Tacitus: Germania

[1] Germania omnis a Gallis Raetisque et Pannoniis Rheno et Danuvio fluminibus, a Sarmatis Dacisque mutuo metu aut montibus separatur: cetera Oceanus ambit, latos sinus et insularum inmensa spatia complectens, nuper cognitis quibusdam gentibus ac regibus, quos bellum aperuit. Rhenus, Raeticarum Alpium inaccesso ac praecipiti vertice ortus, modico flexu in occidentem versus septentrionali Oceano miscetur. Danuvius molli et clementer edito montis Abnobae iugo effusus pluris populos adit, donec in Ponticum mare sex meatibus erumpat: septimum os paludibus hauritur.

[1] All Germania is separated from the Gauls, the Rhaetians, and the Pannonians by the Rhine and Danube rivers; from the Sarmatians and Dacians by mutual fear or by mountains: the rest the Ocean encircles, embracing broad gulfs and the immense spaces of islands, with certain nations and kings lately known, whom war laid open. The Rhine, rising from an inaccessible and precipitous summit of the Rhaetian Alps, with a moderate bend turned to the west, is mingled with the Northern Ocean. The Danube, poured out from the gentle and mildly elevated ridge of Mount Abnoba, approaches several peoples, until it bursts into the Pontic Sea by six channels: a seventh mouth is drained into marshes.

[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?

[2] I should believe the Germans themselves to be indigenous, and least of all mixed with the arrivals and hospitalities of other nations; for in former times those who sought to change their seats were conveyed not by land but by fleets, and the Ocean, immense beyond and, so to speak, adverse, is approached by ships from our world but rarely. Who, moreover, besides the danger of a rough and unknown sea, would, leaving Asia or Africa or Italy, make for Germany—unshapely in its lands, harsh in climate, grim in cultivation and aspect—unless it be one’s fatherland?

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.

They celebrate in ancient songs, which among them is the sole kind of memory and annals, Tuisto, a god born of the earth. To him they assign a son, Mannus, the origin and founder of the race; to Mannus they assign three sons, from whose names those nearest the Ocean are called the Ingaevones, the middle the Herminones, the rest the Istaevones. Certain persons, as in the license of antiquity, affirm that more were sprung from the god and more appellations of the race—the Marsi, Gambrivii, Suebi, Vandilii—and that these are true and ancient names.

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.

Moreover, the vocable “Germania” is recent and newly added, since those who first crossed the Rhine and expelled the Gauls, and who are now called the Tungri, were then called “Germani”: thus the name of a nation, not of a gens, gained ground gradually, so that all were called “Germani,” at first by the victor on account of fear, soon even by themselves, once the name had been invented.

[3] Fuisse apud eos et Herculem memorant, primumque omnium virorum fortium ituri in proelia canunt. Sunt illis haec quoque carmina, quorum relatu, quem barditum vocant, accendunt animos futuraeque pugnae fortunam ipso cantu augurantur. Terrent enim trepidantve, prout sonuit acies, nec tam vocis ille quam virtutis concentus videtur.

[3] They recount that Hercules too has been among them, and, when they are about to go into battles, they sing of him as the foremost of all brave men. They have also these songs, at the recital of which—what they call the barditum—they kindle their spirits, and by the chant itself they augur the fortune of the coming fight. For they frighten or else tremble, according as the battle-line has sounded; and that seems a concert not so much of voice as of virtue (valor).

Adfectatur praecipue asperitas soni et fractum murmur, obiectis ad os scutis, quo plenior et gravior vox repercussu intumescat. Ceterum et Ulixen quidam opinantur longo illo et fabuloso errore in hunc Oceanum delatum adisse Germaniae terras, Asciburgiumque, quod in ripa Rheni situm hodieque incolitur, ab illo constitutum nominatumque; aram quin etiam Ulixi consecratam, adiecto Laertae patris nomine, eodem loco olim repertam, monumentaque et tumulos quosdam Graecis litteris inscriptos in confinio Germaniae Raetiaeque adhuc exstare. Quae neque confirmare argumentis neque refellere in animo est: ex ingenio suo quisque demat vel addat fidem.

They especially aim at a harshness of sound and a broken murmur, with shields held up before the face, so that the voice, by the repercussion, may swell fuller and weightier. Moreover, some even suppose that Ulysses, carried by that long and fabulous wandering into this Ocean, came to the lands of Germany, and that Asciburgium, which is situated on the bank of the Rhine and is inhabited even today, was established and named by him; indeed that an altar consecrated to Ulysses, with the name of his father Laertes added, was once found in that same place, and that monuments and certain burial-mounds inscribed with Greek letters still exist on the border of Germany and Raetia. Which I intend neither to confirm by arguments nor to refute: let each, according to his own disposition, subtract or add credence.

[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.

[4] I myself incline to the opinions of those who think that the peoples of Germany, tainted by no intermarriages with other nations, have existed as a race proper and sincere and only like unto itself. Whence also the habitus of their bodies—so far as, in so great a multitude of men, it can be so—are the same for all: fierce and blue(-gray) eyes, reddish-blond hair, large bodies and strong only for the onset; they do not have the same endurance of labor and works, and least of all can they tolerate thirst and heat; to cold and to fasting they have been accustomed by climate or 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.

[5] The land, although it differs somewhat in appearance, yet on the whole is either bristling with forests or foul with marshes, wetter where it looks toward Gaul, windier where it looks toward Noricum and Pannonia; sufficiently fertile, intolerant of fruit-bearing trees, fruitful in herds, but for the most part undersized. Not even for the cattle is there their proper honor or the glory of the brow: they delight in number, and these alone are the most welcome riches. Whether the gods, propitious or angry, have denied silver and gold to them, I am in doubt.

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.

Nor yet would I affirm that no vein in Germany generates silver or gold: for who has scrutinized it? They are not so affected by possession and use. It is possible to see among them silver vessels, given as a gift to their envoys and princes, held in no other cheapness than those which are fashioned from earth; although the nearest peoples, on account of the use of commerce, hold gold and silver in price, and they recognize and choose certain forms of our coinage.

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.

Those more inland make use of the permutation of wares more simply and more anciently. They approve money that is old and long known, the serrati and the bigati. They also follow silver rather than gold, with no affection of mind, but because the number of silver pieces is easier for use to merchants of miscellaneous and cheap wares.

[6] Ne ferrum quidem superest, sicut ex genere telorum colligitur. Rari gladiis aut maioribus lanceis utuntur: hastas vel ipsorum vocabulo frameas gerunt angusto et brevi ferro, sed ita acri et ad usum habili, ut eodem telo, prout ratio poscit, vel comminus vel eminus pugnent. Et eques quidem scuto frameaque contentus est; pedites et missilia spargunt, pluraque singuli, atque in inmensum vibrant, nudi aut sagulo leves.

[6] Not even iron is abundant, as is inferred from the kind of weapons. Few use swords or larger lances: they carry spears, or by their own term frameae, with the iron narrow and short, yet so sharp and handy for use that with the same weapon, as reason demands, they fight either at close quarters or from afar. And indeed the horseman is content with a shield and framea; the foot-soldiers also scatter missiles, several apiece, and hurl them to an immense distance, bare or light with a little cloak.

Nulla cultus iactatio; scuta tantum lectissimis coloribus distinguunt. Paucis loricae, vix uni alterive cassis aut galea. Equi non forma, non velocitate conspicui.

No ostentation of adornment; they distinguish their shields only with the choicest colors. Few have cuirasses, and scarcely one or another a casque or a helm. Their horses are conspicuous neither for form nor for speed.

Sed nec variare gyros in morem nostrum docentur: in rectum aut uno flexu dextros agunt, ita coniuncto orbe, ut nemo posterior sit. In universum aestimanti plus penes peditem roboris; eoque mixti proeliantur, apta et congruente ad equestrem pugnam velocitate peditum, quos ex omni iuventute delectos ante aciem locant. Definitur et numerus; centeni ex singulis pagis sunt, idque ipsum inter suos vocantur, et quod primo numerus fuit, iam nomen et honor est.

Sed neither are they taught to vary their circles in our fashion: they drive straight, or with a single right‑hand turn, with the ring so closed that no one is in the rear. To one judging in general, more of the strength lies with the infantry; and therefore they fight intermixed, with a velocity of the foot-soldiers suited and congruent to equestrian combat, whom, chosen from all the youth, they place before the battle‑line. The number, too, is defined: a hundred are from each pagus (district), and by that very term they are called among their own; and what at first was a number is now a name and an honor.

Acies per cuneos componitur. Cedere loco, dummodo rursus instes, consilii quam formidinis arbitrantur. Corpora suorum etiam in dubiis proeliis referunt.

The battle-line is set up in wedges. To give ground, provided you press again, they reckon to be a matter of counsel rather than of fear. They carry back the bodies of their own even in doubtful battles.

