West Balt to Prussian

The old West Balt language of what became Prussia seems closely related to Lithuanian and Latvian. some see it as coming from Proto-Slavic language. However, it shows some relationship to Sanskrit, Ancient Greek, and Gothic; English does too, doesn't it.

Two more recent Prussians of note are Copernicus and Kant. The Polish and German influence are see through these two greats.

One might think of the existence of a Prussian identity as beginning with year one. However, it was about 180 AD before the West Baltic tribes like Galindai, and Soudinnoi are mentioned by Claudius Polemacus. Romans tended to call those Balts the Western People. Cornelius Tacitus in his Germania XLV calls the west Baltic tribes Aestiorum gente. They were given names like Hesti, Aesti, Estum by persons like Cassiodoris in about AD 524, Jordanus in 550 Ad, Einbert in 831, and Walsta in 890. Don't make any big bets on my spelling. Others might be sure that a Prussian identity began shortly after acquisition by the Hobenzollerns in 1414 AD

In the 5th through the 9th century Prussians carried on trade(notably amber products)along the 'amber way' up to Pannonia and Trusa, the center of Prussian trade in the north,

Prussians may well call the lands along the Baltic Sea from the Gulf of Riga to the Bay of Danzig. They may once have occupied lands between Moscow and Kiev, Warsaw and West Finland, and may have ranged from Tallinn to Berlin. Others may say that it was a bit of land-locked sand outside Berlin.