Tacitus, Germania 24 -25: of games and slaves.

 Recently I bought a reprint of Jacob’s Grimm Deutsche Mythology (Teutonic Mythology, 4^th edition 1875), a pioneering work and a milestone in the scholarship of Germanic religion and customs. The foremost early source about Germanic tribes is Tacitus’ Germania, but this work is not without its problems when taken as an ethnographical description. I think Grimm was more aware of this than some later scholars, but it is almost all we have. The following two chapters – 24 and 25 - are about games and servitude, neatly connected by the voluntary servitude of those who lost a game of dice, but this is likely to have been an exception rather than common practice.  Chapter 24 starts with sword dancing of young men and I can’t help thinking of Khachaturian’s Sabre Dance. The conditions described in c.25 are almost applicable to feudalism during the Middle-Ages in Western-Europe.

 Tacitus, Germania:

 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 adligari 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.

 pectaculum: show, spectacle

coetus (= coitus), -us (m.): gathering, meeting

quibus id ludicrum est: for whom this is a game (thus unlike gladiators, who were often forced to fight in the arena)

infestas frameas: threatening spears

se saltu iaceo: to jump/leap

exercitio…artem… decorum: exercise…skill…gracefulness

quaestus –us (m.): profit, gain

merces mercedis (f.): reward

quamvis audacis: though daring/dangerous

lascivia: playfulness

alea: (game of) dice (at Rome dicing though formally forbidden, was tolerated)

quod mirere (= mireris): what will surprise you

sobrius: sober, not drunken (unlike the Romans, who played dice often after dinner)

inter seria: amongst their serious occupations (note that dicing also plays an important role in the Indian epos Mahabharata and at an earlier period in groups of young man, the vratyas, who were send outside society before being integrated as full men)

tanta lucrandi perdendive temeritate: with such a recklessness for winning or losing

deficio defeci defectum: to lose

extremo ac novissimo iactu: with the last and final throw

quamvis iuvenior, quamvis robustior: i.e. a younger and stronger man would have won in a physical fight for freedom

adligari se ac venire: to be bound and sold (venire from veneo – venii `to be sold’)

pravus: crooked, distorted

pervicacia: stubbornness

fidem: keeping one’s word (Tacitus disproves of such stubbornness, but there is also another element: only Romans can have true fides: the fides of barbarians is folly))

condicionis huius: of this sort (i.e. won by gambling)

ut se quoque pudore victoriae exsolvant: to release them also from the shame of their victory (maybe the term pudor reflects more Tacitus’ moral attitude towards this practise than that of the German tribes. As for selling such slaves: Rudolf Much (1937 ) thought this was unlikely, as the kinsmen (Sippe) of such a slave would not allow him to be sold abroad. Anderson (1938) suggested that they were sold in other to prevent troubles with the kinsmen of the enslaved man)

 [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 exsequuntur. 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.

 eteris servis: slaves consisted of people taken prison in war from other tribes

descriptis per familiam ministeriis: with their duties well-defined for a household

penates: family gods  and so `household’

frumentum: grain

modum: measurement

pecus pecoris (n.): cattle

vestis –is (f.): clothing

ut colono: as (a Roman landlord does from his) tenant (colonus)

iniungo – inunxi –iniunctum (-ere): to impose

hactenus: to this extent

cetera domus official: the further duties of the house (of the master)

verbero (-are): to whip, beat

vinculis et opere coercere: to punish (force) with chains and hard labour (which with not unusual by the Romans, especially forced working in mines was a harsh punishment)

non disciplina et severitate = non disciplinae severitate (hedyadis) : not for (keeping up)  the strictness of discipline (all the slaves of a household could be executed for a severe crime, such as the murder of a master)

impetu et ira = impetu irae: in an impulse of anger

ut inimicum: as if it were an enemy

nisi quod impune est: except that their deed remains unpunished (a slave-owner could do with his slaves what he wanted, but when he killed the slave of another, he had to pay wergild, i.e. an amount of money to the owner of the slave killed)

liberti: freedman still depended on their former masters for protection

raro aliquod momentum (sunt): seldom something important (monumentum; weight in a scale. In Rome freedman could gain high positions and even become very rich, cf. the Cena Trimalchionis by Petronius)

dumtaxat: only

regnantur: some Germanic tribes had kings, especially those in Eastern Germania and Scandinavia

ingenuus: freeborn

apud ceteros (populous) impares libertini libertatis argumentum sunt: amongst the other (tribes) the inferior freedman (= the inferior position of freedmen) are proof of (their,  i.e. the higher ranking people) liberty. (For the aristocrat Tacitus, the fact that freedmen could gain high positions was a gruelling thought and what he does here is applying Roman terminology to Germanic social conditions as a mirror for his Roman readers: true freedom doesn’t depend on freedmen!)

