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I have heard of this but don't believe it myself. Personally, I can usually tell an Irishman or Scotsman from a Scandinavian without too much trouble, although there is overlap.

Germans come from the Latin word Germani which mean "brothers".

If you read Caesar's Gallic Wars, you will note Caesar's observation that the Gauls were different and distinct from the Germans. I think archeological evidence seems to indicate that the Celtic People were more civilized, that they lived in settled towns like the Roamsn themselves did. That they had a high culture and were skilled bronzesmiths and metalworkers and had fixed farmlands.

The Germans of Caesar's time on the other hand appear to have been more of a pastoral-hunting people with more limited skills.

Does this translate into something genetic? I don't know. Germanic Langauges are sufficiently distinct from Celtic Langauges to be accorded the same individuality as the Italic or Greek or Balto-Slavic recognition. And langauge differences may or may not reflect actual racial affinities. Ditto cultural ones.

At any rate, as far as the Roamsn were concerned, they appeared to have regarded them a distinct people and they were there and we were not.

This is REALLY an OLD post. How and why did you pick it up??

At any rate, as far as the Roamsn were concerned, they appeared to have regarded them a distinct people and they were there and we were not.

True. I suppose the Romans saw both initially as northern barbarians, with the ones closer to them more civilised (due, the Romans no doubt said to themselves, the civilising influence of Rome). After all, Caesar, in his commentaries talks about his armies destroying the Helvetians (who came from what is now modern day Switzerland), but not thoroughly -- he was worried that the even more barbaric Germans would come down from the north and occupy helvetian land if it was unoccupied (rather the devil you know than the devil you don't, eh?).

However, we do tend to see things in the nation-state view we have in modern times (the Charlemagne not being French bit) -- There was no France until after the English were kicked out in the 15th century (which incidently, by ensuring the English kings had no escape in France created the nation state of England as well). Most other states were also created in the late Middle ages like Poland, but the real concept of a nation-lingustic-ethnic-state didn't come about until the last century. And now we're moving back to being multi-ethnic entities.

However, most of those multi-ethnic states were in the Eurasian Caucasian-dominated region. does anyone know of any multi-ethnic states in the Far east or Africa or the Americas? My knowledge of far eatern Eurasian history is sketchy and of pre-15th century sub-saharan Africa is nil.

German comes from the word Germane and referred to the those tribes who originally had been known to live in the Ukraine but moved westward into Celtic territory.

Thus Germans refer to the original Scythians, not those latter known by that name because they displaced the Germane (original) peoples.

The habit of Lederhosen is a direct linkage to the Scythian horsemanship.