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Germania and Agricola 1

Germania and Agricola 1

Germania and Agricola: Caius Cornelius Tacitus


PREFACE.


This edition of the Germania and Agricola of Tacitus is designed to meet
the following wants, which, it is believed, have been generally felt by
teachers and pupils in American Colleges.

1. A Latin text, approved and established by the essential concurrence of
all the more recent editors. The editions of Tacitus now in use in this
country abound in readings purely conjectural, adopted without due regard
to the peculiarities of the author, and in direct contravention of the
critical canon, that, other things being equal, the more difficult
reading is the more likely to be genuine. The recent German editions
labor to exhibit and explain, so far as possible, the reading of the best
MSS.

2. A more copious illustration of the grammatical constructions, also of
the rhetorical and poetical usages peculiar to Tacitus, without
translating, however, to such an extent as to supersede the proper
exertions of the student. Few books require so much illustration of this
kind, as the Germania and Agricola of Tacitus; few have received more in
Germany, yet few so little here. In a writer so concise and abrupt as
Tacitus, it has been deemed necessary to pay particular regard to the
connexion of thought, and to the particles, as the hinges of that
connexion.

3. A comparison of the writer and his cotemporaries with authors of the
Augustan age, so as to mark concisely the changes which had been already
wrought in the language and taste of the Roman people. It is chiefly with
a view to aid such a comparison, that it has been thought advisable to
prefix a Life of Tacitus, which is barren indeed of personal incidents,
but which it is hoped may serve to exhibit the author in his relation to
the history, and especially to the literature, of his age.

4. The department in which less remained to be done than any other, for
the elucidation of Tacitus, was that of Geography, History, and
Archaeology. The copious notes of Gordon and Murphy left little to be
desired in this line; and these notes are not only accessible to American
scholars in their original forms, but have been incorporated, more or
less, into all the college editions. If any peculiar merit attaches to
this edition, in this department, it will be found in the frequent
references to such classic authors as furnish collateral information, and
in the illustration of the private life of the Romans, by the help of
such recent works as Becker's Gallus. The editor has also been able to
avail himself of Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo Saxons, which sheds
not a little light on the manners of the Germans.

5. Many of the ablest commentaries on the Germania and Agricola have
appeared within a comparatively recent period, some of them remarkable
examples of critical acumen and exegetical tact, and others, models of
school and college editions. It has been the endeavor of the editor to
bring down the literature pertaining to Tacitus to the present time, and
to embody in small compass the most valuable results of the labors of
such recent German editors as Grimm, Gunther, Gruber, Kiessling, Dronke,
Roth, Ruperti, and Walther.

The text is, in the main, that of Walther, though the other editors just
named have been consulted; and in such minor differences as exist between
them, I have not hesitated to adopt the reading which seemed best to
accord with the usage and genius of Tacitus, especially when sanctioned
by a decided preponderance of critical suffrage. Other readings have been
referred to in the Notes, so far as they are of any considerable
importance, or supported by respectable authority. Partly for
convenience, but chiefly as a matter of taste, I have ventured to follow
the German editions in dispensing entirely with diacritical marks, and in
some peculiarities of less importance, which if not viewed with favor, it
is hoped, will not be judged with severity. The punctuation is the result
of a diligent comparison of the best editions, together with a careful
study of the connexion of language and of thought.

The German editions above mentioned, together with several French,
English, and American works, have not only been constantly before me, but
have been used with great freedom, and credit awarded to them
accordingly. Some may think their names should have appeared less
frequently; others that they should have received credit to a still
greater extent. Suffice it to say, I have never intended to quote the
language, or borrow the thoughts of an author, without giving his name;
and in matters of fact or opinion, I have cited authorities not only when
I have been indebted to them for the suggestion, but whenever, in a case
of coincidence of views, I thought the authorities would be of any
interest to the student.

I have not considered it needful, with German scrupulosity, to
distinguish between my own references and those of others. It may safely
be taken for granted, that the major, perhaps the better, part of them
have been derived from foreign sources. But no references have been
admitted on trust. They have been carefully verified, and it is hoped
that numerous as they are, they will be found pertinent and useful,
whether illustrative of things, or of mere verbal usage. Some, who use
the book, will doubtless find occasion to follow them out either in whole
or in part; and those who do not, will gain a general impression as to
the sources from which collateral information may be obtained, that will
be of no small value.

