1. Tacitus and his Humanist readers
The various cultural regions of the Holy Roman Empire in the Middle Ages still had very different origin myths. The Latin term Germani was accordingly used in a variety of senses, without referring to any particular ethnic entity [1. 326 f.]. This changed with the rediscovery of Tacitus’ Germania (mid-15th century) and its export to Germany via Italian Humanism. Tacitus descr…