Darius was elected king by the
neighing
of a horse; sacred white horses were in the army of Cyrus; and Xerxes, retreating after his defeat, was preceded by the sacred horses and consecrated chariot.
Tacitus
Signum in modum liburnae figuration corresponds with the vehiculum there spoken of; the real thing being, according to Ritter's view, a pinnace placed on wheels.
That signum ipsum ("the very symbol") does not mean any image of the goddess, may be gathered also from ch.
xl.
, where the goddess herself, si credere velis, is spoken of as being washed in the sacred lake.
]
66 (return)
[ As the Romans in their ancient coins, many of which are now extant, recorded the arrival of Saturn by the stern of a ship; so other nations have frequently denoted the importation of a foreign religious rite by the figure of a galley on their medals. ]
67 (return)
[ Tacitus elsewhere speaks of temples of German divinities (e. g. 40; Templum Nerthae, Ann. i. 51; Templum Tanfanae); but a consecrated grove, or any other sacred place, was called templum by the Romans. ]
68 (return)
[ The Scythians are mentioned by Herodotus, and the Alans by Ammianus Marcellinus, as making use of these divining rods. The German method of divination with them is illustrated by what is said by Saxo-Grammaticus (Hist. Dan. xiv, 288) of the inhabitants of the Isle of Rugen in the Baltic Sea: "Throwing, by way of lots, three pieces of wood, white in one part, and black in another, into their laps, they foretold good fortune by the coming up of the white; bad by that of the black. "]
69 (return)
[ The same practice obtained among the Persians, from whom the Germans appear to be sprung.
Darius was elected king by the neighing of a horse; sacred white horses were in the army of Cyrus; and Xerxes, retreating after his defeat, was preceded by the sacred horses and consecrated chariot. Justin (i. 10) mentions the cause of this superstition, viz. that "the Persians believed the Sun to be the only God, and horses to be peculiarly consecrated to him. " The priest of the Isle of Rugen also took auspices from a white horse, as may be seen in Saxo-Grammaticus. ]
70 (return)
[ Montesquieu finds in this custom the origin of the duel, and of knight-errantry. ]
71 (return)
[ This remarkable passage, so curious in political history, is commented on by Montesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws. vi 11. That celebrated author expresses his surprise at the existence of such a balance between liberty and authority in the forests of Germany; and traces the origin of the English constitution from this source. Tacitus again mentions the German form of government in his Annals, iv. 33. ]
72 (return)
[ The high antiquity of this made of reckoning appears from the Book of Genesis. "The evening and the morning were the first day. " The Gauls, we are informed by Caesar, "assert that, according to the tradition of their Druids, they are all sprung from Father Dis; on which account they reckon every period of time according to the number of nights, not of days; and observe birthdays and the beginnings of months and years in such a manner, that the day seems to follow the night. " (Bell. Gall.
66 (return)
[ As the Romans in their ancient coins, many of which are now extant, recorded the arrival of Saturn by the stern of a ship; so other nations have frequently denoted the importation of a foreign religious rite by the figure of a galley on their medals. ]
67 (return)
[ Tacitus elsewhere speaks of temples of German divinities (e. g. 40; Templum Nerthae, Ann. i. 51; Templum Tanfanae); but a consecrated grove, or any other sacred place, was called templum by the Romans. ]
68 (return)
[ The Scythians are mentioned by Herodotus, and the Alans by Ammianus Marcellinus, as making use of these divining rods. The German method of divination with them is illustrated by what is said by Saxo-Grammaticus (Hist. Dan. xiv, 288) of the inhabitants of the Isle of Rugen in the Baltic Sea: "Throwing, by way of lots, three pieces of wood, white in one part, and black in another, into their laps, they foretold good fortune by the coming up of the white; bad by that of the black. "]
69 (return)
[ The same practice obtained among the Persians, from whom the Germans appear to be sprung.
Darius was elected king by the neighing of a horse; sacred white horses were in the army of Cyrus; and Xerxes, retreating after his defeat, was preceded by the sacred horses and consecrated chariot. Justin (i. 10) mentions the cause of this superstition, viz. that "the Persians believed the Sun to be the only God, and horses to be peculiarly consecrated to him. " The priest of the Isle of Rugen also took auspices from a white horse, as may be seen in Saxo-Grammaticus. ]
70 (return)
[ Montesquieu finds in this custom the origin of the duel, and of knight-errantry. ]
71 (return)
[ This remarkable passage, so curious in political history, is commented on by Montesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws. vi 11. That celebrated author expresses his surprise at the existence of such a balance between liberty and authority in the forests of Germany; and traces the origin of the English constitution from this source. Tacitus again mentions the German form of government in his Annals, iv. 33. ]
72 (return)
[ The high antiquity of this made of reckoning appears from the Book of Genesis. "The evening and the morning were the first day. " The Gauls, we are informed by Caesar, "assert that, according to the tradition of their Druids, they are all sprung from Father Dis; on which account they reckon every period of time according to the number of nights, not of days; and observe birthdays and the beginnings of months and years in such a manner, that the day seems to follow the night. " (Bell. Gall.