Scutum reliquisse praecipuum flagitium, nec aut sacris adesse aut concilium inire ignominioso fas; multique superstites bellorum infamiam laqueo finierunt.

To have abandoned the shield is the chief disgrace; nor is it lawful for an ignominious man either to be present at the sacred rites or to enter the council; and many survivors of wars have ended their infamy by the noose.

[7] Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute sumunt. Nec regibus infinita aut libera potestas, et duces exemplo potius quam imperio, si prompti, si conspicui, si ante aciem agant, admiratione praesunt. Ceterum neque animadvertere neque vincire, ne verberare quidem nisi sacerdotibus permissum, non quasi in poenam nec ducis iussu, sed velut deo imperante, quem adesse bellantibus credunt.

[7] They take kings from nobility, leaders from virtue. Nor is power either infinite or unrestrained for kings, and leaders command more by example than by authority: if they are prompt, if conspicuous, if they act before the battle line, they preside by admiration. Moreover, neither to punish nor to bind—nay, not even to scourge—is permitted except to the priests, not as if for a penalty nor by the leader’s order, but as though by a god commanding, whom they believe to be present to those waging war.

Effigiesque et signa quaedam detracta lucis in proelium ferunt; quodque praecipuum fortitudinis incitamentum est, non casus, nec fortuita conglobatio turmam aut cuneum facit, sed familiae et propinquitates; et in proximo pignora, unde feminarum ululatus audiri, unde vagitus infantium. Hi cuique sanctissimi testes, hi maximi laudatores. Ad matres, ad coniuges vulnera ferunt; nec illae numerare aut exigere plagas pavent, cibosque et hortamina pugnantibus gestant.

They carry effigies and certain signs, taken down from the groves, into battle; and what is the chief incitement of fortitude is this: not chance, nor a fortuitous conglobation, makes a troop or a wedge, but families and kinships; and there are pledges close at hand, whence the ululation of women is heard, whence the wailing of infants. These are for each man the most sacred witnesses, these the greatest praisers. To their mothers, to their wives they bring their wounds; nor do those women fear to count or to examine the gashes, and they carry foods and encouragements to the combatants.

[8] Memoriae proditur quasdam acies inclinatas iam et labantes a feminis restitutas constantia precum et obiectu pectorum et monstrata comminus captivitate, quam longe inpatientius feminarum suarum nomine timent, adeo ut efficacius obligentur animi civitatum, quibus inter obsides puellae quoque nobiles imperantur. Inesse quin etiam sanctum aliquid et providum putant, nec aut consilia earum aspernantur aut responsa neglegunt. Vidimus sub divo Vespasiano Veledam diu apud plerosque numinis loco habitam; sed et olim Albrunam et compluris alias venerati sunt, non adulatione nec tamquam facerent deas.

[8] It is handed down to memory that certain battle-lines, already yielding and tottering, were restored by women, by the constancy of their prayers, by the exposing of their breasts, and by pointing out, at close quarters, the captivity which they dread far more intolerably in the name of their women; so much so that the spirits of the states are more effectively bound, for whom among the hostages noble maidens also are imposed. Moreover, they think that there is something sacred and provident in them, nor do they spurn their counsels or neglect their responses. We saw, under the deified Vespasian, Veleda long held among very many in the place of a divinity; but formerly too they venerated Albruna and several others, not out of adulation nor as though they were making them goddesses.

[9] Deorum maxime Mercurium colunt, cui certis diebus humanis quoque hostiis litare fas habent. Herculem et Martem concessis animalibus placant. Pars Sueborum et Isidi sacrificat: unde causa et origo peregrino sacro, parum comperi, nisi quod signum ipsum in modum liburnae figuratum docet advectam religionem.

[9] They venerate the gods, above all Mercury, to whom on certain days they hold it lawful to make offerings even with human victims. Hercules and Mars they appease with permitted animals. A part of the Suebi also sacrifices to Isis: whence the cause and origin of a foreign rite, I have learned little, except that the emblem itself, fashioned in the manner of a Liburnian galley, shows that the religion was brought in.

Ceterum nec cohibere parietibus deos neque in ullam humani oris speciem adsimulare ex magnitudine caelestium arbitrantur: lucos ac nemora consecrant deorumque nominibus appellant secretum illud, quod sola reverentia vident.

Moreover, they judge it not consonant with the magnitude of the celestials to confine the gods within walls or to assimilate them to any likeness of the human countenance: they consecrate groves and woods, and by the names of the gods they call that hidden thing, which they behold only with reverence.

[10] Auspicia sortesque ut qui maxime observant: sortium consuetudo simplex. Virgam frugiferae arbori decisam in surculos amputant eosque notis quibusdam discretos super candidam vestem temere ac fortuito spargunt. Mox, si publice consultetur, sacerdos civitatis, sin privatim, ipse pater familiae, precatus deos caelumque suspiciens ter singulos tollit, sublatos secundum impressam ante notam interpretatur.

[10] They observe auspices and lots as much as any people: the custom of the lots is simple. They cut a rod from a fruit-bearing tree and trim it into little wands; and, having distinguished these by certain marks, they scatter them at random and by chance upon a white garment. Then, if the consultation is public, the priest of the community, but if private, the paterfamilias himself, after praying to the gods and looking up to heaven, lifts three, one by one, and interprets those taken up according to the mark impressed beforehand.

Si prohibuerunt, nulla de eadem re in eundem diem consultatio; sin permissum, auspiciorum adhuc fides exigitur. Et illud quidem etiam hic notum, avium voces volatusque interrogare; proprium gentis equorum quoque praesagia ac monitus experiri. Publice aluntur isdem nemoribus ac lucis, candidi et nullo mortali opere contacti; quos pressos sacro curru sacerdos ac rex vel princeps civitatis comitantur hinnitusque ac fremitus observant.

If they have prohibited, there is no consultation about the same matter on the same day; but if permission has been granted, the faith of the auspices is still demanded. And this, indeed, is also known here: to interrogate the voices and the flights of birds; peculiar to the nation is also to test the presages and admonitions of horses. Publicly they are nourished in the same groves and clearings, white and touched by no mortal work; whom, yoked to a sacred chariot, the priest and the king or prince of the community accompany, and the neighings and the snortings they observe.

Nec ulli auspicio maior fides, non solum apud plebem, sed apud proceres, apud sacerdotes; se enim ministros deorum, illos conscios putant. Est et alia observatio auspiciorum, qua gravium bellorum eventus explorant. Eius gentis, cum qua bellum est, captivum quoquo modo interceptum cum electo popularium suorum, patriis quemque armis, committunt: victoria huius vel illius pro praeiudicio accipitur.

Nor to any augury is greater credence, not only among the plebs, but among the nobles, among the priests; for they deem themselves ministers of the gods, those privy to them. There is also another observation of auspices, by which they explore the event of grave wars. A captive of the nation with which there is war, intercepted in whatever way, they match with a chosen man of their own fellow-countrymen, each with native arms: the victory of this or that one is taken as a prejudgment.

[11] De minoribus rebus principes consultant; de maioribus omnes, ita tamen, ut ea quoque, quorum penes plebem arbitrium est, apud principes pertractentur. Coeunt, nisi quid fortuitum et subitum incidit, certis diebus, cum aut incohatur luna aut impletur; nam agendis rebus hoc auspicatissimum initium credunt. Nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium computant.

[11] About lesser matters the princes take counsel; about greater, all, yet in such a way that those things also, whose arbitrament lies with the plebs, are discussed among the princes. They assemble, unless something fortuitous and sudden occurs, on fixed days, when the moon is either new or full; for they believe this the most auspicious beginning for conducting business. Nor do they reckon the number of days, as we do, but of nights.

Sic constituunt, sic condicunt: nox ducere diem videtur. Illud ex libertate vitium, quod non simul nec ut iussi conveniunt, sed et alter et tertius dies cunctatione coeuntium absumitur. Ut turbae placuit, considunt armati.

Thus they establish, thus they stipulate: night seems to lead the day. That defect arising from freedom is this: they do not convene all at once nor as ordered, but a second and even a third day are consumed by the delay of those assembling. When it has pleased the crowd, they sit down armed.

Silentium per sacerdotes, quibus tum et coercendi ius est, imperatur. Mox rex vel princeps, prout aetas cuique, prout nobilitas, prout decus bellorum, prout facundia est, audiuntur, auctoritate suadendi magis quam iubendi potestate. Si displicuit sententia, fremitu aspernantur; sin placuit, frameas concutiunt.

Silence is commanded through the priests, who then also have the right of coercion. Soon the king or the chiefs, each according to his age, according to his nobility, according to the glory of his wars, according to his eloquence, are heard, with the authority of persuading rather than the power of commanding. If an opinion displeases, they reject it with a murmur; but if it pleases, they shake their spears (frameae).

Honoratissimum adsensus genus est armis laudare.

The most honored kind of assent is to laud with arms.

