The early Germans were the most important people living outside the bounds of the Roman empire. This book examines the Germanic peoples from their first contact with the Mediterranean world to the beginnings of the migration which carried them over most of Europe. In contrast to the traditional view of the Germans, barbaric peoples who undermined and finally destroyed the civilization of the western Roman Empire, Malcolm Todd argues that they came not to overthrow, but to find their own place in a civilization which they were well equipped to join. The majority of the evidence which he brings to bear is archeological. His book presents an account of the early Germans as cultivated settlers and craftsmen who impressed with their skills and achievements as well as with the force of their numbers.