Tacitus: Germania
From Tacitus, The Agricola and Germania
Cornelius Tacitus A.D. 56 — 120
The Inhabitants. 0rigins of the Name "Germany". The Germans
themselves I should regard as aboriginal, and not mixed at all with other races
through immigration or intercourse. For, in former times it was not by land but
on shipboard that those who sought to emigrate would arrive; and the boundless
and, so to speak, hostile ocean beyond us, is seldom entered by a sail from our
world. And, beside the perils of rough and unknown seas, who would leave Asia,
or Africa for Italy for Germany, with its wild country, its inclement skies,
its sullen manners and aspect, unless indeed it were his home? In their ancient
songs, their only way of remembering or recording the past they celebrate an
earth-born god Tuisco, and his son Mannus, as the origin of their race, as
their founders. To Mannus they assign three sons, from whose names, they say,
the coast tribes are called Ingaevones; those of the interior, Herminones; all
the rest, Istaevones. Some, with the freedom of conjecture permitted by
antiquity, assert that the god had several descendants, and the nation several
appellations, as Marsi, Gambrivii, Suevi, Vandilij, and that these are nine old
names. The name Germany, on the other hand, they say is modern and newly
introduced, from the fact that the tribes which first crossed the Rhine and
drove out the Gauls, and are now called Tungrians, were then called Germans. Thus
what was the name of a tribe, and not of a race, gradually prevailed, till all
called themselves by this self-invented name of Germans, which the conquerors
had first employed to inspire terror.
The National War-Songs.... They say that Hercules, too,
once visited them; and when going into battle, they sing of him first of all
heroes. They have also those songs of theirs, by the recital of which
("baritus," they call it), they rouse their courage, while from the
note they augur the result of the approaching conflict. For, as their line
shouts, they inspire or feel alarm. It is not so much an articulate sound, as a
general cry of valor. They aim chiefly at a harsh note and a confused roar,
putting their shields to their mouth, so that, by reverberation, it may swell
into a fuller and deeper sound.
Physical Characteristics. For my own part, I agree with
those who think that the tribes of Germany are free from all taint of
intermarriages with foreign nations, and that they appear as a distinct,
unmixed race, like none but themselves. Hence, too, the same physical
peculiarities throughout so vast a population. All have fierce blue eyes, red
hair, huge frames, fit only for a sudden exertion. They are less able to bear
laborious work. Heat and thirst they cannot in the least endure; to cold and
hunger their climate and their soil inure them.
Climate and Soil. Precious
Metals. Their
country, though somewhat various in appearance, yet generally either bristles
with forests or reeks with swamps; it is more rainy on the side of Gaul,
bleaker on that of Noricum and Pannonia. It is productive of grain, but
unfavourable to fruit-bearing trees; it is rich in flocks and herds, but these
are for the most part undersized, and even the cattle have not their usual
beauty or noble head. It is number that is chiefly valued; they are in fact the
most highly prized, indeed the only riches of the people. Silver and gold the
gods have refused to them, whether in kindness or in anger I cannot say. I
would not, however, affirm that no vein of German soil produces gold or silver,
for who has ever made a search? They care but little to possess or use them. You
may see among them vessels of silver, which have been presented to their envoys
and chieftains, held as cheap as those of the clay. The border population,
however, value gold and silver for their commercial utility, and are familiar
with, and show preference for, some of our coins. The tribes of the interior
use the simpler and more ancient practice of the barter of commodities. They
like the old and well known money, coins milled, or showing a two-horse
chariot. They likewise prefer silver to gold, not from any special liking, but
because a large number of silver pieces is more convenient for use among
dealers in cheap and common articles.
