Long before the Viking Age, small kingdoms began forming across Scandinavia, reshaping tribal societies and setting the stage for future conquests. Historians say these early rulers borrowed elements of the Roman Empire and governance, helping to create the region’s first centralized states in the Viking civilization.
Professor Dagfinn Skre, a historian specializing in Scandinavian history, explores this transformation in his latest book, The Northern Routes to Kingship: A History of Scandinavia AD 180–550.
Drawing from six years of research, Skre examines how returning soldiers from the Roman army introduced new political structures, warfare tactics, and economic models that influenced early Scandinavian rulers.
Rome’s reach in the North
A pivotal moment came in A.D. 180 when Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius fought the Marcomanni, a Germanic tribe near the Danube River. Facing heavy losses from war and disease, Rome recruited foreign fighters, including many from Northern Europe and Scandinavia.
After serving in the Roman army, these soldiers returned home, settling in fertile regions that would later become Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. Trained and disciplined, they quickly established dominance over local tribes, claiming land and introducing new forms of governance.
The rise of warrior lords
These returning warriors did more than bring back combat skills. They introduced a structured military hierarchy, forming bands of fighters under the leadership of powerful lords. Inspired by Roman customs, these leaders built large gathering halls similar to basilicas, where they held meetings, feasts, and strategic discussions.
Some warrior bands took this influence further, creating settlements modeled after Roman military camps. Notable sites included Gudme on Funen, Uppåkra in Scania and Sorte Muld on Bornholm. Like the Romans, they relied on enslaved labor to sustain their growing territories.
Conflicts and negotiations
While many regions fell under the control of these warrior bands, some resisted. Strong tribal societies in Gotland, Öland and parts of Jutland maintained independence, leading to violent clashes.
To reduce conflict, leaders began holding public meetings known as thing assemblies, where negotiated settlements replaced bloodshed. Lords, needing local support, secured agreements recognizing their land claims, while tribes retained certain rights.
To assert their rule, lords erected runestones on burial sites, a practice influenced by Roman gravestones used to mark inheritance.
Between A.D. 180 and 450, Scandinavia saw some of its fiercest battles. Thousands of warriors clashed, and victors often sacrificed enemy weapons in lakes and marshes.
In response to rising violence and slave raids, more than 1,700 hillforts were built, some serving as lordly strongholds while others became refuges for tribal communities.
By the mid-400s, Scandinavia’s ties to the European mainland weakened. The Goths, once key allies, migrated into Italy, and the fall of the Western Roman Empire in A.D. 476 left Scandinavian warriors without an external power to model themselves after. Without Rome, local rulers adopted what they had learned, forming kingdoms ruled by hereditary leaders.
The birth of the Kingdom of the Danes
By A.D. 450, Scandinavia’s first known kingdom, the Kingdom of the Danes, emerged. Its leadership structure reflected clear Roman influences. One of the most notable signs was the introduction of gold pendants known as bracteates.
Similar to Roman emperors gifting gold medallions to high-ranking officials, Danish kings awarded bracteates to loyal followers. These pendants, distributed at royal gatherings in Gudme and later in Lejre, symbolized allegiance and status.
Their designs were modeled on Roman medallions from the era of Constantine the Great, suggesting that early Danish rulers saw themselves as heirs to Rome’s final golden age.
New DNA evidence suggests the rise of the Kingdom of the Danes was not entirely peaceful. Studies indicate an invasion force, composed of warriors from across Northern Europe, swept through Scania, Funen, Zealand and Jutland, leading to mass killings and a redistribution of land.
Soldiers and their families took over the most fertile areas, while leaders settled in the finest estates. In the decades that followed, other Scandinavian chieftains responded by consolidating power. By the early 500s, as many as 10 to 15 emerging kingdoms had taken shape, setting the foundation for the Viking Age.
A lasting legacy
Although the Roman Empire had fallen, its influence in Scandinavia endured. Returning soldiers introduced governance models, economic structures and military strategies that shaped the region’s first centralized states.
These changes laid the groundwork for the powerful Scandinavian kingdoms that would later send warriors, traders and explorers across Europe, forever changing the course of history.
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