[12] Licet apud concilium accusare quoque et discrimen capitis intendere. Distinctio poenarum ex delicto. Proditores et transfugas arboribus suspendunt, ignavos et imbelles et corpore infames caeno ac palude, iniecta insuper crate, mergunt.

[12] It is permitted at the council also to accuse and to press a capital charge. The distinction of punishments is according to the delict. Traitors and deserters they hang on trees; the craven, the unwarlike, and those infamous in body they sink in mud and marsh, with a hurdle cast over them besides.

Diversitas supplicii illuc respicit, tamquam scelera ostendi oporteat, dum puniuntur, flagitia abscondi. Sed et levioribus delictis pro modo poena: equorum pecorumque numero convicti multantur. Pars multae regi vel civitati, pars ipsi, qui vindicatur, vel propinquis eius exsolvitur.

The diversity of punishment has regard to this, as though crimes ought to be displayed while they are being punished, but flagitious acts to be concealed. But also for lighter delicts the penalty is according to the measure: the convicted are mulcted in a number of horses and cattle. Part of the fine is paid to the king or to the commonwealth, part to the very man who is vindicated, or to his kinsmen.

Eliguntur in isdem conciliis et principes, qui iura per pagos vicosque reddunt; centeni singulis ex plebe comites consilium simul et auctoritas adsunt.

In the same councils there are likewise chosen chieftains, who render judgments through the districts and villages; to each, a hundred companions from the common people are present—at once counsel and authority.

[13] Nihil autem neque publicae neque privatae rei nisi armati agunt. Sed arma sumere non ante cuiquam moris, quam civitas suffecturum probaverit. Tum in ipso concilio vel principum aliquis vel pater vel propinqui scuto frameaque iuvenem ornant: haec apud illos toga, hic primus iuventae honos; ante hoc domus pars videntur, mox rei publicae.

[13] However, they transact nothing of public or private business unless armed. But it is the custom for no one to take up arms before the civitas has approved that he will be sufficient. Then, in the very council, either someone of the chiefs, or the father, or his kinsmen, adorn the youth with shield and framea: this among them is the toga; this is the first honor of youth; before this they seem a part of the household, soon after, of the commonwealth.

Insignis nobilitas aut magna patrum merita principis dignationem etiam adulescentulis adsignant: ceteris robustioribus ac iam pridem probatis adgregantur, nec rubor inter comites adspici. Gradus quin etiam ipse comitatus habet, iudicio eius quem sectantur; magnaque et comitum aemulatio, quibus primus apud principem suum locus, et principum, cui plurimi et acerrimi comites. Haec dignitas, hae vires, magno semper et electorum iuvenum globo circumdari, in pace decus, in bello praesidium.

Conspicuous nobility or great merits of fathers assign even to quite young men the prince’s favor; the others are aggregated to men more robust and long since approved, nor is a blush perceived among the companions. The comitatus itself, moreover, has grades, by the judgment of him whom they follow; and great is both the emulation of the companions, for whom the first place with their own prince, and of the princes, for whom the companions are most numerous and most keen. This is dignity, this is strength: to be always surrounded by a great globe of chosen youths—an ornament in peace, a safeguard in war.

Nec solum in sua gente cuique, sed apud finitimas quoque civitates id nomen, ea gloria est, si numero ac virtute comitatus emineat; expetuntur enim legationibus et muneribus ornantur et ipsa plerumque fama bella profligant.

Not only within his own people for each man, but also among the neighboring states, there is that name, that glory, if his retinue stands out in number and in valor; for they are sought after for legations, are adorned with gifts, and by fame itself for the most part they bring wars to a close.

[14] Cum ventum in aciem, turpe principi virtute vinci, turpe comitatui virtutem principis non adaequare. Iam vero infame in omnem vitam ac probrosum superstitem principi suo ex acie recessisse. Illum defendere, tueri, sua quoque fortia facta gloriae eius adsignare praecipuum sacramentum est.

[14] When it comes to the line of battle, it is shameful for the prince to be conquered in valor, shameful for the comitatus not to equal the prince’s valor. And indeed it is infamous for one’s whole life and disgraceful to have withdrawn from the line of battle surviving one’s own prince. To defend him, to guard him, to assign one’s own brave deeds also to his glory is the chief sacrament.

Principes pro victoria pugnant, comites pro principe. Si civitas, in qua orti sunt, longa pace et otio torpeat, plerique nobilium adulescentium petunt ultro eas nationes, quae tum bellum aliquod gerunt, quia et ingrata genti quies et facilius inter ancipitia clarescunt magnumque comitatum non nisi vi belloque tueare; exigunt enim principis sui liberalitate illum bellatorem equum, illam cruentam victricemque frameam. Nam epulae et quamquam incompti, largi tamen apparatus pro stipendio cedunt.

Princes fight for victory; companions for the prince. If the civitas in which they were born grows torpid with long peace and leisure, most of the noble adolescents of their own accord seek out those nations which at that time are waging some war, because quiet is ungrateful to the people, and they more easily grow illustrious amid perils; and a great retinue is maintained only by force and by war. For by the liberality of their own prince they demand that war-horse, that blood-stained and victory-bringing framea. For banquets, and—though unadorned—yet lavish provisions, pass for a stipend.

Materia munificentiae per bella et raptus. Nec arare terram aut exspectare annum tam facile persuaseris quam vocare hostem et vulnera mereri. Pigrum quin immo et iners videtur sudore adquirere quod possis sanguine parare.

The material for munificence is through wars and rapine. Nor would you so easily persuade them to plow the earth or to await the year as to summon the enemy and to merit wounds. To acquire by sweat what you can procure by blood seems sluggish—nay, indeed inert.

[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, magna arma, phalerae torquesque; iam et pecuniam accipere docuimus.

[15] Whenever they are not undertaking wars, they spend not much in hunts, more through leisure, devoted to sleep and food, each and every bravest and most warlike man doing nothing, the care of house, household gods (Penates), and fields having been delegated to the women and old men and to the very weakest of the household; they themselves grow dull, with a wondrous contrariety of nature, since these same men so love idleness and hate quiet. It is the custom for the communities, of their own accord and man-by-man, to bestow upon the chiefs either herds or grain, which, accepted as an honor, also relieves necessities. They rejoice especially in the gifts of neighboring peoples, which are sent not only by individuals but also publicly—choice horses, great arms, phalerae and torques; and by now we have even taught them to accept money.

[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.

[16] It is well enough known that no cities are inhabited among the peoples of the Germans, nor do they even allow dwellings to be joined together among themselves. They dwell scattered and separate, wherever a spring, a plain, or a grove has pleased. They place their villages not in our manner, with buildings connected and cohering: each one surrounds his house with space, either as a remedy against the chances of fire, or through ignorance of building.

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.

Not even the use of cut stone or of tiles is found among them: they use timber for everything in an unshaped state and short of appearance or delectation. Certain places they smear over more carefully with earth so pure and shining that it imitates painting and the lineaments of colors. They are accustomed also to open subterranean caverns and load them above with a great quantity of dung, a refuge for winter and a receptacle for grain, because places of that sort mitigate the rigor of the colds; and if ever the enemy arrives, he ravages what is open, but the things hidden and sunk are either unknown, or by that very fact deceive, because they must be sought 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.

[17] The covering for all is a sagum, fastened with a fibula—or, if that is lacking, with a thorn: otherwise, uncovered, they pass whole days beside the hearth and the fire. The very wealthy are distinguished by a garment, not fluitant like the Sarmatians and Parthians, but tight and expressing each limb. They also wear the skins of wild beasts—the dwellers nearest the bank carelessly, those farther inland more exquisitely—being such as to whom no cultivation comes through commerce.

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 choose wild beasts and, once the coverings have been stripped off, they strew their garments with spots and with the pelts of beasts which the outer Ocean and the unknown sea beget. Nor is the attire for women other than for men, except that women are more often veiled with linen wraps and vary them with purple, and they do not extend part of the upper garment into sleeves, their arms and upper arms bare; and even the nearest part of the chest lies open.

[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.

[18] Although matrimony is severe there, nor would you commend any part of their mores more highly. For almost alone among the barbarians, they are content with single wives, except for very few who are sought with numerous nuptials, not by lust, but on account of nobility. The dowry is not offered by the wife to the husband, but by the husband to the wife.

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.

Parents and relatives are present and approve the gifts—gifts not sought for womanly delights nor such as a new bride might be adorned with, but oxen, a bridled horse, and a shield with spear and sword. On these gifts the wife is accepted, and in turn she herself brings to the man some item of arms: this they judge the greatest bond, these the arcane sacra, these the conjugal gods. Lest the woman think herself outside thoughts of virtues and outside the fortunes of wars, she is admonished, by the very auspices of a marriage beginning, that she comes as a partner of labors and perils, to endure and to dare the same in peace, the same in battle.

Hoc iuncti boves, hoc paratus equus, hoc data arma denuntiant. Sic vivendum, sic pereundum: accipere se, quae liberis inviolata ac digna reddat, quae nurus accipiant, rursusque ad nepotes referantur.