The frequent references to the Notes of Professor Kingsley, will show the
estimation in which I hold them. Perhaps I have used them too freely. My
only apology is, that so far as they go, they are just what is wanted;
and if I had avoided using them to a considerable extent, I must have
substituted something less perfect of my own. Had they been more copious,
and extended more to verbal and grammatical illustrations, these Notes
never would have appeared.

The editor is convinced, from his experience as a teacher, that the
student of Tacitus will not master the difficulties, or appreciate the
merits, of so peculiar an author, unless his peculiarities are distinctly
pointed out and explained. Indeed, the student, in reading any classic
author, needs, not to be carried along on the broad shoulders of an
indiscriminate translator, but to be guided at every step in learning his
lessons, by a judicious annotator, who will remove his difficulties, and
aid his progress; who will point out to him what is worthy of attention,
and guard him against the errors to which he is constantly exposed; for
first impressions are lively and permanent, and the errors of the study,
even though corrected in the recitation, not unfrequently leave an
impression on the mind which is never effaced.

Besides the aid derived from books, to which the merit of this edition,
if it have any merit, will be chiefly owing, the editor takes this
opportunity to acknowledge his many obligations to those professors and
other literary gentlemen, who have extended to him assistance and
encouragement. To Prof. H. B. Hackett, of Newton Theological Seminary,
especially, he is indebted for favors, which, numerous and invaluable in
themselves, as the results of a singularly zealous and successful
devotion to classical learning, are doubly grateful as the tokens of a
personal friendship, which began when we were members of the same class
in college. The work was commenced at his suggestion, and has been
carried forward with his constant advice and co-operation. His ample
private library, and, through his influence, the library of the Seminary,
have been placed at my disposal; and the notes passed under his eye and
were improved in not a few particulars, at his suggestion, though he is
in no way responsible for their remaining imperfections. I have also
received counsel and encouragement in all my labors from my esteemed
colleague, Prof. N. W. Fiske, whose instructions in the same department
which has since been committed to my charge, first taught me to love the
Greek and Latin classics. I have only to regret that his ill health and
absence from the country have prevented me from deriving still greater
advantages from his learning and taste. An unforeseen event has, in like
manner, deprived me of the expected cooperation of Prof. Lyman Coleman,
now of Nassau Hall College in N. J., in concert with whom this work was
planned, and was to have been executed, and on whose ripe scholarship,
and familiarity with the German language and literature, I chiefly relied
for its successful accomplishment.

I should not do justice to my feelings, were I to omit the expression of
my obligations to the printer and publishers for the unwearied patience
with which they have labored to perfect the work, under all the
disadvantages attending the superintendance of the press, at such a
distance. If there should still be found in it inaccuracies and
blemishes, it will not be because they have spared any pains to make it a
correct and beautiful book.

It is with unfeigned diffidence that I submit to the public this first
attempt at literary labor. I am fully sensible of its many imperfections,
at the same time I am conscious of an ability to make it better at some
future day, should it meet the favorable regard of the classical teachers
of our land, to whom it is dedicated as an humble contribution to that
cause in which they are now laboring, with such unprecedented zeal.
Should it contribute in any measure to a better understanding, or a
higher appreciation by our youthful countrymen of a classic author, from
whom, beyond almost any other, I have drawn instruction and delight, I
shall not have labored in vain.

_Amherst College, June 1, 1847_.




PREFACE TO THE REVISED EDITION


The text of this edition has been carefully revised and compared with
those of Doderlein, Halle, 1847, Orelli, Zurich, 1848, and Ritter, Bonn
and Cambridge, 1848. The notes also have been re-examined and, to a
considerable extent, re-written; partly to correspond with the progress
of my own mind, partly in accordance with suggestions derived from the
above named editions, and from friendly criticisms either by letter or in
the public journals. Among the journals, I am particularly indebted to
the Bibliotheca Sacra and the New-Englander; and for communications by
letter, I am under especial obligations to Professors Crosby and Sanborn
of Dartmouth College, Robbins of Middlebury, and Lincoln of Brown
University.

