymore.
And we weren’t taught about him in school. As Spiegel magazine says “many schools shunned his story after 1945 because he became contaminated by the militant nationalism that led to Hitler”. Earlier German nationalists and later the Nazis used Arminius – his named “germanised” as Hermann – as a national icon. The Nazis even saw him as saviour of the “German blood”.
The fear of nationalism in Germany is still strong and in 2009 there was little in the way of commemoration of the 2,000th anniversary of what could be seen as the birth of the nation. German politics remains wary of a belief in nation something taken for granted in most other countries. We only wave the flag during the World Cup.
Goodies and baddies
We know about Roman civilisation from history. We also know the Barbarians are not civilised – the word itself means brutal and ignorant.
But against stereotype in this show the Barbarians are a good people. They might be pretty rough and often fight amongst themselves but largely they are peaceful, they honour their family and fight for love and freedom. They live in the forest worshipping the gods of nature tended to by a female witchdoctor-Shaman. And this a forest beautiful and life affirming, not the forest of scary fairy tales.
It’s the cold Romans who are the baddies. Not only arrogant, they are racially prejudiced against the inferior tribesman who they all think look alike and who they take as slaves, they disrespect woman and destroy families.
When a young boy is disabled by a Roman soldier, his parents whose sympathies are with Rome try to kill the boy. Those loyal to Germanic values save and honour him.
Bloody Romans!
Big show with everything
The Barbarians has a big storyline, but, thanks to clear plotting – and some longish explanations by the characters – it was always easy to follow.
It has universal themes of friendship, betrayal, love and loyalty. Not only the conflicts between Rome and Germania both physical and moral are entertaining. The back and forth conflicts among friends, tribes and families make this human and gripping.
We were really impressed by the historically correct costumes – though the Barbarians were a bit too clean. Sure they had dirty faces, but also shiny white teeth and nice hairstyles.
A great bit of accuracy was the language barrier between the Latin speaking Romans and the German speaking Barbarians. It really brought home the divide behind the conflict.
The balance of history and fiction and of brutal fights and storytelling was amazing. Instead of big bloody battles they chose to put character development first.
The Barbarians is a thrilling story with great characters and some amazing German actors.
Once we started, we couldn’t stop watching. After just six episodes the series ends with a big cliff-hanger, which left us with many questions. After over 2,000 years we can’t wait for the second season announced just a few days ago.
Maxi Pfeifer and Shirin Ghayad
Crossland, David (2009) “Germany Recalls Myth That Created the Nation” https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/battle-of-the-teutoburg-forest-germany-recalls-myth-that-created-the-nation-a-644913.html
Winkler, Sabine (2020) “New Netflix Series is better than Game of Thrones” https://www.welt.de/kmpkt/article218703222/Neue-Netflix-Serie-Barbaren-ist-besser-als-Game-of-Thrones.html
