Germany and its Tribes (Cornelius Tacitus)

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	Germany and its Tribes Author: Cornelius Tacitus	Translator: Alfred John Church
15	Quotiens bella non ineunt , non multum venatibus , plus per otium transigunt , dediti somno ciboque : fortissimus quisque ac bellicosissimus nihil agens , delegata domus et penatium et agrorum cura feminis senibusque et infirmissimo cuique ex familia , ipsi hebent , mira diversitate naturae , cum idem homines sic ament inertiam et oderint quietem . mos est civitatibus ultro ac viritim conferre principibus vel armentorum vel frugum , quod pro honore acceptum etiam necessitatibus subvenit . gaudent praecipue finitimarum gentium donis , quae non modo a singulis , sed et publice mittuntur , electi equi , magnifica arma , phalerae torquesque ; iam et pecuniam accipere docuimus .	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 neckchains. We have now taught them to accept money also.
16	Nullas Germanorum populis urbes habitari satis notum est , ne pati quidem inter se iunctas sedes . colunt discreti ac diversi , ut fons , ut campus , ut nemus placuit . vicos locant non in nostrum morem conexis et cohaerentibus aedificiis : suam quisque domum spatio circumdat , sive adversus casus ignis remedium sive inscitia aedificandi . ne caementorum quidem apud illos aut tegularum usus : materia ad omnia utuntur informi et citra speciem aut delectationem . quaedam loca diligentius inlinunt terra ita pura ac splendente ut picturam ac lineamenta colorum imitetur . solent et subterraneos specus aperire eosque multo insuper fimo onerant , suffugium hiemis et receptaculum frugibus , quia rigorem frigorum eius modi loci molliunt , et si quando hostis advenit , aperta populatur , abdita autem et defossa aut ignorantur aut eo ipso fallunt quod quaerenda sunt .	It is well known that the nations of Germany have no 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 villages 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, as a 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 else escapes him from the very fact that it has to be searched for.
17	Tegumen omnibus sagum fibula aut , si desit , spina consertum : cetera intecti totos dies iuxta focum atque ignem agunt . locupletissimi veste distinguuntur non fluitante , sicut Sarmatae ac Parthi , sed stricta et singulos artus exprimente . gerunt et ferarum pelles , proximi ripae neglegenter , ulteriores exquisitius , ut quibus nullus per commercia cultus . eligunt feras et detracta velamina spargunt maculis pellibusque beluarum , quas exterior Oceanus atque ignotum mare gignit . nec alius feminis quam viris habitus , nisi quod feminae saepius lineis amictibus velantur eosque purpura variant , partemque vestitus superioris in manicas non extendunt , nudae brachia ac lacertos ; sed et proxima pars pectoris patet .	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 Sarmatæ 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.
18	Quamquam severa illic matrimonia , nec ullam morum partem magis laudaveris . nam prope soli barbarorum singulis uxoribus contenti sunt , exceptis admodum paucis , qui non libidine sed ob nobilitatem plurimis nuptiis ambiuntur . dotem non uxor marito , sed uxori maritus offert . intersunt parentes et propinqui ac munera probant , munera non ad delicias muliebres quaesita nec quibus nova nupta comatur , sed boves et frenatum equum et scutum cum framea gladioque . in haec munera uxor accipitur , atque in vicem ipsa armorum aliquid viro adfert : hoc maximum vinculum , haec arcana sacra , hos coniugales deos arbitrantur . ne se mulier extra virtutum cogitationes extraque bellorum casus putet , ipsis incipientis matrimonii auspiciis admonetur venire se laborum periculorumque sociam , idem in pace , idem in proelio passuram ausuramque : hoc iuncti boves , hoc paratus equus , hoc data arma denuntiant . sic vivendum , sic pariendum : accipere se quae liberis inviolata ac digna reddat , quae nurus accipiant rursusque ad nepotes referantur .	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 peace and 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 grand-children.
19	Ergo saepta pudicitia agunt , nullis spectaculorum illecebris , nullis conviviorum irritationibus corruptae . litterarum secreta viri pariter ac feminae ignorant . paucissima in tam numerosa gente adulteria , quorum poena praesens et maritis permissa : abscisis crinibus nudatam coram propinquis expellit domo maritus ac per omnem vicum verbere agit ; publicatae enim pudicitiae nulla venia : non forma , non aetate , non opibus maritum invenerit . nemo enim illic vitia ridet , nec corrumpere et corrumpi saeculum vocatur . melius quidem adhuc eae civitates , in quibus tantum virgines nubunt et cum spe votoque uxoris semel transigitur . sic unum accipiunt maritum quo modo unum corpus unamque vitam , ne ulla cogitatio ultra , ne longior cupiditas , ne tamquam maritum sed tamquam matrimonium ament . numerum liberorum finire aut quemquam ex agnatis necare flagitium habetur , plusque ibi boni mores valent quam alibi bonae leges .	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 their children or to destroy any of their subsequent offspring is accounted infamous, and good habits are here more effectual than good laws elsewhere.