This the yoked oxen, this the prepared horse, this the arms bestowed proclaim. Thus must one live, thus must one perish: that she receives things which she may render to her children inviolate and worthy, which the daughters-in-law may receive, and in turn be carried back to the grandsons.

[19] Ergo saepta pudicitia agunt, nullis spectaculorum inlecebris, nullis conviviorum inritationibus 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.

[19] Therefore, fenced round with chastity they conduct themselves, corrupted by no allurements of spectacles, by no incitements of banquets. The secrets of letters the men no less than the women are ignorant of. Very few adulteries exist in so numerous a nation, whose punishment is immediate and permitted to the husbands: with hair cut off, and stripped naked before her kinsfolk, the husband expels her from the house and drives her with blows through the whole village; for to chastity made public there is no pardon: neither by beauty, nor by age, nor by wealth will she find a husband.

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.

No one there laughs at vices, nor is to corrupt and to be corrupted called the custom of the age. Better yet those communities in which only virgins marry, and with the hope and vow of a wife the matter is once for all transacted. Thus they accept one husband in the same way as one body and one life, so that no thought goes beyond, no prolonged cupidity; and they love not so much the man as a husband, but matrimony.

Numerum liberorum finire aut quemquam ex adgnatis necare flagitium habetur, plusque ibi boni mores valent quam alibi bonae leges.

To limit the number of children or to kill anyone among the agnates is held a shameful crime, and there good morals prevail more than elsewhere good laws.

[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 adgnoscat.

[20] In every household, naked and dirty, they grow up into these limbs, into these bodies which we marvel at. Each one’s mother nourishes her child at her own breasts, nor are they consigned to maidservants and wet-nurses. You would not tell master and slave apart by any indulgences of upbringing: they live among the same herds, on the same ground, until age separates the freeborn, and valor/virtue marks them out.

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 ad patrem honor.

Late is the sexual love of young men, and therefore their manhood is unexhausted. Nor are virgins hurried; the same youthfulness, similar stature: equals and the sturdy are joined, and the children reproduce the strengths of their parents. For sisters’ sons there is the same honor with the maternal uncle as with the father.

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.

Some reckon this bond of blood more sacred and tighter, and in the taking of hostages they the more insist upon it, as though they would hold both the mind more firmly and the house more broadly. Nevertheless, the heirs and successors of each are his own children, and there is no testament. If there are no children, the next degree in possession are brothers, paternal uncles, and maternal uncles.

Quanto plus propinquorum, quanto maior adfinium numerus, tanto gratiosior senectus; nec ulla orbitatis pretia.

The more relatives, the greater the number of affines (in-laws), the more favored the old age; nor are there any rewards for 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.

[21] It is necessary to assume enmities of either a father or a kinsman as well as friendships; nor do they endure implacable: for even homicide is paid for by a fixed number of herds and flocks, and the entire household receives satisfaction—usefully for the public—because enmities are more perilous alongside liberty.

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.

In banquets and hospitalities no other nation indulges more lavishly. To bar any of mortals from a roof is held impious; each, according to his fortune, receives him with prepared feasts. When these fail, he who just now was a guest becomes a guide to hospitality and a companion; they approach the nearest house uninvited.

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.

Nor does it matter: they are received with equal humanity. Known and unknown, so far as the right of the guest is concerned, no one distinguishes. To one departing, if he has requested anything, it is the custom to grant it; and there is the same facility of asking in return.

Gaudent muneribus, sed nec data imputant nec acceptis obligantur: victus inter hospites comis.

They delight in gifts, but they neither impute what is given nor are they obligated by what is received: the entertainment among guests is courteous.

[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.

[22] Immediately from sleep—which they most often prolong into the day—they bathe, more often with hot water, as among those whom winter occupies the most. Bathed, they take food: separate seats for individuals, and each his own table. Then to business, and no less often to banquets, they proceed armed.

Diem noctemque continuare potando nulli probrum. Crebrae, ut inter vinolentos, rixae raro conviciis, saepius caede et vulneribus transiguntur. Sed et de reconciliandis in vicem 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.

To continue day and night with drinking is no reproach to anyone. Frequent, as among the wine-drunken, quarrels are concluded rarely with mere revilings, more often with slaughter and wounds. Yet about reconciling enemies to one another, and joining affinities by marriage, and co-opting chieftains—about peace, in fine, and war—they mostly take counsel at banquets, as though at no other time were the spirit either more open to simple thoughts or more heated for great ones.

Gens non astuta nec callida aperit adhuc secreta pectoris licentia ioci; ergo detecta et nuda omnium mens. Postera die retractatur, et salva utriusque temporis ratio est: deliberant, dum fingere nesciunt, constituunt, dum errare non possunt.

A people not astute nor cunning lays open the secrets of the breast by the license of jest; therefore the mind of all is uncovered and naked. The next day it is reconsidered, and the rationale of each time is preserved: they deliberate while they do not know how to feign, they decide when they cannot err.

[23] Potui umor 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.

[23] For drink, a liquor from barley or grain, corrupted into a certain similitude of wine; those nearest the riverbank also purchase wine. Foods are simple—rustic fruits, fresh game, or curdled milk: without preparation, without blandishments they drive out hunger. Against thirst, not the same temperance.

Si indulseris ebrietati suggerendo quantum concupiscunt, haud minus facile vitiis quam armis vincentur.

If you indulge drunkenness by supplying as much as they desire, they will be conquered no less easily by vices than by arms.

[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.

[24] The kind of spectacles is one, and the same in every assembly. Naked youths, for whom this pastime is, hurl themselves with a leap among swords and hostile frameae. Exercise has prepared skill, skill grace, not however for gain or hire: although the price of bold wantonness is the pleasure of the spectators.

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.

Alea, which you may marvel at, they exercise sober, amid serious affairs, with such temerity of winning or losing that, when all has failed, with the last and latest throw they contend for their liberty and their body. The vanquished enters voluntary servitude: although younger, although more robust, he allows himself to be bound and to be sold. Such is their pervicacity in this depraved matter; they themselves call it “faith.”

Servos condicionis huius per commercia tradunt, ut se quoque pudore victoriae exsolvant.

They hand over slaves of this condition through commerce, so that they too may absolve themselves from the shame of 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 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.

[25] They do not employ the other slaves in our manner, with ministrationes apportioned through the household: each man governs his own seat, his own Penates (household gods). The master imposes a measure of grain, or of livestock, or of clothing upon him, as upon a tenant-farmer, and thus far the slave obeys; the remaining duties of the house the wife and the children carry out. To flog a slave and to restrain him with chains and by toil is rare: they are wont to kill him, not by discipline and severity, but on impulse and in anger, as an enemy—only that it is with impunity.

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.

Freedmen are not much above slaves, rarely of any moment in the house, never in the state, except only among those peoples who are ruled by kings. For there they rise even above the freeborn and above the nobles: among the rest, freedmen, as unequals, are an argument of liberty.

[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.

[26] To traffic in interest and to stretch it into usury is unknown; and therefore it is more observed than if it had been forbidden. The fields, according to the number of cultivators, are occupied by all in turns, which they presently divide among themselves according to dignity; the spaces of the fields afford facility of partition. They change the arable year by year, and land remains over.

Nec enim cum ubertate et amplitudine soli labore contendunt, ut pomaria conserant et prata separent et 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.

For they do not contend by labor with the fertility and amplitude of the soil, to plant orchards, to separate meadows, and to irrigate gardens: the sole grain-crop of the earth is commanded. Whence they do not even distribute the year itself into the same number of kinds: winter and spring and summer have recognition and names, the name and the benefits 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.

[27] No ambition in funerals: only this is observed, that the bodies of illustrious men are burned with particular woods. They heap up the pile of the pyre neither with garments nor with perfumes: to each his own arms, and for some a horse as well, is added to the fire. A turf-mound raises the tomb: they spurn the lofty and toilsome honor of monuments as burdensome to the departed.

Lamenta ac lacrimas cito, dolorem et tristitiam tarde ponunt. Feminis lugere honestum est, viris meminisse.

They put aside laments and tears quickly; pain and sadness, slowly. For women it is honorable to mourn; for men, to remember.

Haec in commune de omnium Germanorum origine ac moribus accepimus: nunc singularum gentium instituta ritusque, quatenus differant, quae nationes e Germania in Gallias commigraverint, expediam.

These things in common concerning the origin and customs of all the Germans we have received: now I will set forth the institutions and rites of the several peoples, insofar as they differ, and which nations from Germany have migrated 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 promiscuas 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 significatque loci veterem memoriam quamvis mutatis cultoribus.