Translation by Edward Brooks (1897)

 24. They have only one kind of public spectacle, which is exhibited in every company. Young men, who make it their diversion, dance naked amidst drawn swords and presented spears. Practice has conferred skill at this exercise; and skill has given grace; but they do not exhibit for hire or gain: the only reward of this pastime, though a hazardous one, is the pleasure of the spectators. What is extraordinary, they play at dice, when sober, as a serious business: and that with such a desperate venture of gain or loss, that, when everything else is gone, they set their liberties and persons on the last throw. The loser goes into voluntary servitude; and, though the youngest and strongest, patiently suffers himself to be bound and sold.  Such is their obstinacy in a bad practice—they themselves call it honor. The slaves thus acquired are exchanged away in commerce, that the winner may get rid of the scandal of his victory.

 5. The rest of their slaves have not, like ours, particular employments in the family allotted them. Each is the master of a habitation and household of his own. The lord requires from him a certain quantity of grain, cattle, or cloth, as from a tenant; and so far only the subjection of the slave extends. His domestic offices are performed by his own wife and children. It is usual to scourge a slave, or punish him with chains or hard labor. They are sometimes killed by their masters; not through severity of chastisement, but in the heat of passion, like an enemy; with this difference, that it is done with impunity. Freedmen are little superior to slaves; seldom filling any important office in the family; never in the state, except in those tribes which are under regal government. There, they rise above the free-born, and even the nobles: in the rest, the subordinate condition of the freedmen is a proof of freedom.

Sabre Dance - Aram Khachaturian.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqg3l3r_DRI

Tacitus, Annales iv, 45: murder.

Tacitus is an author still worth reading for his vividness of language and eye for details. In this chapter he describes the murder on Lucius Piso, a praetor in Spain. He investigated fraud amongst the Termistine tribe. Little is known about this tribe, but their capital was the city of Termes, near Numantia.  The fraud was the disappearance of tax revenues - revenues under Roman control. My guess is that rather having these revenues send to Rome or spend on Roman prestige projects, the Termistines wanted to have it for their own purposes. From a Roman perspective, Tacitus of course sees this as an act of rebellion and the murder as a terrible crime.  

Tacitus, Annales, iv, 45

[45] Isdem consulibus facinus atrox in citeriore Hispania admissum a quodam agresti nationis Termestinae. is praetorem provinciae L. Pisonem, pace incuriosum, ex improviso in itinere adortus uno vulnere in mortem adfecit; ac pernicitate equi profugus, postquam saltuosos locos attigerat, dimisso equo per derupta et avia sequentis frustratus est. neque diu fefellit: nam prenso ductoque per proximos pagos equo cuius foret cognitum. et repertus cum tormentis edere conscios adigeretur, voce magna sermone patrio frustra se interrogari clamitavit: adsisterent socii ac spectarent; nullam vim tantam doloris fore ut veritatem eliceret. idemque cum postero ad quaestionem retraheretur, eo nisu proripuit se custodibus saxoque caput adflixit ut statim exanimaretur. sed Piso Termestinorum dolo caesus habetur; quippe pecunias e publico interceptas acrius quam ut tolerarent barbari cogebat.

Isdem consulibus: under the same consuls, i.e. Lentulus Gaetulicus and C. Calvinus in 26 AD

facinus admitto: to commit a crime

citer citra citrum: at this side (citeriore Hispania: seen from Rome, so the east)

agrestis –is (m,): peasant

praetor: in the provinces of Rome, a praetor was a governor,

incuriosus: careless

ex improviso: unexpectedly

adorior adortus: to attack

in mortem adficio: to kill

pernicitas –atis (f.): swiftness

saltuosus: covered with woods

attingo attigi attactum: to reach

per derupta et avia: by precipices and wildernesses

frustror frustratus: to elude, deceive (sequentis = sequentes)

fallo fefelli falsum: to deceive

prenso (prehenso) (-are): to grasp, seize

pagus: district

cuius foret cognitum = cognitum (erat) cuius foret: it was found out of whom (it) was.

reperio repperi repertum: to find, discover

edo edidi editum: to disclose

conscius: partaker, accomplice

adigo adegi adactum: to compel

sermone patrio: in his own language (probably Celtiberian)

frustra: in vain

clamito: frequentative of clamo `he kept screaming’

adisterent socii et spectarent: irrealis

elicio elicui (-ere): elicit, bring out

postero die

questio –onis (f.): interrogation

eo nisu…ut: with such an effort…that

proripio proripui proreptum: to rush out (but here also the meaning eripio `to break out’)

saxoque caput adflixit: and dashed his head to a stone

exanimor: to die

Piso  caesus  habetur: Piso is thought to be killed

pecunias a publico ereptas: money embezzled from the public purse

quippe: because

acrius: more zealously

cogebat: tried to collect

Translation by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1876, note that the translation is not always accurate.)

