When Tacitus
published his Germania around 98, he
intended this work not only as a kind of anthropological and geographical description,
but also as a critique of Roman society. The Germani are depicted as noble savages, who bath summer and winter
in rivers and have high moral standards, well they have anyway high morals
concerning marriage. This in contrast to Roman society, which in the eyes of
Tacitus has completely drifted away from old Roman values.
As for
me, though being a descend of such noble
savages, I definitely prefer more a Roman bathhouse with hot water and a Roman
lady with questionable morals, than swimming in winter with a chaste Germanic woman.
Particularly
interesting is chapter 40, in which a common cult of various tribes in Denmark
is described. They venerate a goddess – a terra
mater - called Nerthus, who resides on an island, but is regularly taken
around in a wagon amongst the tribes. Much ink has been spoiled over this
goddess, as her name can hardly be separated from the Norse sea god Njörd and
so we have a problem with a sea god and a terra
mater, having a common name. I refer to the link below for further details.
Tacitus, De Origine
et Situ Germanorum Liber, caput 40.
Contra
Langobardos paucitas nobilitat: plurimis ac valentissimis nationibus cincti non
per obsequium, sed proeliis ac periclitando tuti sunt. Reudigni deinde et
Aviones et Anglii et Varini et Eudoses et Suardones et Nuithones fluminibus aut
silvis muniuntur. Nec quicquam notabile in singulis, nisi quod in commune
Nerthum, id est Terram matrem, colunt eamque intervenire rebus hominum, invehi
populis arbitrantur. Est in insula Oceani castum nemus, dicatumque in eo
vehiculum, veste contectum; attingere uni sacerdoti concessum. Is adesse
penetrali deam intellegit vectamque bubus feminis multa cum veneratione
prosequitur. Laeti tunc dies, festa loca, quaecumque adventu hospitioque
dignatur. Non bella ineunt, non arma sumunt; clausum omne ferrum; pax et quies
tunc tantum nota, tunc tantum amata, donec idem sacerdos satiatam conversatione
mortalium deam templo reddat. Mox vehiculum et vestes et, si credere velis,
numen ipsum secreto lacu abluitur. Servi ministrant, quos statim idem lacus
haurit. Arcanus hinc terror sanctaque ignorantia, quid sit illud, quod tantum
perituri vident.
contra (adv.): by contrast (In the previous chapter
the tribe of the Semnones is treated, whoe were quite numerous.)
Langobardos paucitas nobilitat: fewness honours the Langobards (In
Latin and Greek we often see that an abstract noun or an emotion is the subject
of a sentence, where in English a passive construction is preferred `The Langobards
are distinguishes by fewness’ or make the noun into an adjective e.g. not `anger
seized him’, but `he became angry’.)
cingo cinxi cinctum: to surround
obsequium: servility
periclitor periclatus sum: to be bold (cf. periculum)
Reudigni deinde et Aviones et Anglii et Varini
et Eudoses et Suardones et Nuithones: all tribes of which Tacitus has nothing to
say. How could he know that the Anglii
would evolve into tea drinking Englishmen with an empire that once by far
exceeded the Roman Empire? The coffee there is awful…
munio munivi munitum: to defend
in singulis: individually (understood subject: these tribes.)
intervenio interveni interventum: to intervene (often constructed
with the dat.)
invehi populis: not `to be carried by people’, but `to go to her people’(by a wagon as is clear
from the following. inveho + dat. is
rare, but it balances rebus humanun.)
castum nemus: a sacred grove
dicatus:
dico (dicare):
to consecrate, dedicate
veste contectum: covered with a cloth
(in) penetrali:
in the inside
bubus feminis: by female cattle (bubus is generally used for the uncontracted form bovibus)
prosequor prosecutus sum: to accompany, follow
festa loca, quaecumque adventu hospitioque
dignatur: places
are festive, whom she considers worthy for her arrival and stay
clausum omne ferrum: every sword is put away (rather than `object
of iron’ as in the translations in the
link to Nerthus.)
tunc tantum...donec: then only ….till
satiatam conversatione mortalium deam:
the goddess, having enough of being amongst morals
si credere velis: an ironical remark by Tacitus
abluo ablui ablutum: to wash
haurio hausi haustum: to swallow
quid sit illud: what this phenomenon is
perituri: those who are to die
Link
with two (obsolete) translations:
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