Arms Military Manoeuvres
and Discipline Even
iron is not plentiful with them, as we infer from the character of their
weapons. But few use swords or long lances. They carry a spear (framea
is their name for it), with a narrow and short head, but so sharp and easy to
wield that the same weapon serves, according to circumstances, for close or
distant conflict. As for the horse-soldier, he is satisfied with a shield and
spear; the foot-soldiers also scatter showers of missiles each man having
several and hurling them to an immense distance, and being naked or lightly
clad with a little cloak. There is no display about their equipment; their
shields alone are marked with very choice colours. A few only have corslets,
and just one or two here and there a metal or leather helmet. Their horses are
remarkable neither for beauty nor for fleetness. Nor are they taught various
evolutions after our fashion, but are driven straight forward, or so as to make
one wheel to the right in such a compact body that none is left behind another.
On the whole, one would say that their chief strength is in their infantry,
which fights along with the cavalry; admirably adapted to the action of the
latter is the swiftness of certain foot-soldiers, who are picked from the
entire youth of their country, and stationed in front of the line. Their number
is fixed -- a hundred from each canton; and from this they take their name
among their countrymen, so that what was originally a mere number has no become
a title of distinction. Their line of battle is drawn up in a wedge-like
formation. To give ground, provided you return to the attack, is considered
prudence rather than cowardice. The bodies of their slain they carry off even
in indecisive engagements. To abandon your shield is the basest of crimes; nor
may a man thus disgraced be present at the sacred rites, or enter their
council; many, indeed, after escaping from battle, have ended their infamy with
the halter.
Government. Influence of
Women. They choose
their kings by birth, their generals for merit. These kings have not unlimited
or arbitrary power, and the generals do more by example than by authority. If
they are energetic, if they are conspicuous, if they fight in the front, they
lead because they are admired. But to reprimand, to imprison, even to flog, is
permitted to the priests alone, and that not as a punishment, or at the
general's bidding, but, as it were, by the mandate of the god whom they believe
to inspire the warrior. They also carry with them into battle certain figures
and images taken from their sacred groves. And what most stimulates their
courage is, that their squadrons or battalions, instead of being formed by chance
or by a fortuitous gathering, are composed of families and clans. Close by
them, too, are those dearest to them, so that they hear the shrieks of women,
the cries of infants. They are to every man the most sacred witnesses of his
bravery-they are his most generous applauders. The soldier brings his wounds to
mother and wife, who shrink not from counting or even demanding them and who
administer food and encouragement to the combatants.
Tradition says that armies already wavering and giving way have been rallied
by women who, with earnest entreaties and bosoms laid bare, have vividly
represented the horrors of captivity, which the Germans fear with such extreme
dread on behalf of their women, that the strongest tie by which a state can be
bound is the being required to give, among the number of hostages, maidens of
noble birth. They even believe that the sex has a certain sanctity and
prescience, and they do not despise their counsels, or make light of their
answers. In Vespasian's days we saw Veleda, long regarded by many as a
divinity. In former times, too, they venerated Aurinia, and many other women,
but not with servile flatteries, or with sham deification.
Deities. Mercury is the deity whom they chiefly worship, and on
certain days they deem it right to sacrifice to him even with human victims.
Hercules and Mars they appease with more lawful offerings. Some of the Suevi
also sacrifice to Isis. Of the occasion and origin of this foreign rite I have
discovered nothing, but that the image, which is fashioned like a light galley,
indicates an imported worship. The Germans, however, do not consider it
consistent with the grandeur of celestial beings to confine the gods within
walls, or to liken them to the form of any human countenance. They consecrate woods
and groves, and they apply the names of deities to the abstraction which they
see only in spiritual worship.
Auguries and Method of Divination. Augury and divination by lot no
people practise more diligently. The use of the lots is simple. A little bough
is lopped off a fruit-bearing tree, and cut into small pieces; these are
distinguished by certain marks, and thrown carelessly and at random over a
white garment. In public questions the priest of the particular state, in
private the father of the family, invokes the gods, and, with his eyes toward
heaven, takes up each piece three times, and finds in them a meaning according
to the mark previously impressed on them. If they prove unfavourable, there is
no further consultation that day about the matter; if they sanction it, the
confirmation of augury is still required. For they are also familiar with the
practice of consulting the notes and flight of birds. It is peculiar to this
people to seek omens and monitions from horses. Kept at the public expense, in
these same woods and groves, are white horses, pure from the taint of earthly
labour; these are yoked to a sacred car, and accompanied by the priest and the
king, or chief of the tribe, who note their neighings and snortings. No species
of augury is more trusted, not only by the people and by the nobility, but also
by the priests, who regard themselves as the ministers of the gods, and the
horses as acquainted with their will. They have also another method of
observing auspices, by which they seek to learn the result of an important war.