While the same consuls were in office, an atrocious crime was committed in Nearer Spain by a peasant of the Termestine tribe. Suddenly attacking the prætor of the province, Lucius Piso, as he was travelling in all the carelessness of peace, he killed him with a single wound. He then fled on a swift horse, and reached a wooded country, where he parted with his steed and eluded pursuit amid rocky and pathless wilds. But he was soon discovered. The horse was caught and led through the neighbouring villages, and its owner ascertained. Being found and put to the torture that he might be forced to reveal his accomplices, he exclaimed in a loud voice, in the language of his country, that it was in vain to question him; his comrades might stand by and look on, but that the most intense agony would not wring the truth from him. Next day, when he was dragged back to torture, he broke loose from his guards and dashed his head against a stone with such violence that he instantly fell dead. It was however believed that Piso was treacherously murdered by the Termestini. Some public money had been embezzled, and he was pressing for its payment too rigorously for the patience of barbarians.

Tacitus, Germania, c. 2: where the Germanic tribes come from and how they got their name.

Were it not for Tacitus, our knowledge of Germanic mythology would have been limited to most fairly late mediaeval sources, like the prose – and poetic Edda. Not that Tacitus goes much into detail, but what he gives is of significant interest as we glimpses of myths unattested in later sources.

In the first part of chapter 2, Tacitus states that he believes that the Germanic people are indigenous No wonder, as no other people wants to live there! Of course Tacitus is wrong: they result from a mixture of tribes speaking an Indo-European language and original inhabitants. This process must have taken place from Southern Sweden from 500 BC onwards, when proto-Germanic tribes migrated to the European continent and mixed with people speaking an unknown language. Given the fairly high number of words without cognates in other Indo-European languages, the conclusion must be that these words derive from that unknown substrate language. Isn’t that fascinating?

In the second part Tacitus mentions a myth about the origin of men:  Tuisto had a son, Mannus, who is the father of three Germanic tribes covering the whole Germanic area. This myth has not survived in Old Norse sources, but a parallel myth is known from the Rigveda:  Manu is the first mortal and father of mankind. Tuisto has at first sight no parallel in the Rigveda, but there is the god Yama, ruler of the dead and brother of Manu. His name means `double’, so the same is Tuisto. In later Norse mythology we find the giant Ymir, out of whom the world is created, exactly as in the Purusha hymn Rigveda x.90. There is no exact correspondence, but it is clear that both the Germanic and the Vedic myths must have a common source. 

I can’t go into many details and will leave questions about Germanic tribes aside. Scholarly commentaries tend to run into pages for every chapter of the Germania and though highly interesting,  I don’t feel inclined to translate and take over the 25 pages Rudolph Much has spent on chapter 2 in his Die Germania des Tacitus (1967), however intersting. It goes without saying that with such a difficult text, I have made use of the commentaries by Furneaux, Much and Anderson.

Tacitus Germania c.2

[2] Ipsos Germanos indigenas crediderim minimeque aliarum gentium adventibus et hospitiis mixtos, quia nec terra olim, sed classibus advehebantur qui mutare sedes quaerebant, et inmensus ultra utque sic dixerim adversus Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur. Quis porro, praeter periculum horridi et ignoti maris, Asia aut Africa aut Italia relicta Germaniam peteret, informem terris, asperam caelo, tristem cultu adspectuque, nisi si patria sit?

Celebrant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est, Tuistonem deum terra editum. Ei filium Mannum, originem gentis conditoremque, Manno tris filios adsignant, e quorum nominibus proximi Oceano Ingaevones, medii Herminones, ceteri Istaevones vocentur. Quidam, ut in licentia vetustatis, pluris deo ortos plurisque gentis appellationes, Marsos Gambrivios Suebos Vandilios adfirmant, eaque vera et antiqua nomina. Ceterum Germaniae vocabulum recens et nuper additum, quoniam qui primi Rhenum transgressi Gallos expulerint ac nunc Tungri, tunc Germani vocati sint: ita nationis nomen, non gentis evaluisse paulatim, ut omnes primum a victore ob metum, mox etiam a se ipsis, invento nomine Germani vocarentur.

indigena – ae:  a native,  autochthonous  

terra: abl!

classibus advehebantur: Tacitus must have had colonization of various places around the Mediterranean and The Black Sea undertaken by Greek city states in mind and of course the journey of Aeneas.

mutare sedes: migrate

inmensus ultra utque sic dixerim adversus Oceanus raris ab orbe nostro navibus aditur: and the immense Ocean beyond, and so to say contrary, is but rarely entered by ships from our world.