20	In omni domo nudi ac sordidi in hos artus , in haec corpora , quae miramur , excrescunt . sua quemque mater uberibus alit , nec ancillis ac nutricibus delegantur . dominum ac servum nullis educationis deliciis dignoscas : inter eadem pecora , in eadem humo degunt , donec aetas separet ingenuos , virtus agnoscat . sera iuvenum venus , eoque inexhausta pubertas . nec virgines festinantur ; eadem iuventa , similis proceritas : pares validaeque miscentur , ac robora parentum liberi referunt . sororum filiis idem apud avunculum qui apud patrem honor . quidam sanctiorem artioremque hunc nexum sanguinis arbitrantur et in accipiendis obsidibus magis exigunt , tamquam et animum firmius et domum latius teneant . heredes tamen successoresque sui cuique liberi , et nullum testamentum . si liberi non sunt , proximus gradus in possessione fratres , patrui , avunculi . quanto plus propinquorum , quanto maior adfinium numerus , tanto gratiosior senectus ; nec ulla orbitatis pretia .	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 own children are his heirs and successors, and there are no wills. Should there be no issue, the next in succession to the property are his 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.
21	Suscipere tam inimicitias seu patris seu propinqui quam amicitias necesse est . nec implacabiles durant : luitur enim etiam homicidium certo armentorum ac pecorum numero recipitque satisfactionem universa domus , utiliter in publicum , quia periculosiores sunt inimicitiae iuxta libertatem . Convictibus et hospitiis non alia gens effusius indulget . quemcumque mortalium arcere tecto nefas habetur ; pro fortuna quisque apparatis epulis excipit . cum defecere , qui modo hospes fuerat , monstrator hospitii et comes ; proximam domum non invitati adeunt . nec interest : pari humanitate accipiuntur . notum ignotumque quantum ad ius hospitis nemo discernit . abeunti , si quid poposcerit , concedere moris ; et poscendi in vicem eadem facilitas . gaudent muneribus , sed nec data imputant nec acceptis obligantur .	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 a 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.
22	Statim e somno , quem plerumque in diem extrahunt , lavantur , saepius calida , ut apud quos plurimum hiems occupat . lauti cibum capiunt : separatae singulis sedes et sua cuique mensa . tum ad negotia nec minus saepe ad convivia procedunt armati . diem noctemque continuare potando nulli probrum . crebrae , ut inter vinolentos , rixae raro conviciis , saepius caede et vulneribus transiguntur . sed et de reconciliandis invicem inimicis et iungendis adfinitatibus et adsciscendis principibus , de pace denique ac bello plerumque in conviviis consultant , tamquam nullo magis tempore aut ad simplices cogitationes pateat animus aut ad magnas incalescat . gens non astuta nec callida aperit adhuc secreta pectoris licentia loci ; ergo detecta et nuda omnium mens . postera die retractatur , et salva utriusque temporis ratio est : deliberant dum fingere nesciunt , constituunt dum errare non possunt .	On waking from sleep, which they generally prolong to a late hour of the day, they take a bath, oftenest 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 war, 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.
23	Potui humor ex hordeo aut frumento , in quandam similitudinem vini corruptus ; proximi ripae et vinum mercantur . cibi simplices , agrestia poma , recens fera aut lac concretum : sine apparatu , sine blandimentis expellunt famem . adversus sitim non eadem temperantia . si indulseris ebrietati suggerendo quantum concupiscunt , haud minus facile vitiis quam armis vincentur .	A liquor for drinking is made out 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 not 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.
24	Genus spectaculorum unum atque in omni coetu idem : nudi iuvenes , quibus id ludicrum est , inter gladios se atque infestas frameas saltu iaciunt . exercitatio artem paravit , ars decorem , non in quaestum tamen aut mercedem : quamvis audacis lasciviae pretium est voluptas spectantium . aleam , quod mirere , sobrii inter seria exercent , tanta lucrandi perdendive temeritate , ut , cum omnia defecerunt , extremo ac novissimo iactu de libertate ac de corpore contendant . victus voluntariam servitutem adit ; quamvis iuvenior , quamvis robustior , alligari se ac venire patitur . ea est in re prava pervicacia ; ipsi fidem vocant . servos condicionis huius per commercia tradunt , ut se quoque pudore victoriae exsolvant .	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.