Having taken, by whatever means, a prisoner from the tribe with whom they are
at war, they pit him against a picked man of their own tribe, each combatant
using the weapons of their country. The victory of the one or the other is
accepted as an indication of the issue.
Councils- About minor matters the chiefs deliberate, about the more
important the whole tribe. Yet even when the final decision rests with the
people, the affair is always thoroughly discussed by the chiefs. They assemble,
except in the case of a sudden emergency, on certain fixed days, either at new
or at full moon; for this they consider the most auspicious season for the
transaction of business. Instead of reckoning by days as we do, they reckon by
nights, and in this manner fix both their ordinary and their legal
appointments. Night they regard as bringing on day. Their freedom has this
disadvantage, that they do not meet simultaneously or as they are bidden, but
two or three days are wasted in the delays of assembling. When the multitude
think proper, they sit down armed. Silence is proclaimed by the priests, who
have on these occasions the right of keeping order. Then the king or the chief,
according to age, birth, distinction in war, or eloquence, is heard, more
because he has influence to persuade than because he has power to command. If
his sentiments displease them, they reject them with murmurs; if they are
satisfied, they brandish their spears. The most complimentary form of assent is
to express approbation with their spears.
Punishments. Administration of Justice. In their councils an
accusation may be preferred or a capital crime prosecuted. Penalties are
distinguished according to the offence. Traitors and deserters are hanged on
trees; the coward, the unwarlike, the man stained with abominable vices, is
plunged into the mire of the morass with a hurdle put over him. This
distinction in punishment means that crime, they think, ought, in being
punished, to be exposed, while infamy ought to be buried out of sight- Lighter
offences, too, have penalties proportioned to them; he who is convicted, is
fined in a certain number of horses or of cattle. Half of the fine is paid to
the king or to the state, half to the person whose wrongs are avenged and to
his relatives. In these same councils they also elect the chief magistrates,
who administer law in the cantons and the towns. Each of these has a hundred
associates chosen from the people, who support him with their advice and
influence.
Training of Youth They transact no public or private business without
being armed. it is not, however, usual for anyone to wear arms till the state
has recognized his power to use them. Then in the presence of the council one
of the chiefs, or the young man's father, or some kinsman, equips him with a
shield and a spear. These arms are what the "toga" is with us, the
first honour with which youth is invested. Up to this time he is regarded as a
member of a household, after-wards as a member of the commonwealth. Very noble
birth or great services rendered by the father secure for lads the rank of a
chief; such lads attach themselves to men of mature strength and of long
approved valour. It is no shame to be seen among a chief's followers. Even in
his escort there are gradations of rank, dependent on the choice of the man to
whom they are attached. These followers vie keenly with each others as to who
shall rank first with his chiefs, the chiefs as to who shall have the most
numerous and the bravest followers. It is an honour as well as a source of
strength to be thus always surrounded by a large body of picked youths; it is
an ornament in peace and a defence in war. And not only in his own tribe but
also in the neighboring states it is the renown and glory of a chief to be distinguished
for the number and valour of his followers, for such a man is courted by
embassies, is honoured with presents, and the very prestige of his name ofen
settles a war.
