Barbarians

Barbarians reimagines the ancient clash between Rome and the Germanic tribes through the eyes of three young people whose loyalties are tested as history looms. Arminius, raised partly among Romans, wrestles with a sense of belonging and the pull of two worlds. Thusnelda, a determined noblewoman, fights to protect her family and her people's honor in a landscape where survival often hinges on cunning as much as courage. Folkwin Wolfspeer, a fierce warrior and friend to Arminius, faces the brutal realities of war and the price of ambition. As the Teutoburg Forest campaign gathers momentum, private agendas collide with public duty, setting the stage for a cataclysmic turning point in ancient Europe.

Created by Jan Martin Scharf, Andreas Heckmann and Arne Nolting, Barbarians leans into a European production scale that pairs intimate character drama with sweeping battlefield spectacle. The series released in 2020 and marks a bold attempt to reframe a famous historical episode from a German perspective. The cast includes Laurence Rupp as Arminius, Thusnelda played by Jeanne Goursaud, and David Schütter as Folkwin Wolfspeer, among others.

Barbarians has sparked conversations about how mythic history is dramatized on screen and how non Roman points of view reshape a well known chapter. The show foregrounds multilingual dialogue and moral ambiguity, inviting viewers to weigh loyalty to family against loyalty to a wider tribe or empire. Its bold look at gender roles and political manipulation in a time of upheaval has resonated with fans of historical drama and fans hungry for distinctly European storytelling.

Critical reception has been mixed but generally positive, with audiences awarding the series a 7.29 out of 10 rating from 639 votes, indicating broad appeal despite its brutal battles and political complexity. Thematically, Barbarians probes the cost of empire building, the tension between individual fate and collective history, and the blurred lines between hero and betrayer. It also questions how cultural memory is shaped when the tellers of history come from the cultures being portrayed.