In revising the geography of the Germania, I have consulted, without
however entering much into detail, Ukert's invaluable treatise on the
Geography of the Greeks and Romans, whose volume on Germany contains a
translation and running commentary on almost the entire work of Tacitus.
Particular attention has been paid to the ethnology of the tribes and
nations, in reference to whose origin and early history Tacitus is among
the best authorities. In this department the works of Prichard and Latham
have been my chief reliance. Grimm and Zeuss, though often referred to, I
regret to say I have been able to consult only at second hand.

In sending out this revised edition of these most delightful treatises of
an author, in the study of whose works I never tire, I cannot but express
the hope, that it has been not a little improved by these alterations and
additions, while it will be found to have lost none of the essential
features by which the first edition was commended to so good a measure of
public favor.

W. S. Tyler.

_Amherst, May_, 1852




LIFE OF TACITUS.


It is the office of genius and learning, as of light, to illustrate
other things, and not itself. The writers, who, of all others perhaps,
have told us most of the world, just as it has been and is, have told us
least of themselves. Their character we may infer, with more or less
exactness, from their works, but their history is unwritten and must for
ever remain so. Homer, though, perhaps, the only one who has been argued
out of existence, is by no means the only one whose age and birthplace
have been disputed. The native place of Tacitus is mere matter of
conjecture. His parentage is not certainly known. The time of his birth
and the year of his death are ascertained only by approximation, and very
few incidents are recorded in the history of his life; still we know the
period in which he lived, the influences under which his character was
developed and matured, and the circumstances under which he wrote his
immortal works. In short, we know his times, though we can scarcely
gather up enough to denominate his life; and the times in which an author
lived, are often an important, not to say, essential means of elucidating
his writings.

CAIUS CORNELIUS TACITUS was born in the early part of the reign of Nero,
and near the middle of the first century in the Christian Era. The
probability is, that he was the son of Cornelius Tacitus, a man of
equestrian rank, and procurator of Belgic Gaul under Nero; that he was
born at Interamna in Umbria, and that he received a part of his education
at Massilia (the modern Marseilles), which was then the Athens of the
West, a Grecian colony, and a seat of truly Grecian culture and
refinement. It is not improbable that he enjoyed also the instructions of
Quintilian, who for twenty years taught at Rome that pure and manly
eloquence, of which his Institutes furnish at once such perfect rules,
and so fine an example. If we admit the Dialogue de Claris Oratoribus to
be the work of Tacitus, his beau-ideal of the education proper for an
orator was no less comprehensive, no less elevated, no less liberal, than
that of Cicero himself; and if his theory of education was, like
Cicero's, only a transcript of his own education, he must have been
disciplined early in all the arts and sciences--in all the departments
of knowledge which were then cultivated at Rome; a conclusion in which we
are confirmed also by the accurate and minute acquaintance which he
shows, in his other works, with all the affairs, whether civil or
military, public or private, literary or religious, both of Greece and
Rome.

The boyhood and youth of Tacitus did, indeed, fall on evil times.
Monsters in vice and crime had filled the throne, till their morals and
manners had infected those of all the people. The state was distracted,
and apparently on the eve of dissolution. The public taste, like the
general conscience, was perverted. The fountains of education were
poisoned. Degenerate Grecian masters were inspiring their Roman pupils
with a relish for a false science, a frivolous literature, a vitiated
eloquence, an Epicurean creed, and a voluptuous life.

