The backwardness or primitivity of the Germanic tribes is very exaggerated. The thing is, that Germanic folks had a quite sophisticated language, building techniques (they built long houses in wood), social structures and sophisticated weapons. That said, compared to the Romans who were even for our modern standard, extremely advanced, the Germanic tribes were certainly not that advanced. So, the Germanic people likely had thriving, vibrant cultures of their own, were proficient at warfare and produced nice artifacts and works of artistry. But they didn't have the dense urban centers, advanced engineering, libraries of written materials, and unified political identities that Rome had at the time. Furthermore, it’s also not true that the Romans considered the Germanic Barbarians as wild brutes or savages only. In fact, some Roman historians wrote many flattering things about Germanic people and praised them for certain virtues. Other Roman writers wrote that the Gauls. for example, were the most noble of the Barbarians, with a noble spirit, etc. Anyway, the ancient Romans were biased toward Germanics/Celts, thus they had negative stereotypes about them. However, they had many positive stereotypes about them, too. On the internet you can read the assertion that a native Roman/Italic would feel closer to a Northern African, Punic or Egyptian/Syrian than to a German or Gaul. This is not true at all. It’s rather the case that a Roman would admire the cultural sophistry of the Eastern people, but at the same time he would still look down on them as decadent, effeminate and cowardly. In contrast to that, the Romans would admire the Germanic people or the Gauls for their physical built, tallness,bravery, and fierceness and warrior quality. On the other hand, they would frown on their lack of (self-)discipline, organization, and their lower living standard. Besides, people today, don’t understand, for instance, that in Roman times describing men from other nations as effeminate or lacking masculinity was a huge and strong insult. And the Romans accused Middle Easterners to be like that.