A
TREATISE
ON THE SITUATION, MANNERS AND INHABITANTS OF GERMANY.
Tacitus
It is one of the author's earliest works and was probably written shortly after the death of Domitian, in 96.
This work, short as it is, has always been considered an admirable specimen of biography on account of its grace and dignity of expression.
Whatever else it may be, it is a graceful and affectionate tribute to an upright and excellent man.
The "Dialogue on Orators" treats of the decay of eloquence under the empire. It is in the form of a dialogue, and represents two eminent members of the Roman bar discussing the change for the worse that had taken place in the early education of the Roman youth.
The "Histories" relate the events which transpired in Rome, beginning with the ascession of Galba, in 68, and ending with the reign of Domitian, in 97. Only four books and a fragment of a fifth have been preserved to us. These books contain an account of the brief reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius. The portion of the fifth book which has been preserved contains an interesting, though rather biased, account of the character, customs and religion of the Jewish nation viewed from the standpoint of a cultivated citizen of Rome.
The "Annals" contain the history of the empire from the death of Augustus, in 14, to the death of Nero, in 68, and originally consisted of sixteen books. Of these, only nine have come down to us in a state of entire preservation, and of the other seven we have but fragments of three. Out of a period of fifty-four years we have the history of about forty.
The style of Tacitus is, perhaps, noted principally for its conciseness. Tacitean brevity is proverbial, and many of his sentences are so brief, and leave so much for the student to read between the lines, that in order to be understood and appreciated the author must be read over and over again, lest the reader miss the point of some of his most excellent thoughts. Such an author presents grave, if not insuperable, difficulties to the translator, but notwithstanding this fact, the following pages cannot but impress the reader with the genius of Tacitus.
A TREATISE ON THE SITUATION, MANNERS AND INHABITANTS OF GERMANY. 1
1. Germany 2 is separated from Gaul, Rhaetia, 3 and Pannonia, 4 by the rivers Rhine and Danube; from Sarmatia and Dacia, by mountains 5 and mutual dread. The rest is surrounded by an ocean, embracing broad promontories 6 and vast insular tracts, 7 in which our military expeditions have lately discovered various nations and kingdoms. The Rhine, issuing from the inaccessible and precipitous summit of the Rhaetic Alps, 8 bends gently to the west, and falls into the Northern Ocean. The Danube, poured from the easy and gently raised ridge of Mount Abnoba, 9 visits several nations in its course, till at length it bursts out 10 by six channels 11 into the Pontic sea; a seventh is lost in marshes.
2. The people of Germany appear to me indigenous, 12 and free from intermixture with foreigners, either as settlers or casual visitants. For the emigrants of former ages performed their expeditions not by land, but by water; 13 and that immense, and, if I may so call it, hostile ocean, is rarely navigated by ships from our world. 14 Then, besides the danger of a boisterous and unknown sea, who would relinquish Asia, Africa, or Italy, for Germany, a land rude in its surface, rigorous in its climate, cheerless to every beholder and cultivator, except a native? In their ancient songs, 15 which are their only records or annals, they celebrate the god Tuisto, 16 sprung from the earth, and his son Mannus, as the fathers and founders of their race. To Mannus they ascribe three sons, from whose names 17 the people bordering on the ocean are called Ingaevones; those inhabiting the central parts, Herminones; the rest, Istaevones. Some, 18 however, assuming the licence of antiquity, affirm that there were more descendants of the god, from whom more appellations were derived; as those of the Marsi, 19 Gambrivii, 20 Suevi, 21 and Vandali; 22 and that these are the genuine and original names. 23 That of Germany, on the other hand, they assert to be a modern addition; 24 for that the people who first crossed the Rhine, and expelled the Gauls, and are now called Tungri, were then named Germans; which appellation of a particular tribe, not of a whole people, gradually prevailed; so that the title of Germans, first assumed by the victors in order to excite terror, was afterwards adopted by the nation in general. 25 They have likewise the tradition of a Hercules 26 of their country, whose praises they sing before those of all other heroes as they advance to battle.
3.
The "Dialogue on Orators" treats of the decay of eloquence under the empire. It is in the form of a dialogue, and represents two eminent members of the Roman bar discussing the change for the worse that had taken place in the early education of the Roman youth.
The "Histories" relate the events which transpired in Rome, beginning with the ascession of Galba, in 68, and ending with the reign of Domitian, in 97. Only four books and a fragment of a fifth have been preserved to us. These books contain an account of the brief reigns of Galba, Otho and Vitellius. The portion of the fifth book which has been preserved contains an interesting, though rather biased, account of the character, customs and religion of the Jewish nation viewed from the standpoint of a cultivated citizen of Rome.
The "Annals" contain the history of the empire from the death of Augustus, in 14, to the death of Nero, in 68, and originally consisted of sixteen books. Of these, only nine have come down to us in a state of entire preservation, and of the other seven we have but fragments of three. Out of a period of fifty-four years we have the history of about forty.
The style of Tacitus is, perhaps, noted principally for its conciseness. Tacitean brevity is proverbial, and many of his sentences are so brief, and leave so much for the student to read between the lines, that in order to be understood and appreciated the author must be read over and over again, lest the reader miss the point of some of his most excellent thoughts. Such an author presents grave, if not insuperable, difficulties to the translator, but notwithstanding this fact, the following pages cannot but impress the reader with the genius of Tacitus.
A TREATISE ON THE SITUATION, MANNERS AND INHABITANTS OF GERMANY. 1
1. Germany 2 is separated from Gaul, Rhaetia, 3 and Pannonia, 4 by the rivers Rhine and Danube; from Sarmatia and Dacia, by mountains 5 and mutual dread. The rest is surrounded by an ocean, embracing broad promontories 6 and vast insular tracts, 7 in which our military expeditions have lately discovered various nations and kingdoms. The Rhine, issuing from the inaccessible and precipitous summit of the Rhaetic Alps, 8 bends gently to the west, and falls into the Northern Ocean. The Danube, poured from the easy and gently raised ridge of Mount Abnoba, 9 visits several nations in its course, till at length it bursts out 10 by six channels 11 into the Pontic sea; a seventh is lost in marshes.
2. The people of Germany appear to me indigenous, 12 and free from intermixture with foreigners, either as settlers or casual visitants. For the emigrants of former ages performed their expeditions not by land, but by water; 13 and that immense, and, if I may so call it, hostile ocean, is rarely navigated by ships from our world. 14 Then, besides the danger of a boisterous and unknown sea, who would relinquish Asia, Africa, or Italy, for Germany, a land rude in its surface, rigorous in its climate, cheerless to every beholder and cultivator, except a native? In their ancient songs, 15 which are their only records or annals, they celebrate the god Tuisto, 16 sprung from the earth, and his son Mannus, as the fathers and founders of their race. To Mannus they ascribe three sons, from whose names 17 the people bordering on the ocean are called Ingaevones; those inhabiting the central parts, Herminones; the rest, Istaevones. Some, 18 however, assuming the licence of antiquity, affirm that there were more descendants of the god, from whom more appellations were derived; as those of the Marsi, 19 Gambrivii, 20 Suevi, 21 and Vandali; 22 and that these are the genuine and original names. 23 That of Germany, on the other hand, they assert to be a modern addition; 24 for that the people who first crossed the Rhine, and expelled the Gauls, and are now called Tungri, were then named Germans; which appellation of a particular tribe, not of a whole people, gradually prevailed; so that the title of Germans, first assumed by the victors in order to excite terror, was afterwards adopted by the nation in general. 25 They have likewise the tradition of a Hercules 26 of their country, whose praises they sing before those of all other heroes as they advance to battle.
3.