Warlike Ardour of the People. When they go into battle, it is a
disgrace for the chief to be surpassed in valour, a disgrace for his followers
not to equal the valour of the chief. And it is an infamy and a reproach for
life to have survived the chief, and returned from the field. To defend, to
protect him, to ascribe one's own brave deeds to his renown, is the height of
loyalty. The chief fights for victory; his vassals fight for their chief. If
their native state sinks into the sloth of prolonged peace and repose, many of
its noble youths voluntarily seek those tribes which are waging some war, both
because inaction is odious to their race, and because they win renown more
readily in the midst of peril, and cannot maintain a numerous following except
by violence and war. Indeed, men look to the liberality of their chief for
their war-horse and their bloodstained and victorious lance. Feasts and
entertainments, which, though inelegant, are plentifully furnished, are their
only pay. The means of this bounty come from war and rapine. Nor are they as
easily persuaded to plough the earth and to wait for the year's produce as to
challenge an enemy and earn the honour of wounds. Nay, they actually think it
tame and stupid to acquire by the sweat of toil what they might win by their
blood.
Habits in Time of Peace. Whenever they are not fighting, they pass
much of their time in the chase, and still more in idleness, giving themselves
up to sleep and to feasting, the bravest and the most warlike doing nothing,
and surrendering the management of the household, of the home, and of the land,
to the women, the old men, and all the weakest members of the family. They
themselves lie buried in sloth, a strange combination in their nature that the
same men should be so fond of idleness, so averse to peace. It is the custom of
the states to bestow by voluntary and individual contribution on the chiefs a
present of cattle or of grain, which, while accepted as a compliment, supplies
their wants. They are particularly delighted by gifts from neighbouring tribes,
which are sent not only by individuals but also by the state, such as choice
steeds, heavy armour, trappings, and neck-chains. We have now taught them to
acccept money also.
Arrangement of Their Towns, Subterranean Dwellings It is well known
that the nations of Germany have not cities, and that they do not even tolerate
closely contiguous dwellings. They live scattered and apart, just as a spring,
a meadow, or a wood has attracted them. Their village they do not arrange in
our fashion, with the buildings connected and joined together, but every person
surrounds his dwelling with an open space, either as a precaution against the
disasters of fire, or because they do not know how to build. No use is made by
them of stone or tile; they employ timber for all purposes, rude masses without
ornament or attractiveness. Some parts of their buildings they stain more
carefully with a clay so clear and bright that it resembles painting, or a
coloured design. They are wont also to dig out subterranean caves, and pile on
them great heaps of dung shelter from winter and as a receptacle for the year's
produce, for by such places they mitigate the rigour of the cold. And should an
enemy approach, he lays waste the open country, while what is hidden and buried
is either not known to exist, or escapes him from the very fact that it has to
be searched for.
Dress They all wrap themselves in a cloak which is fastened with a
clasp, or, if this is not forthcoming, with a thorn, leaving the rest of their
persons bare. They pass whole days on the hearth by the fire. The wealthiest
are distinguished by a dress which is not flowing like that of the Sarmatae and
Parthi, but is tight, and exhibits each limb. They also wear the skins of wild
beasts; the tribes on the Rhine and Danube in a careless fashion, those of the
interior with more elegance, as not obtaining other clothing by commerce. These
select certain animals, the hides of which they strip off and vary them with
the spotted skins of beasts, the produce of the outer ocean, and of seas
unknown to us. The women have the same dress as the men except that they
generally wrap themselves in linen garments, which they embroider with purple,
and do not lengthen out the upper part of their clothing into sleeves. The
upper and lower arm is thus bare, and the nearest part of the bosom is also
exposed.