[28] The greatest of authors, the deified Julius, reports that the affairs of the Gauls were formerly more powerful; and therefore it is credible that the Gauls also crossed into Germany: for how little did the river hinder, so as not to allow that, as each nation had grown strong, it should seize and exchange settlements as yet promiscuous and divided by no power of kingdoms? Therefore between the Hercynian Forest and the rivers Rhine and Main the Helvetii, and farther in the Boii—both Gallic peoples—held [lands]. The name Boihaemum still remains and signifies the ancient memory of the place, although the cultivators have been changed.

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.

But whether the Aravisci migrated into Pannonia from the Osi, a nation of the Germans, or the Osi from the Aravisci into Germany, is uncertain, since they still use the same speech, institutes, and customs; because once, with equal want and liberty, the same good things and bad things belonged to both banks alike. The Treveri and the Nervii are, in regard to the affectation of Germanic origin, ambitiously eager of their own accord, as though by this glory of blood they might separate themselves from the likeness and inertia of the Gauls. The very bank of the Rhine is without doubt inhabited by peoples of the Germans: the Vangiones, the Triboci, the 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 conlocati, ut arcerent, non ut custodirentur.

Not even the Ubii, although they have deserved to be a Roman colony and more gladly are called Agrippinenses by the name of their founder, blush for their origin, having crossed over long ago and, by a proof of their fidelity, being settled upon the very bank of the Rhine, to repel, not to be guarded.

[29] Omnium harum gentium virtute praecipui Batavi non multum ex ripa, sed insulam Rheni amnis colunt, Chattorum quondam populus et seditione domestica in eas sedes transgressus, in quibus pars Romani imperii fierent. Manet honos et antiquae societatis insigne; nam nec tributis contemnuntur nec publicanus atterit; exempti oneribus et conlationibus et tantum in usum proeliorum sepositi, velut tela atque arma, bellis reservantur. Est in eodem obsequio et Mattiacorum gens; protulit enim magnitudo populi Romani ultra Rhenum ultraque veteres terminos imperii reverentiam.

[29] Of all these nations the Batavi are preeminent in prowess; they inhabit, not far from the bank, but the island of the river Rhine, a people once of the Chatti and, through domestic sedition, transferred into those seats in which they became part of the Roman imperium. The honor and the badge of the ancient alliance remains; for neither are they dishonored by tributes nor does the tax-farmer wear them down; exempt from burdens and contributions and set apart only for the use of battles, like missiles and arms, they are reserved for wars. In the same obedience is also the nation of the Mattiaci; for the greatness of the Roman people has carried reverence beyond the Rhine and beyond the ancient boundaries of the imperium.

Ita sede finibusque in sua ripa, mente animoque nobiscum agunt, cetera similes Batavis, nisi quod ipso adhuc terrae suae solo et caelo acrius animantur.

Thus, in seat and boundaries on their own bank, in mind and spirit they act with us, in other respects like the Batavi, except that by the very soil and sky of their own land they are still more keenly animated.

Non numeraverim inter Germaniae populos, quamquam trans Rhenum Danuviumque consederint, eos qui decumates agros exercent. Levissimus quisque Gallorum et inopia audax dubiae possessionis solum occupavere; mox limite acto promotisque praesidiis sinus imperii et pars provinciae habentur.

I would not number among the peoples of Germany—although they have settled across the Rhine and the Danube—those who cultivate the Decumate Fields. The lightest sort of the Gauls, made bold by need, seized soil of doubtful possession; soon, with the limes drawn and the garrisons advanced, they are held as a recess of the empire and a part of the province.

[30] Ultra hos Chatti initium sedis ab Hercynio saltu incohant, non ita effusis ac palustribus locis, ut ceterae civitates, in quas Germania patescit; durant siquidem colles, paulatim rarescunt, et Chattos suos saltus Hercynius prosequitur simul atque deponit. Duriora genti corpora, stricti artus, minax vultus et maior animi vigor. Multum, ut inter Germanos, rationis ac sollertiae: praeponere electos, audire praepositos, nosse ordines, intellegere occasiones, differre impetus, disponere diem, vallare noctem, fortunam inter dubia, virtutem inter certa numerare, quodque rarissimum nec nisi ratione disciplinae concessum, plus reponere in duce quam in exercitu.

[30] Beyond these, the Chatti initiate the beginning of their seat from the Hercynian forest, not in places so spread-out and marshy as the other tribes into which Germany opens; for the hills endure, and little by little grow rarer, and the Hercynian forest escorts the Chatti with its mountain-passes, and then, as it subsides, lays them down. Hardier bodies belong to the nation, tight-knit limbs, a menacing countenance, and a greater vigor of spirit. Much, for Germans, of reason and ingenuity: to set chosen men over them, to heed those set over, to know the orders, to understand occasions, to defer onsets, to arrange the day, to fortify the night, to reckon fortune among doubtful things, valor among certain things—and, what is most rare and granted only by the reasoning of discipline—to repose more in the leader than in the army.

Omne robur in pedite, quem super arma ferramentis quoque et copiis onerant: alios ad proelium ire videas, Chattos ad bellum. Rari excursus et fortuita pugna. Equestrium sane virium id proprium, cito parare victoriam, cito cedere: velocitas iuxta formidinem, cunctatio propior constantiae est.

All their strength is in the infantry, whom, over and above arms, they load also with iron-tools and supplies: you may see others go to a battle, the Chatti to a war. Raids are rare and fighting is fortuitous. Indeed this is characteristic of cavalry forces: to prepare victory quickly, to yield quickly; speed is next to fear, delay is nearer to constancy.

[31] Et aliis Germanorum populis usurpatum raro et privata cuiusque audentia apud Chattos in consensum vertit, ut primum adoleverint, crinem barbamque submittere, nec nisi hoste caeso exuere votivum obligatumque virtuti oris habitum. Super sanguinem et spolia revelant frontem, seque tum demum pretia nascendi rettulisse dignosque patria ac parentibus ferunt: ignavis et imbellibus manet squalor. Fortissimus quisque ferreum insuper anulum (ignominiosum id genti) velut vinculum gestat, donec se caede hostis absolvat.

[31] And what among other peoples of the Germans was employed rarely and by the private daring of each has among the Chatti turned into a consensus: that as soon as they have come of age, they let hair and beard grow, and they do not put off the vowed look of the face, bound to valor, until an enemy has been cut down. Over the blood and the spoils they unveil the brow, and then at last they claim to have repaid the prices of being born and to be worthy of their fatherland and parents: for the cowardly and unwarlike the squalor remains. Each of the very bravest wears, besides, an iron ring (ignominious to the nation) as if a fetter, until he absolves himself by the slaughter of an enemy.

Plurimis Chattorum hic placet habitus, iamque canent insignes et hostibus simul suisque monstrati. Omnium penes hos initia pugnarum; haec prima semper acies, visu nova; nam ne in pace quidem vultu mitiore mansuescunt. Nulli domus aut ager aut aliqua cura: prout ad quemque venere, aluntur, prodigi alieni, contemptores sui, donec exsanguis senectus tam durae virtuti impares faciat.

To very many of the Chatti this habit pleases: and now, hoary, they are distinguished and shown to enemies and their own alike. With them lie the beginnings of all battles; this is always the first battle-line, a novelty to the sight; for not even in peace do they grow tame with a milder countenance. None has a home or field or any concern: as they come to one or another, they are maintained—prodigal of others’ (goods), despisers of their own—until bloodless old age makes them unequal to a virtue so hard.

[32] Proximi Chattis certum iam alveo Rhenum, quique terminus esse sufficiat, Usipi ac Tencteri colunt. Tencteri super solitum bellorum decus equestris disciplinae arte praecellunt; nec maior apud Chattos peditum laus quam Tencteris equitum. Sic instituere maiores; posteri imitantur.

[32] Nearest to the Chatti, along the Rhine—now fixed in its channel, and sufficient to be a boundary—dwell the Usipi and the Tencteri. The Tencteri, beyond the customary glory of wars, excel by the art of equestrian discipline; nor is the praise of foot-soldiers among the Chatti greater than that of horsemen among the Tencteri. Thus the forefathers established it; the descendants imitate.

Hi lusus infantium, haec iuvenum aemulatio: perseverant senes. Inter familiam et penates et iura successionum equi traduntur: excipit filius, non ut cetera, maximus natu, sed prout ferox bello et melior.

These are the games of infants; this is the emulation of youths; the old men persevere. Among the family, the Penates, and the rights of successions, horses are handed down: the son succeeds, not, as with the rest, the eldest by birth, but according as he is fierce in war and the better.

[33] Iuxta Tencteros Bructeri olim occurrebant: nunc Chamavos et Angrivarios inmigrasse narratur, pulsis Bructeris ac penitus excisis vicinarum consensu nationum, seu superbiae odio seu praedae dulcedine seu favore quodam erga nos deorum; nam ne spectaculo quidem proelii invidere. Super sexaginta milia non armis telisque Romanis, sed, quod magnificentius est, oblectationi oculisque ceciderunt. Maneat, quaeso, duretque gentibus, si non amor nostri, at certe odium sui, quando urgentibus imperii fatis nihil iam praestare fortuna maius potest quam hostium discordiam.