(adversus is problematic and the translation `hostile’ is by some adopted)

porro: moreover, further

peteret:  who would have left

informem terries: rough in landscapes (terris and caelo are ablatives of description. cultu and adspectu are mostly taken as supines: awful to inhabit and to behold.)

unum memoriae et annalium genus est: the only kind of tradition and history. Writing in their vernacular languages was unknown to the Germanic tribes and it was not until bishop Wulfila (ca 311-382) translated major parts of the Bible in the Gothic, that anything  substantial was written in a Germanic language.

Mannus: the same word as English `man’

editum terra: born from the earth

Ingaevones, medii Herminones, ceteri Istaevones: that is the near the ocean, in the middle of Germania and along the Rhine

originem gentis conditoremque: (hendiadys) `forefather of the people’  (some editions have conditoresque, taking Tuisto and Mannus together as forefathers)

quidam:  now lost Roman sources?  Germanic speakers providing information? Probably the first. The remainder of  c.2 is depending on quidam…adfirmant

ut in licentia vetustatis (fit): as happens within the margins allowed by antiquity

pluris deo ortos plurisque gentis appellationes: that more (pluris = plures) (sons) are borne from god and more names of a tribe. (What follows is an asyndetic  enumeration)

ceterum: to the contrary

Germaniae vocabulum: the name `Germania’

ac nunc Tungri, tunc Germani vocati sint:  this belongs to the most disputed passages in Latin literature. Clear is that from the tribal name Germani the whole area with Germanic tribes has been designated. The etymology of the name Germani is unclear, but probably not Celtic, as has been suggested by some. Roman folk etymology readily derived it from Latin germanus `brother’, but this is of course of no great help.  I am of Germanic stock, but have no clue what that name means. Let’s hope that germani doesn’t mean `ass-holes’…

ita nationis nomen, non gentis evaluisse paulatim:  thus what has been a tribal, not national  name,  prevailed gradually (Furneaux)

ut omnes primum a victore ob metum, mox etiam a se ipsis, invento nomine Germani vocarentur:  so that all were initially called germani after the victor because of  fear (the fear they inspired), soon however they were called by themselves  with this recently acquired name.

(But the sentence is difficult and the exact meaning is disputed. Tacitus is wrong in asserting that they called themselves Germani: they did only so when in Roman service.)

   

Translation by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb , 1876.

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, or 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 Ingævones; those of the interior, Herminones; all the rest, Istævones. 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, Vandilii, and that these are genuine 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.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_substrate_hypothesis

Tacitius, Germania 4 and 5: the simple-minded Germani.

The Germania by Tacitus is one of the most studied and commented texts from the whole corpus of classical literature. The reason is that this booklet gives details about the Germanic tribes which otherwise would have been unknown to us.  Tacitus is however not an objective anthropologist – if that can be possible – but a man with a mission: the Germanic tribes are set as an example for the in his eyes luxurious and sexually indulgent Roman upper-class. Long before the idea of the `noble savage’ arose, Tacitus had put this concept into practice.

When in the 19^th century the idea of one German state spread through the various German kingdoms and city-states, the Germania was seen as a paradigm for true Germanic virtues and indeed an unbroken chain of history was seen between some passages in the Germania and social circumstances and practices at then current rural areas of Germany. The ideological intention of Tacitus was overlooked by most classical scholars and his statements were taken at face value, for instance that the Germanic tribes were a `pure’ race. Tacitus was an armchair anthropologist who never visited the people he writes about and his information is based on earlier writers and possibly reports from traders and officers who had first-hand experience.

In chapter 4 Tacitus describes the physical appearance of the Germanic tribes and notices that it generally the same due to the fact that they don’t marry candidates from other tribes. Though Tacitus does not explicitly say so, this was contrasting with the Roman Empire, which was very much multicultural.

In chapter 5 he describes the hard landscape and the living conditions: the inhabitants of Germania were indifferent to wealth and were quite happy with their life on the edge of subsistence. This again unlike the spoiled Romans.