Marriage Laws. Their marriage code, however, is strict, and indeed no
part of their manners is more praiseworthy. Almost alone among barbarians they
are content with one wife, except a very few among them, and these not from
sensuality, but because their noble birth procures for them many offers of
alliance. The wife does not bring a dower to the husband, but the husband to
the wife. The parents and relatives are present, and pass judgment on the
marriage-gifts, gifts not meant to suit a woman's taste, nor such as a bride
would deck herself with, but oxen, a caparisoned steed, a shield, a lance, and
a sword. With these presents the wife is espoused, and she herself in her turn
brings her husband a gift of arms. This they count their strongest bond of
union, these their sacred mysteries, these their gods of marriage. Lest the
woman should think herself to stand apart from aspirations after noble deeds
and from the perils of war, she is reminded by the ceremony which inaugurates
marriage that she is her husband's partner in toil and danger, destined to
suffer and to dare with him alike both in in war. The yoked oxen, the harnessed
steed, the gift of arms proclaim this fact. She must live and die with the
feeling that she is receiving what she must hand down to her children neither
tarnished nor depreciated, what future daughters-in-law may receive, and may be
so passed on to her grandchildren.
Thus with their virtue protected they live uncorrupted by the allurements of
public shows or the stimulant of feastings. Clandestine correspondence is
equally unknown to men and women. Very rare for so numerous a population is
adultery, the punishment for which is prompt, and in the husband's power.
Having cut off the hair of the adulteress and stripped her naked, he expels her
from the house in the presence of her kinsfolk, and then flogs her through the
whole village. The loss of chastity meets with no indulgence; neither beauty,
youth, nor wealth will procure the culprit a husband. No one in Germany laughs at
vice, nor do they call it the fashion to corrupt and to be corrupted. Still
better is the condition of those states in which only maidens are given in
marriage, and where the hopes and expectations of a bride are then finally
terminated. They receive one husband, as having one body and one life, that
they may have no thoughts beyond, no further-reaching desires, that they may
love not so much the husband as the married state. To limit the number of
children or to destroy any of their subsequent offspring is accounted infamous,
and good habits are here more effectual than good laws elsewhere.
Their Children. Laws Of Succession. In every household the children,
naked and filthy, grow up with those stout frames and limbs which we so much
admire. Every mother suckles her own offspring and never entrusts it to
servants and nurses. The master is not distinguished from the slave by being
brought up with greater delicacy. Both live amid the same flocks and lie on the
same ground till the freeborn are distinguished by age and recognised by merit.
The young men marry late, and their vigour is thus unimpaired. Nor are the
maidens hurried into marriage; the same age and a similar stature is required;
well-matched and vigorous they wed, and the offspring reproduce the strength of
the parents. Sister's sons are held in as much esteem by their uncles as by
their fathers; indeed, some regard the relation as even more sacred and
binding, and prefer it in receiving hostages, thinking thus to secure a
stronger hold on the affections and a wider bond for the family. But every
man's children are his heirs and successors, and there are no wills. Should
there be no issue, the next in succession to the property are brothers and his
uncles on either side. The more relatives he has the more numerous his
connections, the more honoured is his old age; nor are there any advantages in
childlessness.
Hereditary Feuds-Fines for Homicide. Hospitality It is a duty among
them to adopt the feuds as well as the friendships of a father or a kinsman.
These feuds are not implacable; even homicide is expiated by the payment of a
certain number of cattle and of sheep, and the satisfaction is accepted by the
entire family, greatly to the advantage of the state, since feuds are dangerous
in proportion to the people's freedom.
No nation indulges more profusely in entertainments and hospitality. To
exclude any human being from their roof is thought impious; every German,
according to his means, receives his guest with a well-furnished table. When
his supplies are exhausted, he who was but now the host becomes the guide and
companion to further hospitality, and without invitation they go to the next
house. It matters not; they are entertained with like cordiality. No one
distinguishes between an acquaintance and a stranger, as regards the rights of
hospitality. It is usual to give the departing guest whatever he may ask for,
and a present in return is asked with as little hesitation. They are greatly
charmed with gifts, but they expect no return for what they give, nor feel any
obligation for what they receive.