But with sufficient discernment to see the follies and vices of his age,
and with sufficient virtue to detest them, Tacitus must have found his
love of wisdom and goodness, of liberty and law, strengthened by the
very disorders and faults of the times. If the patriot ever loves a
well-regulated freedom, it will be in and after the reign of a tyrant,
preceded or followed by what is still worse, anarchy. If the pure and the
good ever reverence purity and goodness, it will be amid the general
prevalence of vice and crime. If the sage ever pants after wisdom, it is
when the fountains of knowledge have become corrupted. The reigns of Nero
and his immediate successors were probably the very school, of all
others, to which we are most indebted for the comprehensive wisdom, the
elevated sentiments, and the glowing eloquence of the biographer of
Agricola, and the historian of the Roman Empire. His youth saw, and felt,
and deplored the disastrous effects of Nero's inhuman despotism, and of
the anarchy attending the civil wars of Galba, Otho, and Vitellius. His
manhood saw, and felt, and exulted in the contrast furnished by the
reigns of Vespasian and Titus, though the sun of the latter too soon went
down, in that long night of gloom, and blood, and terror, the tyranny of
Domitian. And when, in the reigns of Nerva and Trajan, he enjoyed the
rare felicity of thinking what he pleased, and speaking what he thought,
he was just fitted in the maturity of his faculties, and the extent of
his observation and reflections, "to enroll slowly, year after year, that
dreadful reality of crimes and sufferings, which even dramatic horror, in
all its license of wild imagination, can scarcely reach, the long
unvarying catalogue of tyrants and executioners, and victims that return
thanks to the gods and die, and accusers rich with their blood, and more
mighty as more widely hated, amid the multitudes of prostrate slaves,
still looking whether there may not yet have escaped some lingering
virtue which it may be a merit to destroy, and having scarcely leisure to
feel even the agonies of remorse in the continued sense of the
precariousness of their own gloomy existence." [Brown's Philosophy of the
Mind.]

Tacitus was educated for the bar, and continued to plead causes,
occasionally at least, and with not a little success, even after he had
entered upon the great business of his life, as a writer of history. We
find references to his first, and perhaps his last appearance, as an
advocate, in the Letters of Pliny, which are highly complimentary. The
first was, when Pliny was nineteen, and Tacitus a little older (how much
we are not informed), when Tacitus distinguished himself, so as to awaken
the emulation and the envy, though not in a bad sense, of Pliny. The last
was some twenty years later, when Tacitus and Pliny, the tried friends of
a whole life, the brightest ornaments of literature and of the forum,
were associated by the choice of the Senate, and pleaded together at
the bar of the Senate, and in the presence of the Emperor Trajan, for
the execution of justice upon Marius Priscus, who was accused of
maladministration in the proconsulship of Africa. Pliny says, that
Tacitus spoke with singular gravity and eloquence, and the Senate passed
a unanimous vote of approbation and thanks to both the orators, for the
ability and success with which they had managed the prosecution (Plin.
Epis. ii. 11)

We have also the comments of Pliny on a panegyrical oration, which
Tacitus pronounced, when consul, upon his predecessor in the consular
office, Verginius Rufus, perhaps the most remarkable man of his age,
distinguished alike as a hero, a statesman, and a scholar, and yet so
modest or so wise that he repeatedly refused the offer of the imperial
purple. "Fortune," says Pliny, "always faithful to Verginius, reserved
for her last favor, such an orator to pronounce a eulogium on such
virtues. It was enough to crown the glory of a well spent life" (Plin.
Epis. ii. 1).

The speeches in the historical works of Tacitus, though rather concise
and abstract for popular orations, are full of force and fire. Some of
them are truly Demosthenic in their impassioned and fiery logic. The
speech of Galgacus before the Briton army, when driven into the extremity
of Caledonia by the Romans under Agricola, can hardly be surpassed for
patriotic sentiments, vigorous reasoning, and burning invective. The
address of Germanicus to his mutinous soldiers (in the Annals) is not
less remarkable for tender pathos. The sage and yet soldierlike address
of the aged Galba to his adopted son Piso, the calm and manly speech of
Piso to the body guard, the artful harangue of the demagogue Otho to his
troops, the no less crafty address of Mucianus to Vespasian, the headlong
rapidity of Antonius' argument for immediate action, the plausible plea
of Marcellus Eprius against the honest attack of Helvidius Priscus, and
the burning rebukes of the intrepid Vocula to his cowardly and
treacherous followers--all these, in the Histories, show no ordinary
degree of rhetorical skill and versatility. Indeed, the entire body of
his works is animated with the spirit of the orator, as it is tinged also
with the coloring of the poet. For this reason, they are doubtless
deficient in the noble simplicity of the earlier classical histories; but
for the same reason they may be a richer treasure for the professional
men at least of modern times.