[33] Next to the Tencteri the Bructeri used formerly to be encountered: now it is reported that the Chamavi and Angrivarii have immigrated, the Bructeri having been driven out and utterly excised by the consensus of the neighboring nations, whether from hatred of their superbia, or the sweetness of plunder, or by some favor of the gods toward us; for they did not begrudge us even the spectacle of the battle. Over sixty thousand fell not by Roman arms and missiles, but—what is more magnificent—for our delectation and before our eyes. Let it remain, I beg, and endure among the peoples, if not a love of us, at least surely a hatred of themselves, since, with the fates of the empire pressing, fortune can now bestow nothing greater than the discord of our enemies.

[34] Angrivarios et Chamavos a tergo Dulgubnii et Chasuarii cludunt, aliaeque gentes haud perinde memoratae, a fronte Frisii excipiunt. Maioribus minoribusque Frisiis vocabulum est ex modo virium. Utraeque nationes usque ad Oceanum Rheno praetexuntur, ambiuntque inmensos insuper lacus et Romanis classibus navigatos.

[34] The Angrivarii and the Chamavi are shut in from the rear by the Dulgubnii and the Chasuarii, and by other peoples not so much commemorated; from the front they are met and bounded by the Frisians. To the Greater and Lesser Frisians the appellation is according to the measure of their strength. Both nations are bordered by the Rhine all the way to the Ocean, and they encircle immense lakes besides—lakes navigated by Roman fleets.

Ipsum quin etiam Oceanum illa temptavimus: et superesse adhuc Herculis columnas fama vulgavit, sive adiit Hercules, seu quidquid ubique magnificum est, in claritatem eius referre consensimus. Nec defuit audentia Druso Germanico, sed obstitit Oceanus in se simul atque in Herculem inquiri. Mox nemo temptavit, sanctiusque ac reverentius visum de actis deorum credere quam scire.

Indeed, we even attempted the Ocean itself in those parts; and a report has spread that the columns of Hercules still survive—whether Hercules reached them, or we have agreed to refer whatever is magnificent anywhere to his renown. Nor was boldness lacking to Drusus Germanicus; but the Ocean obstructed inquiry into itself and into Hercules alike. Soon no one attempted it, and it seemed more sacred and more reverent to believe about the deeds of the gods rather than to know.

[35] Hactenus in occidentem Germaniam novimus; in septentrionem ingenti flexu redit. Ac primo statim Chaucorum gens, quamquam incipiat a Frisiis ac partem litoris occupet, omnium quas exposui gentium lateribus obtenditur, donec in Chattos usque sinuetur. Tam inmensum terrarum spatium non tenent tantum Chauci, sed et implent, populus inter Germanos nobilissimus, quique magnitudinem suam malit iustitia tueri.

[35] Thus far westward we have come to know Germany; to the north it returns in a vast flexure. And first at once the nation of the Chauci, although it begins at the Frisians and occupies part of the shore, is stretched along the flanks of all the peoples which I have set forth, until it curves as far as the Chatti. So immense a tract of lands the Chauci not only hold but also fill, a people among the Germans most noble, and one who prefers to guard their greatness by justice.

Sine cupiditate, sine impotentia, quieti secretique nulla provocant bella, nullis raptibus aut latrociniis populantur. Id praecipuum virtutis ac virium argumentum est, quod, ut superiores agant, non per iniurias adsequuntur; prompta tamen omnibus arma ac, si res poscat, exercitus, plurimum virorum equorumque; et quiescentibus eadem fama.

Without cupidity, without impotence, quiet and in seclusion they provoke no wars, nor do they ravage with any rapines or latrociny. That is the chief proof of their virtue and their forces: that, in order to be the superiors, they do not attain it through injuries; yet arms are ready for all, and, if the matter should require, an army—very many men and horses; and the same renown while they are at rest.

[36] In latere Chaucorum Chattorumque Cherusci nimiam ac marcentem diu pacem inlacessiti nutrierunt: idque iucundius quam tutius fuit, quia inter impotentes et validos falso quiescas: ubi manu agitur, modestia ac probitas nomina superioris sunt. Ita qui olim boni aequique Cherusci, nunc inertes ac stulti vocantur: Chattis victoribus fortuna in sapientiam cessit. Tracti ruina Cheruscorum et Fosi, contermina gens.

[36] On the flank of the Chauci and the Chatti, the Cherusci, unprovoked, nourished an excessive and enervating peace for a long time: and this was more pleasant than safer, because among the unrestrained and the strong you repose in a false quiet: when it comes to decision by force of hand, “modesty” and “probity” are the names of the superior party. Thus the Cherusci, once called good and equitable, are now called inert and foolish: for the victorious Chatti, fortune has passed for wisdom. Drawn into the ruin of the Cherusci were the Fosi, a bordering tribe.

Adversarum rerum ex aequo socii sunt, cum in secundis minores fuissent.

They are associates on equal terms in adverse affairs, though in prosperous ones they had been the lesser.

[37] Eundem Germaniae sinum proximi Oceano Cimbri tenent, parva nunc civitas, sed gloria ingens. Veterisque famae lata vestigia manent, utraque ripa castra ac spatia, quorum ambitu nunc quoque metiaris molem manusque gentis et tam magni exitus fidem. Sescentesimum et quadragesimum annum urbs nostra agebat, cum primum Cimbrorum audita sunt arma, Caecilio Metello et Papirio Carbone consulibus.

[37] The same gulf of Germany is held by the Cimbri, nearest to the Ocean—now a small state, but of immense glory. Broad traces of their ancient fame remain: on either bank camps and expanses, by whose circuit even now you may measure the mass and the war-band of the tribe, and give credence to an emigration so great. Our city was in its 640th year when the arms of the Cimbri were first heard, Caecilius Metellus and Papirius Carbo being consuls.

Ex quo si ad alterum imperatoris Traiani consulatum computemus, ducenti ferme et decem anni colliguntur: tam diu Germania vincitur. Medio tam longi aevi spatio multa in vicem damna. Non Samnis, non Poeni, non Hispaniae Galliaeve, ne Parthi quidem saepius admonuere: quippe regno Arsacis acrior est Germanorum libertas.

From which time, if we compute to the second consulship of the emperor Trajan, there are reckoned almost two hundred and ten years: for so long Germany is being conquered. In the mid-space of so long an age, many losses in turn. Not the Samnite, not the Carthaginians, not the Spains and the Gauls, not even the Parthians have admonished us more often: for the liberty of the Germans is fiercer than the kingdom of Arsaces.

Quid enim aliud nobis quam caedem Crassi, amisso et ipse Pacoro, infra Ventidium deiectus Oriens obiecerit? At Germani Carbone et Cassio et Scauro Aurelio et Servilio Caepione Gnaeoque Mallio fusis vel captis quinque simul consularis exercitus populo Romano, Varum trisque cum eo legiones etiam Caesari abstulerunt; nec impune C. Marius in Italia, divus Iulius in Gallia, Drusus ac Nero et Germanicus in suis eos sedibus perculerunt. Mox ingentes Gai Caesaris minae in ludibrium versae.

For what else has the Orient thrown in our teeth than the slaughter of Crassus—though it too lost Pacorus, and, beneath Ventidius, was cast down? But the Germans, with Carbo and Cassius and Aurelius Scaurus and Servilius Caepio and Gnaeus Mallius routed or captured—five consular armies at once—from the Roman people, took away from Caesar even Varus and the three legions with him; nor did they go unpunished: C. Marius in Italy, the deified Julius in Gaul, Drusus and Nero and Germanicus struck them down in their own seats. Soon the vast threats of Gaius Caesar were turned into mockery.

Inde otium, donec occasione discordiae nostrae et civilium armorum expugnatis legionum hibernis etiam Gallias adfectavere; ac rursus inde pulsi proximis temporibus triumphati magis quam victi sunt.

Thence repose, until, taking the occasion of our discord and civil arms, after the winter quarters of the legions had been stormed, they even aspired to the Gauls; and again, driven back from there in recent times, they were triumphed over rather than conquered.

[38] Nunc de Suebis dicendum est, quorum non una, ut Chattorum Tencterorumve, gens; maiorem enim Germaniae partem obtinent, propriis adhuc nationibus nominibusque discreti, quamquam in commune Suebi vocentur. Insigne gentis obliquare crinem nodoque substringere: sic Suebi a ceteris Germanis, sic Sueborum ingenui a servis separantur. In aliis gentibus seu cognatione aliqua Sueborum seu, quod saepe accidit, imitatione, rarum et intra iuventae spatium; apud Suebos usque ad canitiem horrentem capillum retro sequuntur.