25	Ceteris servis non in nostrum morem descriptis per familiam ministeriis utuntur : suam quisque sedem , suos penates regit . frumenti modum dominus aut pecoris aut vestis ut colono iniungit , et servus hactenus paret ; cetera domus officia uxor ac liberi exequuntur . verberare servum ac vinculis et opere coercere rarum : occidere solent , non disciplina et severitate , sed impetu et ira , ut inimicum , nisi quod impune est . liberti non multum supra servos sunt , raro aliquod momentum in domo , numquam in civitate , exceptis dumtaxat iis gentibus quae regnantur . ibi enim et super ingenuos et super nobiles ascendunt : apud ceteros impares libertini libertatis argumentum sunt .	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 freedborn and the noble; elsewhere the inferiority of the freedman marks the freedom of the state.
26	Faenus agitare et in usuras extendere ignotum ; ideoque magis servatur quam si vetitum esset . agri pro numero cultorum ab universis in vices occupantur , quos mox inter se secundum dignationem partiuntur ; facilitatem partiendi camporum spatia praestant . arva per annos mutant , et superest ager . nec enim cum ubertate et amplitudine soli labore contendunt , ut pomaria conserant , ut prata separent , ut hortos rigent : sola terrae seges imperatur . unde annum quoque ipsum non in totidem digerunt species : hiems et ver et aestas intellectum ac vocabula habent , autumni perinde nomen ac bona ignorantur .	Of lending money on interest and increasing it by compound interest they know nothing,—a more effectual safeguard than if it were 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, inclosing 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.
27	Funerum nulla ambitio : id solum observatur ut corpora clarorum virorum certis lignis crementur . struem rogi nec vestibus nec odoribus cumulant : sua cuique arma , quorundam igni et equus adicitur . sepulcrum caespes erigit : monumentorum arduum et operosum honorem ut gravem defunctis aspernantur . lamenta ac lacrimas cito , dolorem et tristitiam tarde ponunt . feminis lugere honestum est , viris meminisse . Haec in commune de omnium Germanorum origine ac moribus accepimus : nunc singularum gentium instituta ritusque quatenus differant , quaeque nationes e Germania in Gallias commigraverint , expediam .	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. I will now touch on the institutions and religious rites of the separate tribes, pointing out how far they differ, and also what nations have migrated from Germany into Gaul.
28	Validiores olim Gallorum res fuisse summus auctorum divus Iulius tradit ; eoque credibile est etiam Gallos in Germaniam transgressos . quantulum enim amnis obstabat quo minus , ut quaeque gens evaluerat , occuparet permutaretque sedes promiscas adhuc et nulla regnorum potentia divisas ! igitur inter Hercyniam silvam Rhenumque et Moenum amnes Helvetii , ulteriora Boii , Gallica utraque gens , tenuere . manet adhuc Boihaemi nomen signatque loci veterem memoriam quamvis mutatis cultoribus . sed utrum Aravisci in Pannoniam ab Osis , Germanorum natione , an Osi ab Araviscis in Germaniam commigraverint , cum eodem adhuc sermone institutis moribus utantur , incertum est , quia pari olim inopia ac libertate eadem utriusque ripae bona malaque erant . Treveri et Nervii circa adfectationem Germanicae originis ultro ambitiosi sunt , tamquam per hanc gloriam sanguinis a similitudine et inertia Gallorum separentur . ipsam Rheni ripam haud dubie Germanorum populi colunt , Vangiones , Triboci , Nemetes . ne Ubii quidem , quamquam Romana colonia esse meruerint ac libentius Agrippinenses conditoris sui nomine vocentur , origine erubescunt , transgressi olim et experimento fidei super ipsam Rheni ripam collocati , ut arcerent , non ut custodirentur .	That highest authority, the great Julius, informs us that Gaul was once more powerful than Germany. Consequently we may believe that Gauls even crossed over into Germany. For what a trifling obstacle would a river be to the various tribes, as they grew in strength and wished to possess in exchange settlements which were still open to all, and not partitioned among powerful monarchies! Accordingly the country between the Hercynian forest and the rivers Rhine and Mœnus, and that which lies beyond, was occupied respectively by the Helvetii and Boii, both tribes of Gaul. The name Boiemum still survives, marking the old tradition of the place, though the population has been changed. Whether however the Aravisci migrated into Pannonia from the Osi, a German race, or whether the Osi came from the Aravisci into Germany, as both nations still retain she same language, institutions, and customs, is a doubtful matter; for as they were once equally poor and equally free, either bank had the same attractions, the same drawbacks. The Treveri and Nervii are even eager in their claims of a German origin, thinking that the glory of this descent distinguishes them from the uniform level of Gallic effeminacy. The Rhine bank itself is occupied by tribes unquestionably German,—the Vangiones, the Triboci, and the Nemetes. Nor do even the Ubii, though they have earned the distinction of being a Roman colony, and prefer to be called Agrippinenses, from the name of their founder, blush to own their origin. Having crossed the sea in former days, and given proof of their allegiance, they were settled on the Rhine-bank itself, as those who might guard it but need not be watched.