"To what extend might the fact that the Germans could not write, and we must instead rely On the Roman and Greek Views of the Germans have influenced our modern perception of the Germanic tribe"
Answers (1)
You need to expand your studies. Germans were not stupid, they just didn't bother to share their knowledge with a nation that was trying to conquer them. The Romans hated the Germans because they were unable to conquer them, which was because the Germans did not have a central government. In fact the German tribes tricked the Romans into invading once, and they wiped out a third of the entire Roman army in one battle. Then they mailed the general's head to the senate just to be sure the Romans knew what was what. The leader in that battle was Herman the German, so you can search for history about him. More history is at www.google.com/search?q=goth+barbarian+technology but of course you have to skip over the video game links.