[38] Now it must be said about the Suebi, of whom there is not one single tribe, as there is of the Chatti or the Tencteri; for they hold the greater part of Germany, still distinguished by their own nations and names, although in common they are called Suebi. The insignia of the people is to slant the hair and bind it up with a knot: thus the Suebi are set apart from the other Germans, thus the freeborn of the Suebi from the slaves. In other tribes, whether by some kinship with the Suebi or, as often happens, by imitation, it is rare and confined to the span of youth; among the Suebi they carry the hair bristling backward, even to gray-haired age.

Ac saepe in ipso vertice religatur; principes et ornatiorem habent. Ea cura formae, sed innoxia; neque enim ut ament amenturve, in altitudinem quandam et terrorem adituri bella compti, ut hostium oculis, armantur.

And often it is bound on the very crown; the chieftains have it even more adorned. This care for appearance is harmless; for it is not so that they may love or be loved, but—groomed as they are about to go into wars—they arm themselves into a kind of height and terror, for the eyes of the enemy.

[39] Vetustissimos se nobilissimosque Sueborum Semnones memorant; fides antiquitatis religione firmatur. Stato tempore in silvam auguriis patrum et prisca formidine sacram omnes eiusdem sanguinis populi legationibus coeunt caesoque publice homine celebrant barbari ritus horrenda primordia. Est et alia luco reverentia: nemo nisi vinculo ligatus ingreditur, ut minor et potestatem numinis prae se ferens.

[39] They recount that the Semnones are the most ancient and most noble of the Suebi; the credibility of this antiquity is strengthened by religion. At a set time all the peoples of the same blood assemble by delegations into a grove sacred by the auguries of their fathers and by ancient dread, and, a man publicly slain, they solemnize the horrendous beginnings of a barbarian rite. There is also another reverence for the grove: no one enters unless bound with a bond, so that, as the lesser and displaying the power of the numen before himself, he may enter.

Si forte prolapsus est, attolli et insurgere haud licitum: per humum evolvuntur. Eoque omnis superstitio respicit, tamquam inde initia gentis, ibi regnator omnium deus, cetera subiecta atque parentia. Adicit auctoritatem fortuna Semnonum: centum pagi iis habitantur magnoque corpore efficitur ut se Sueborum caput credant.

If by chance one has slipped, it is not permitted to be lifted up and to rise: they roll along the ground. And to this all the superstition looks, as though from there were the beginnings of the race, there the god, ruler of all; the rest subject and obedient. The fortune of the Semnones adds authority: a hundred districts (pagi) are inhabited by them, and by their great body it is brought about that they believe themselves the head of the Suebi.

[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.

[40] Over against the Langobardi, their paucity gives them nobility: surrounded by very many and most valiant nations, they are secure not by obedience, but by battles and by risking themselves. Next the Reudigni and Aviones and Anglii and Varini and Eudoses and Suardones and Nuithones are fortified by rivers or forests. Nor is there anything notable in the individual peoples, except that in common they worship Nerthus, that is Mother Earth, and they deem that she intervenes in the affairs of men and is carried among the peoples.

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.

There is on an island of the Ocean a sacred grove, and in it a dedicated vehicle, covered with a vestment; to touch it is granted to one priest alone. He understands that the goddess is present in her inner sanctuary, and, conveyed by cows, he escorts her with much veneration. Then the days are glad, the places festive, wherever she deigns to honor with her coming and hospitality.

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.

They do not initiate wars, they do not take up arms; all iron is shut away; peace and quiet then only are known, then only beloved, until the same priest restores the goddess, sated with conversation with mortals, to the temple. Soon the carriage and the garments and—if you are willing to believe it—the very divinity are washed in a secret lake. Slaves minister, whom immediately that same lake swallows.

Arcanus hinc terror sanctaque ignorantia, quid sit illud, quod tantum perituri vident.

Hence an arcane terror and a sacred ignorance, what that thing is which only those about to perish see.

[41] Et haec quidem pars Sueborum in secretiora Germaniae porrigitur. Propior, ut, quo modo paulo ante Rhenum, sic nunc Danuvium sequar, Hermundurorum civitas, fida Romanis; eoque solis Germanorum non in ripa commercium, sed penitus atque in splendidissima Raetiae provinciae colonia. Passim et sine custode transeunt; et cum ceteris gentibus arma modo castraque nostra ostendamus, his domos villasque patefecimus non concupiscentibus.

[41] And this part of the Suebi indeed stretches into the more secluded regions of Germany. Nearer—so that, just as a little before I followed the Rhine, so now I will follow the Danube—is the state of the Hermunduri, loyal to the Romans; and for that reason they alone of the Germans have commerce not upon the bank, but deep within, and in the most splendid colony of the province of Raetia. They pass everywhere and without a guard; and whereas to the other nations we merely display our arms and our camps, to these we have opened our homes and villas, they not being covetous.

In Hermunduris Albis oritur, flumen inclutum et notum olim; nunc tantum auditur.

Among the Hermunduri the Elbe rises, a renowned and once well-known river; now it is only heard of.

[42] Iuxta Hermunduros Naristi ac deinde Marcomani et Quadi agunt. Praecipua Marcomanorum gloria viresque, atque ipsa etiam sedes pulsis olim Boiis virtute parta. Nec Naristi Quadive degenerant.

[42] Next to the Hermunduri the Naristi dwell, and then the Marcomanni and the Quadi. The chief glory and strength are those of the Marcomanni, and even their very seat was won by valor, the Boii having been once driven out. Nor do the Naristi or the Quadi degenerate.

Eaque Germaniae velut frons est, quatenus Danuvio peragitur. Marcomanis Quadisque usque ad nostram memoriam reges mansere ex gente ipsorum, nobile Marobodui et Tudri genus: iam et externos patiuntur, sed vis et potentia regibus ex auctoritate Romana. Raro armis nostris, saepius pecunia iuvantur, nec minus valent.

And this is, as it were, the front of Germany, so far as it is carried along by the Danube. Among the Marcomanni and Quadi, down to our own memory, kings remained from their own people—the noble line of Maroboduus and Tudrus: now they even endure foreigners, but the force and potency of the kings are from Roman authority. Seldom are they aided by our arms, more often by money, and they are none the less effective.

[43] Retro Marsigni, Cotini, Osi, Buri terga Marcomanorum Quadorumque claudunt. E quibus Marsigni et Buri sermone cultuque Suebos referunt: Cotinos Gallica, Osos Pannonica lingua coarguit non esse Germanos, et quod tributa patiuntur. Partem tributorum Sarmatae, partem Quadi ut alienigenis imponunt: Cotini, quo magis pudeat, et ferrum effodiunt.

[43] Behind them the Marsigni, Cotini, Osi, and Buri shut in the rear of the Marcomanni and Quadi. Of these, the Marsigni and Buri in speech and culture recall the Suebi; the Gallic tongue convicts the Cotini, and the Pannonian tongue the Osi, that they are not Germans—and the fact that they endure tributes. Part of the tributes the Sarmatians, part the Quadi impose upon them as foreigners: the Cotini, to make it the more shameful, even dig out iron.

Omnesque hi populi pauca campestrium, ceterum saltus et vertices montium iugumque insederunt. Dirimit enim scinditque Suebiam continuum montium iugum, ultra quod plurimae gentes agunt, ex quibus latissime patet Lygiorum nomen in plures civitates diffusum. Valentissimas nominasse sufficiet, Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Helisios, Nahanarvalos.

And all these peoples have occupied little of the plains; rather, they have settled the forest-passes, the summits of the mountains, and the ridge. For a continuous ridge of mountains divides and cleaves Suebia; beyond it very many nations dwell, among whom the name of the Lygii extends most widely, diffused into several states. It will suffice to have named the mightiest: the Harii, Helvecones, Manimi, Helisii, Nahanarvali.

Apud Nahanarvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur. Praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu, sed deos interpretatione Romana Castorem Pollucemque memorant. Ea vis numini, nomen Alcis.

Among the Nahanarvali a grove of ancient religion is shown. A priest presides in female attire, but the gods, by Roman interpretation, they mention as Castor and Pollux. Such is the force of the numen; the name is Alcis.

Nulla simulacra, nullum peregrinae superstitionis vestigium; ut fratres tamen, ut iuvenes venerantur. Ceterum Harii super vires, quibus enumeratos paulo ante populos antecedunt, truces insitae feritati arte ac tempore lenocinantur: nigra scuta, tincta corpora; atras ad proelia noctes legunt ipsaque formidine atque umbra feralis exercitus terrorem inferunt, nullo hostium sustinente novum ac velut infernum adspectum; nam primi in omnibus proeliis oculi vincuntur.

No images, no vestige of foreign superstition; yet they venerate them as brothers, as youths. Moreover, the Harii, in addition to the strength by which they surpass the peoples enumerated a little before, enhance their savage inborn ferocity by art and by timing: black shields, bodies dyed; they choose black nights for battles, and by the very dread and shadow of a funereal army they bring in terror, with none of the enemies sustaining the novel and, as it were, infernal sight; for in all battles the eyes are conquered first.

