Roland Steinacher (born 22 September 1972) is an Austrian historian who is Professor of

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history cove ...

at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

Biography

Roland Steinacher was born in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; bar, Innschbruck, label=Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian ) is the capital of Tyrol (state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the ...

, Austria, on 22 September 1972. He received his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in history at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich histor ...

in 2002 under the supervision of

Herwig Wolfram Herwig Wolfram (born 14 February 1934) is an Austrian historian who is Professor Emeritus of Medieval History and Auxiliary Sciences of History at the University of Vienna and the former Director of the . He is a leading member of the Vienna Scho ...

. Steinacher subsequently worked as a researcher at the University of Vienna and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. During this time, Steinacher was a research assistant for

Walter Pohl Walter Pohl (born 27 December 1953, in Vienna) is an Austrian historian who is Professor of Auxiliary Sciences of History and Medieval History at the University of Vienna. He is a leading member of the Vienna School of History. Biography Walter ...

at projects financed by the

European Research Council The European Research Council (ERC) is a public body for funding of scientific and technological research conducted within the European Union (EU). Established by the European Commission in 2007, the ERC is composed of an independent Scientific ...

. Steinacher received his

habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in many European countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excellence in research, teaching and further education, usually including a ...

at the University of Vienna in 2012. As fellow of th
Gerda-Henkel-Stiftung
th
Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung
th
Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald
and th
Berliner Antike-Kolleg
he worked in Berlin, Erlangen, Greifswald and finally spent another year as an assistant professor at th
University of Tübingen
In October 2018 he was appointed Professor of

at the

Theories

Steinacher is primarily interested in ethnicity in Europe during

Late Antiquity Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English ha ...

and the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Mi ...

. Steinacher adheres to

Walter Goffart Walter Goffart (born February 22, 1934) is a German-born American historian who specializes in Late Antiquity and the European Middle Ages. He taught for many years in the History Department and Centre for Medieval Studies of the University of To ...

's theories on the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

, whom Steinacher considers "nothing more but a vision of ancient literature". He believes that the

Germani The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and ear ...

are a literary category without any basis in reality, which the Romans invented for political purposes. Steinacher utilizes

scare quote Scare quotes (also called shudder quotes,Pinker, Steven. ''The Sense of Style: The Thinking Person's Guide to Writing in the 21st Century''. Penguin (2014) sneer quotes, and quibble marks) are quotation marks that writers place around a word o ...

s around the term "Germanic", and advocates replacing it with the term "

barbarian A barbarian (or savage) is someone who is perceived to be either Civilization, uncivilized or primitive. The designation is usually applied as a generalization based on a popular stereotype; barbarians can be members of any nation judged by som ...

". Steinacher contends that it is "impossible" to find any economic, social, religious, ethnic or political similarities the among "so-called "Germanic" peoples". According to Steinacher, there has "never" been a Germanic identity or Germanic

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

. He stresses the fact that ancient sources after Caesar and Tacitus barely had a concept of "Germanic peoples" but continued to use the categories

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

and

Scythians The Scythians or Scyths, and sometimes also referred to as the Classical Scythians and the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern * : "In modern scholarship the name 'Sakas' is reserved f ...

. Steinacher doubts that there was much migration of actual ethnic groups during the

Migration Period The Migration Period was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories by various tribes, and the establishment of the post-Roman ...

. Instead he suggests that there were only military actions, a series of wars, partly Roman civil wars, as well as a long lasting movement of ethnic names. In his �
History of the Vandals/Die Vandalen
��, published in 2016, Steinacher fathomed African and Vandalic history as a basis for studying the transformation of the Roman world, its consequences and implications. The transforming Roman Empire in the West had Vandal Africa, Frankish Gaul, or Visigothic Spain as successive political entities. Barbarian groups using ethnic labels act as specialized military service providers who seized the opportunity of the dissolution of Roman political structures. They made themselves independent, operated without Roman titles and orders, and under favorable circumstances succeeded in establishing their own kingdoms, which they could now shape according to their needs. This was because the new military elites aimed at controlling the Roman system of taxation and agricultural production. The takeover of Roman provinces and cities made it possible to provide long-term sustenance for the barbarian soldiers. Steinacher distinguished the Vandals as “Roman barbarians” stressing the need to understand 5th and 6th c. Africa as part of the late Roman world.

Selected works

* ''Studien zur vandalischen Geschichte'', 2002 * '
Die Vandalen. Aufstieg und Fall eines Barbarenreichs
'. Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 2016 (2nd ed. 2017), . *
Rom und die Barbaren. Völker im Alpen- und Donauraum (300–600)
'. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 2017, . * with Paolo Tedesco and Philipp Margreiter: Africa 500–1000. New Perspectives for Historical and Archaeological Research, Medieval Worlds 12 (2022).https://medievalworlds.net/medievalworlds_no16_2022?frames=yes *
Arianism. Roman heresy and barbarian creed
' (ed. with Guido M. Berndt). Ashgate, Farnham u. a. 2014, . *
Das Reich der Vandalen und seine (Vor-)Geschichten
'. Denkschriften. Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Klasse. Band 366 = Forschungen zur Geschichte des Mittelalters 13 (ed. with Guido M. Berndt). Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Wien 2008, . *"Rome and its Created Northerners". In: ed. Matthias Friedrich/James M. Harland, ''Interrogating the Germanic: A Category and its Use in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages''. Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde – Ergänzungsband 123. Berlin/Boston 2019, pp. 31–66.

' *"Transformation or Fall? Perceptions and Perspectives on the Transition from Late Antiquity to the Early Middle Ages". In: ed. Susanne Brather-Walter, ''Archaeology, History and Biosciences. Interdisciplinary Perspectives''. Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde – Ergänzungsband 107. Berlin/Boston 2019, pp. 103–124.
When not in Rome, still do as the Romans do? Africa from 146 BCE to the 7th century
In: ed. Walter Pohl/Clemens Gantner/Cinzia Grifoni/Marianne Pollheimer-Mohaupt,
Transformations of Romanness: Early Medieval Regions and Identities
'. Millennium-Studien/Millennium Studies 71, Berlin/Boston 2018, pp. 439–456.
Who is the Barbarian? Considerations on the Vandal Royal Title
In: ed. Walter Pohl/Gerda Heydemann, ''Post-Roman Transitions: Christian and Barbarian Identities in the Early Medieval West''. Cultural Encounters in Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages 14, Turnhout 2013, pp. 437–485.
Migrations and Conquest. Easy pictures for complicated backgrounds in ancient and medieval structures
In: ed. Michi Messer/Renée Schröder/Ruth Wodak, ''Migrations: Interdisciplinary Perspectives''. Wien 2012, pp. 239–249. *
The Heruls. Fragments of a History
'' In: ed. Florin Curta:
Neglected Barbarians
'' Brepols, Turnhout 2010, pp. 321–364. *
The So-called Laterculus Regum Vandalorum et Alanorum: A part of Prosper Tiro’s chronicle?
'. In: ed. Andrew H. Merrills: ''Vandals, Romans and Berber New Perspectives on Late Antique North Africa''. Aldershot 2004, pp. 163–180.

References

Sources

* * * *

External links

University of Innsbruck
Roland Steinacher
at

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1972 births 21st-century Austrian historians Austrian non-fiction writers Living people Medievalists University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck {{Austria-historian-stub