A few centuries later Germanic tribes overran the Roman Empire, eager for the luxuries it had to offer. Would Tacitus have been disappointed in his noble savages?

Tacitus, Germania 4, 5.

[4] Ipse eorum opinionibus accedo, qui Germaniae populos nullis [aliis] aliarum nationum conubiis infectos propriam et sinceram et tantum sui similem gentem exstitisse arbitrantur. Unde habitus quoque corporum, tamquam in tanto hominum numero, idem omnibus: truces et caerulei oculi, rutilae comae, magna corpora et tantum ad impetum valida: laboris atque operum non eadem patientia, minimeque sitim aestumque tolerare, frigora atque inediam caelo solove adsueverunt.

aliis: probably an insertion and not part of the original text

conubium: marriage

infectus: unmixed

sincerus: pure

opinionibus accedo: I arrive at the opinion (opinionibus, because of the various authors, though they expressed the same opinion)

qui arbitrantur populos exstitisse and then in apposition (as) gentem etc,

habitus corporum: physical features

tamquam in tanto hominum numero: as far as this is possible regarding the amount of people

trux trucis: fierce, wild

caeruleus: bleu

rutilus: red (In order to impress their enemies, Germanic tribes painted their hair and bodies, like the Gauls did. Actually no much distinction was made by Roman authors between Celts and Germans.)

impetus: i.e. a sudden but short outburst of strength. The Germanic tribes lacked the training and organization of the Roman army.

patientia:  endurance

inedia: lack of food 

caelo solove adsueverunt: i.e. either through bad weather or poor soil.

[5] Terra etsi aliquanto specie differt, in universum tamen aut silvis horrida aut paludibus foeda, umidior qua Gallias, ventosior qua Noricum ac Pannoniam adspicit; satis ferax, frugiferarum arborum inpatiens, pecorum fecunda, sed plerumque improcera. Ne armentis quidem suus honor aut gloria frontis: numero gaudent, eaeque solae et gratissimae opes sunt. Argentum et aurum propitiine an irati di negaverint dubito. Nec tamen adfirmaverim nullam Germaniae venam argentum aurumve gignere: quis enim scrutatus est? Possessione et usu haud perinde adficiuntur. Est videre apud illos argentea vasa, legatis et principibus eorum muneri data, non in alia vilitate quam quae humo finguntur; quamquam proximi ob usum commerciorum aurum et argentum in pretio habent formasque quasdam nostrae pecuniae adgnoscunt atque eligunt. Interiores simplicius et antiquius permutatione mercium utuntur. Pecuniam probant veterem et diu notam, serratos bigatosque. Argentum quoque magis quam aurum sequuntur, nulla adfectione animi, sed quia numerus argenteorum facilior usui est promiscua ac vilia mercantibus.

aliquanto specie: to some extent in appearance

horridus: rough

palus paludis (f.): swamp

foedus: filthy, loathsome

qua.. adspicit: where it looks to.. it is…

Noricum ac Pannoniam: Bavaria and Austria

satis ferax: abounding in corn (sata, cf. English `seed’, from a common root *sēdi-)

inpatiens (+ gen.): unsuitable for

pecorum:  swine, goats, sheep

improcerus: undersized  (i.e. pecora improcera sunt.)

armentum: cattle

frons frontis (f.): forehead (gloria frontis contrary to the wild and much larger aurochs and Roman cattle)

ops opis (f.): riches, wealth (cattle was a status symbol and used for bartering)

propitiine an irati: either out of kindness or of anger

venam argentum aurumve gignere: It was not until the early middle ages that some mining of precious metals started.

haud perinde: not as much (as one might expect)

est videre: graecism

legatis et principibus eorum muneri data: those vessels were probably given by Romans in exchange for some favour to Germanic delegates and chieftains, who in their turn gave these away.

non in alia vilitate quam quae humo finguntur: the statement that precious vessels are held in the same esteem as those made of clay is rather unbelievable. Actually, archaeology tells a different story.

proximi: those living near the Roman border

ob usum commerciorum: for the use in (regular) trade

in pretio habeo: to value

eligunt: prefer it for trade

permutatio –onis (f.): barter

pecuniam veterem et diu notam: like even nowadays some people don’t trust new banknotes!

serratos bigatosque: silver denarii with notched edges and stamped with a two-horse chariot (of Victoria and Diana),

nulla adfectione animi: not because of a special preference

promiscua ac vilia mercantibus: for those trading in common and cheap commodities

Translation by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb (1876)     

For my own part, I agree with those who think that the tribes of Germany are free from all taint of inter-marriages 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.

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 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.