Habits of Life. On waking from sleep, which they generally prolong
for a late hour of the day, they take a bath, most often of warm water, which
suits a country where winter is the longest of the seasons. After their bath
they take their meal, each having a separate seat and table of his own. Then
they go armed to business, or no less often to their festal meetings. To pass
an entire day and night in drinking disgraces no one. Their quarrels, as might
be expected with intoxicated people, are seldom fought out with mere abuse, but
commonly with wounds and bloodshed. Yet it is at their feasts that they
generally consult on the reconciliation of enemies, on the forming of
matrimonial alliances, on the choice of chiefs, finally even on peace and wai-,
for they think that at no time is the mind more open to simplicity of purpose
or more warmed to noble aspirations. A race without either natural or acquired
cunning, they disclose their hidden thoughts in the freedom of the festivity.
Thus the sentiments of all having been discovered and laid bare, the discussion
is renewed on the following day, and from each occasion its own peculiar
advantage is derived. They deliberate when they have no power to dissemble; they
resolve when error is impossible.
Food A liquor for drinking is made of barley or other grain, and
fermented into a certain resemblance to wine. The dwellers on the river-bank
also buy wine. Their food is of a simple kind, consisting of wild fruit, fresh
game, and curdled milk. They satisfy their hunger without elaborate preparation
and without delicacies. In quenching their thirst they are equally moderate. If
you indulge their love of drinking by supplying them with as much as they
desire, they will be overcome by their own vices as easily as by the arms of an
enemy.
Sports. Passion for Gambling. One and the same kind of spectacle is
always exhibited at every gathering. Naked youths who practise the sport bound
in the dance amid swords and lances that threaten their lives. Experience gives
them skill and skill again gives grace; profit or pay are out of the question;
however reckless their pastime, its reward is the pleasure of the spectators.
Strangely enough they make games of hazard a serious occupation even when
sober, and so venturesome are they about gaining or losing, that, when every
other resource has failed, on the last and final throw they stake the freedom
of their own persons. The loser goes into voluntary slavery; though the younger
and stronger, he suffers himself to be bound and sold. Such is their stubborn
persistency in a bad practice; they themselves call it honour. Slaves of this
kind the owners part with in the way of commerce, and also to relieve
themselves from the scandal of such a victory.
Slavery. The other slaves are not employed after our manner with
distinct domestic duties assigned to them, but each one has the management of a
house and home of his own. The master requires from the slave a certain
quantity of grain, of cattle, and of clothing, as he would from a tenant, and
this is the limit of subjection. All other household functions are discharged
by the wife and children. To strike a slave or to punish him with bonds or with
hard labour is a rare occurrence. They often kill them, not in enforcing strict
discipline, but on the impulse of passion, as they would an enemy, only it is
done with impunity. The freedmen do not rank much above slaves, and are seldom
of any weight in the family, never in the state with the exception of those
tribes which are ruled by kings. There indeed they rise above the freeborn and
the noble; elsewhere the inferiority of the freedman marks the freedom of the
state.
Occupation of Land. Tillage. Of lending money on interest and
increasing it by compounding interest they know nothing-a more effectual
safeguard than if it was prohibited.
Land proportioned to the number of inhabitants is occupied by the whole
community in turn, and afterwards divided among them according to rank. A wide expanse
of plains makes the partition easy. They till fresh fields every year, and they
have still more land than enough; with the richness and extent of their soil,
they do not laboriously exert themselves in planting orchards, enclosing
meadows and watering gardens. Corn is the only produce required from the earth;
hence even the year itself is not divided by them into as many seasons as with
us. Winter, spring, and summer have both a meaning and a name; the name and
blessings of autumn are alike unknown.
Funeral Rites. In their funerals there is no pomp; they simply
observe the custom of burning the bodies of illustrious men with certain kinds
of wood. They do not heap garments or spices on the funeral pile. The arms of
the dead man and in some cases his horse are consigned to the fire. A turf
mound forms the tomb. Monuments with their lofty elaborate splendour they
reject as oppressive to the dead. Tears and lamentations they soon dismiss;
grief and sorrow but slowly. It is thought becoming for women to bewail, for
men to remember, the dead.
Such on the whole is the account which I have received of the origin and
manners of the entire German people.
Note that although this is most of Tacitus' text, some of the later sections
are not in this etext.