Of his marriage with the daughter of Agricola, and its influence on his
character and prospects, as also of his passing in regular gradation
through the series of public honors at Rome, beginning with the
quaestorship under Vespasian, and ending with the consulship under Nerva,
Tacitus informs us himself (A. 9, His. i. 1), barely alluding to them,
however, in the general, and leaving all the details to mere conjecture.
We learn to our surprise, that he not only escaped the jealousy of the
tyrant Domitian, but was even promoted by him to the office of
Quindecimvir and Praetor (Ann. ii. 11). Beyond these vague notices, we
know little or nothing of his course of life, except that Pliny says
(Epist. iv. 13), he was much esteemed by the learned and the great at
Rome, who went in crowds to his levees. Of the time of his death, we can
only conjecture, that he died before the Emperor Trajan, but after his
friend Pliny--the former, because, had he outlived the Emperor, he would
probably have executed his purpose of writing the history of his reign
(His. i. 1); the latter, because, if he had not survived his friend,
Pliny, who lamented the death of so many others, would not have failed to
pay the last tribute to the memory of Tacitus.

It is generally admitted, though without direct testimony, that Tacitus
died not without issue. That excellent prince, M. Claudius Tacitus,
deduced his pedigree from the historian, and ordered his image to be set
up, and a complete collection of his works to be placed in the public
archives, with a special direction that twelve copies should be made
every year at the public expense. It is greatly to be regretted that such
praiseworthy precautions should have failed to preserve for us that
treasure entire!

The age of Tacitus is usually styled the silver age of Roman Literature;
and it merits no higher title, when compared with the golden age of
Augustus. It was the good fortune of Augustus to gain the supremacy at
Rome, when society had reached its maximum of refinement, and was just
ready to enter upon its stage of corruption and decline. Hence his name
is identified with that proud era in literature, in producing which he
bore at best only an accidental and secondary part. In the literature of
the Augustan age, we admire the substance of learning and philosophy
without the show, the cultivation of taste without the parade of
criticism, the fascination of poetry without its corruption, and the use
of eloquence without its abuse. Grecian refinement was no longer
despised; Grecian effeminacy had not yet prevailed. The camp was not now
the home of the Romans; neither were the theatres and the schools. They
had ceased to be a nation of soldiers, and had not yet become a nation of
slaves. At no other period could Rome have had her Cicero, her Livy, and
her Virgil.

The silver age produced no men who "attained unto these first three." But
there are not wanting other bright names to associate with Tacitus,
though most of them lived a little earlier than he. There was Seneca, the
Philosopher, whose style, with its perpetual antitheses, is the very
worst of the age, but his sentiments, perhaps more or less under the
influence of Christianity, approach nearer to the Christian code of
morals than those of any other Latin author. There were Martial and
Juvenal, whose satires made vice tremble in its high places, and helped
to confer on the Romans the honor of originating one species of literary
composition, unknown to the Greeks. There were Suetonius and Plutarch;
the one natural, simple, and pure in his style, far beyond his age, but
without much depth or vigor of thought; the other involved and affected
in his manner, but in his matter of surpassing richness and incalculable
worth. There was the elder Pliny, a prodigy of learning and industry,
whose researches in Natural History cost him his life, in that fatal
eruption of Vesuvius which buried Herculaneum and Pompeii. There was also
the judicious Quintilian, at once neat and nervous in his language,
delicate and correct in his criticisms, a man of genius and a scholar, a
teacher and an exemplar of eloquence. Finally, there were the younger
Pliny and Tacitus, rival candidates for literary and professional
distinction, yet cherishing for each other the most devoted and
inviolable attachment, each viewing the other as the ornament of their
country, each urging the other to write the history of their age, and
each relying chiefly on the genius of the other for his own immortality
(Plin. Epis. vii. 33). Their names were together identified by their
contemporaries with the literature of the age of Trajan: "I never was
touched with a more sensible pleasure," says Pliny, in one of his
beautiful Letters [Eleven of these are addressed to Tacitus, and two
or three are written expressly for the purpose of furnishing materials
for his history.] (which rival Cicero's in epistolary ease and
elegance), "than by an account which I lately received from Cornelius
Tacitus. He informed me, that at the last Circensian Games, he sat next
a stranger, who, after much discourse on various topics of learning,
asked him whether he was an Italian or a Provincial. Tacitus replied,
'Your acquaintance with literature must have informed you who I am.'
'Aye,' said the man, 'is it then Tacitus or Pliny I am talking with?' I
cannot express how highly I am pleased to find, that our names are not
so much the proper appellations of individuals, as a designation of
learning itself" (Plin. Epis. ix. 23). Critics are not agreed to which
of these two literary friends belongs the delicate encomium of
Quintilian, when, after enumerating the principal writers of the day,
he adds, "There is another ornament of the age, who will deserve the
admiration of posterity. I do not mention him at present; his name will
be known hereafter." Pliny, Tacitus, and Quintilian, are also rival
candidates for the honor of having written the Dialogue de Claris
Oratoribus, one of the most valuable productions in ancient criticism.