[44] Trans Lygios Gotones regnantur, paulo iam adductius quam ceterae Germanorum gentes, nondum tamen supra libertatem. Protinus deinde ab Oceano Rugii et Lemovii; omniumque harum gentium insigne rotunda scuta, breves gladii et erga reges obsequium.

[44] Beyond the Lygii the Gotones are ruled by kings, now somewhat more strictly than the other tribes of the Germans, yet not beyond freedom. Next then along the Ocean, the Rugii and Lemovii; and the insignia of all these peoples are round shields, short swords, and deference toward their kings.

Suionum hinc civitates ipso in Oceano praeter viros armaque classibus valent. Forma navium eo differt, quod utrimque prora paratam semper adpulsui frontem agit. Nec velis ministrantur nec remos in ordinem lateribus adiungunt: solutum, ut in quibusdam fluminum, et mutabile, ut res poscit, hinc vel illinc remigium.

From here the states of the Suiones, in the very Ocean, are strong with fleets in addition to men and arms. The form of their ships differs in this: that at both ends a prow drives a front always prepared for approach. Nor are they serviced by sails, nor do they adjoin oars in order to the sides: the oarage is loose, as on certain rivers, and mutable, as the circumstance requires, now on this side now on that.

Est apud illos et opibus honos, eoque unus imperitat, nullis iam exceptionibus, non precario iure parendi. Nec arma, ut apud ceteros Germanos, in promiscuo, sed clausa sub custode, et quidem servo, quia subitos hostium incursus prohibet Oceanus, otiosae porro armatorum manus facile lasciviunt. Enimvero neque nobilem neque ingenuum, ne libertinum quidem armis praeponere regia utilitas est.

Among them, wealth too has honor, and therefore a single man commands, now with no exceptions, not by a precarious right of being obeyed. Nor are the arms, as among the other Germans, held in common, but shut away under a guard—and indeed a slave—because the Ocean prevents sudden incursions of enemies; moreover, the idle hands of men under arms easily grow wanton. In truth, it is royal expediency to set over the arms neither a noble nor a freeborn man, not even a freedman.

[45] Trans Suionas aliud mare, pigrum ac prope inmotum, quo cingi cludique terrarum orbem hinc fides, quod extremus cadentis iam solis fulgor in ortus edurat adeo clarus, ut sidera hebetet; sonum insuper emergentis audiri formasque equorum et radios capitis adspici persuasio adicit. Illuc usque (et fama vera) tantum natura. Ergo iam dextro Suebici maris litore Aestiorum gentes adluuntur, quibus ritus habitusque Sueborum, lingua Britannicae propior.

[45] Beyond the Suiones is another sea, sluggish and almost motionless; hence the belief that by it the orb of the lands is girded and shut in, because the farthest glow of the now-setting sun endures toward the East so bright as to dull the stars; moreover, the sound of its emerging is heard, and persuasion adds that the forms of the horses and the rays of his head are seen. Thus far (and the report is true), only Nature. Therefore now on the right-hand shore of the Suebian Sea the nations of the Aestii are lapped, whose rites and dress are those of the Suebi, their language nearer to that of the Britons.

Matrem deum venerantur. Insigne superstitionis formas aprorum gestant: id pro armis omniumque tutela securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostis praestat. Rarus ferri, frequens fustium usus.

They venerate the Mother of the gods. As the insignia of their superstition they carry the figures of boars: this, in place of arms and as a protection for all, assures that the worshiper of the goddess is secure even among enemies. The use of iron is rare; of clubs, frequent.

Frumenta ceterosque fructus patientius quam pro solita Germanorum inertia laborant. Sed et mare scrutantur, ac soli omnium sucinum, quod ipsi glesum vocant, inter vada atque in ipso litore legunt. Nec quae natura, quaeve ratio gignat, ut barbaris, quaesitum compertumve; diu quin etiam inter cetera eiectamenta maris iacebat, donec luxuria nostra dedit nomen.

They labor at the grain and the other fruits more patiently than is in keeping with the accustomed inertia of the Germans. But they also search the sea, and they alone of all gather amber, which they themselves call glesum, among the shallows and on the very shore. Nor what its nature is, or by what reason it is generated, has, as with barbarians, been sought out or discovered; for a long time indeed it even lay among the other ejecta of the sea, until our luxury bestowed a name.

Ipsis in nullo usu; rude legitur, informe profertur, pretiumque mirantes accipiunt. Sucum tamen arborum esse intellegas, quia terrena quaedam atque etiam volucria animalia plerumque interlucent, quae implicata umore mox durescente materia cluduntur. Fecundiora igitur nemora lucosque sicut Orientis secretis, ubi tura balsamaque sudantur, ita Occidentis insulis terrisque inesse crediderim, quae vicini solis radiis expressa atque liquentia in proximum mare labuntur ac vi tempestatum in adversa litora exundant.

They themselves have no use for it; it is gathered rough, brought forth formless, and, wondering, they accept a price. Yet you may understand it to be the sap of trees, because certain terrene and even winged animals for the most part shine through within it, which, entangled in the moisture, are soon, as the material hardens, shut in. Therefore I would believe that more fecund groves and sacred woods, just as in the secrets of the East, where frankincense and balsam are sweated out, so likewise exist in the islands and lands of the West, which, expressed by the rays of the neighboring sun and becoming liquid, glide into the nearest sea and, by the force of storms, are washed up onto the opposite shores.

Si naturam sucini admoto igni temptes, in modum taedae accenditur alitque flammam pinguem et olentem; mox ut in picem resinamve lentescit.

If you test the nature of amber by applying fire, it is kindled in the manner of a torch and feeds a rich and odorous flame; soon it grows viscous, as into pitch or resin.

Suionibus Sitonum gentes continuantur. Cetera similes uno differunt, quod femina dominatur; in tantum non modo a libertate sed etiam a servitute degenerant.

To the Suiones the tribes of the Sitones are contiguous. In the rest similar, they differ in one thing, that a woman exercises dominion; to such an extent they degenerate not only from liberty but even from servitude.

[46] Hic Suebiae finis. Peucinorum Venedorumque et Fennorum nationes Germanis an Sarmatis adscribam dubito, quamquam Peucini, quos quidam Bastarnas vocant, sermone, cultu, sede ac domiciliis ut Germani agunt. Sordes omnium ac torpor procerum; conubiis mixtis nonnihil in Sarmatarum habitum foedantur.

[46] Here is the end of Suevia. I hesitate whether to ascribe the nations of the Peucini, the Venedi, and the Fenni to the Germans or to the Sarmatians, although the Peucini, whom some call the Bastarnae, in speech, culture, seat and domiciles behave as Germans. The filthiness of all and the torpor of the chiefs; with intermarriages mixed they are to some extent defiled into the habit of the Sarmatians.

Venedi multum ex moribus traxerunt; nam quidquid inter Peucinos Fennosque silvarum ac montium erigitur latrociniis pererrant. Hi tamen inter Germanos potius referuntur, quia et domos figunt et scuta gestant et pedum usu ac pernicitate gaudent: quae omnia diversa Sarmatis sunt in plaustro equoque viventibus. Fennis mira feritas, foeda paupertas: non arma, non equi, non penates; victui herba, vestitui pelles, cubile humus: solae in sagittis spes, quas inopia ferri ossibus asperant.

Venedi have drawn much from others’ mores; for whatever of woods and mountains rises between the Peucini and the Fenni, they roam through with brigandage. Yet these are reckoned rather among the Germans, because they also fix houses and carry shields and take pleasure in the use of their feet and in swiftness: all which things are different in the Sarmatians, who live in wagon and on horse. In the Fenni there is a wondrous savagery, a foul poverty: no arms, no horses, no household gods; for food, grass; for clothing, skins; for a bed, the ground: their sole hope is in arrows, which, for want of iron, they sharpen with bones.

Idemque venatus viros pariter ac feminas alit; passim enim comitantur partemque praedae petunt. Nec aliud infantibus ferarum imbriumque suffugium quam ut in aliquo ramorum nexu contegantur: huc redeunt iuvenes, hoc senum receptaculum. Sed beatius arbitrantur quam ingemere agris, inlaborare domibus, suas alienasque fortunas spe metuque versare: securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos rem difficillimam adsecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset.

And the same hunt sustains men and women alike; for they accompany them everywhere and claim a share of the prey. Nor have their infants any other shelter against wild beasts and rains than to be covered in some interlacing of branches: hither the young men return, this is the refuge of the old. Yet they judge it happier than to groan over fields, to toil at houses, to turn their own and others’ fortunes with hope and fear: secure against men, secure against gods, they have achieved a most difficult thing—that they have no need even of a vow.

Cetera iam fabulosa: Hellusios et Oxionas ora hominum voltusque, corpora atque artus ferarum gerere: quod ego ut incompertum in medio relinquam.

The rest are now fabulous: that the Hellusii and the Oxiones bear the mouths and visages of men, but the bodies and limbs of wild beasts: which, as unascertained, I will leave undecided.