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

Ancient History Ancient history is a time period from the History of writing, beginning of writing and recorded human history through late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the development of Sumerian language, ...

at the

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (; ) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol (state), Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. It is the largest education facility in the Austrian States of Austria, ...

Biography

Roland Steinacher was born in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal 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 Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

, Austria, on 22 September 1972. He received his PhD in history at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

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 Schoo ...

. 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 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 Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

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 marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...

and the

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

. Steinacher adheres to Walter Goffart's theories on the

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

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

Germani The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

are a literary category without any basis in reality, which the Romans invented for political purposes. Steinacher utilizes scare quotes around the term "Germanic", and advocates replacing it with the term " barbarian". Steinacher contends that it is "impossible" to find any economic, social, religious, ethnic or political similarities among the "so-called "Germanic" peoples". According to Steinacher, there has "never" been a Germanic identity or Germanic

culture Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

. 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 Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...

and

Scythians The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an Ancient Iranian peoples, ancient Eastern Iranian languages, Eastern Iranian peoples, Iranian Eurasian noma ...

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

Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, 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 ...

. 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 Academia.edu {{DEFAULTSORT:Steinacher, Roland 1972 births 21st-century Austrian historians Austrian non-fiction writers Living people Medievalists University of Vienna alumni Academic staff of the University of Innsbruck