As a writer, Tacitus was not free from the faults of his age. The native
simplicity of Greek and Latin composition had passed away. An affected
point and an artificial brilliancy were substituted in their place. The
rhetoric and philosophy of the schools had infected all the departments
of literature. Simple narrative no longer suited the pampered taste of
the readers or the writers of history. It must be highly seasoned with
sentimentalism and moralizing, with romance and poetry. Tacitus,
certainly, did not escape the infection. In the language of Macaulay, "He
carries his love of effect far beyond the limits of moderation. He tells
a fine story finely, but he cannot tell a plain story plainly. He
stimulates, till stimulants lose their power." [See a fine article on
history, Ed. Her., 1828. Also in Macaulay's Miscellanies.] We have taken
occasion in the notes to point out not a few examples of rhetorical
pomp, and poetical coloring, and even needless multiplication of words,
where plainness and precision would have been much better, and which
may well surprise us in a writer of so much conciseness. Lord Monboddo,
in a very able, though somewhat extravagant critique on Tacitus, has
selected numerous instances of what he calls the ornamented dry style,
many of which are so concise, so rough, and so broken, that he says,
they do not deserve the name of composition, but seem rather like the
raw materials of history, than like history itself (Orig. and Prog.
of Lang., vol iii. chap. 12).

Still, few readers can fail to pronounce Tacitus, as Macaulay affirms,
and even Lord Monboddo admits him to be, the greatest of Latin
historians, superior to Thucydides himself in the moral painting of his
best narrative scenes, and in the delineation of character without a
rival among historians, with scarcely a superior among dramatists and
novelists. The common style of his narrative is, indeed, wanting in
simplicity, and sometimes in perspicuity. He does not deal enough in the
specific and the picturesque, the where, the when and the how. But when
his subject comes up to the grandeur of his conceptions, and the strength
of his language, his descriptions are graphic and powerful. No battle
scenes are more grand and terrific than those of Tacitus. Military men
and scholars have also remarked their singular correctness and
definiteness. The military evolutions, the fierce encounter, the doubtful
struggle, the alternations of victory and defeat, the disastrous rout and
hot pursuit, the carnage and blood, are set forth with the warrior's
accuracy and the poet's fire; while, at the same time, the conflicting
passions and emotions of the combatants are discerned, as it were, by the
eye of a seer--their hidden springs of action, and the lowest depths of
their hearts laid bare, as if by the wand of a magician. In the painting
of large groups, in the moral portraiture of vast bodies of men under
high excitement and in strenuous exertion, we think that Tacitus far
surpasses all other historians. Whether it be a field of battle or a
captured city, a frightened senate or a flattering court, a mutiny or a
mob, that he describes, we not only see in a clear and strong light the
outward actions, but we look into the hearts of all the mixed multitude,
and gaze with wonder on the changing emotions and conflicting passions by
which they are agitated.

His delineations of individual character are also marked by the same
profound insight into the human soul. Like the old Latin Poet, he might
have said,

    "Homo sum; nihil _humani_ a me alienum puto."

There is scarcely a landscape picture in his whole gallery. It is full of
portraits of _men_, in groups and as individuals, every grade of
condition, every variety of character, performing all kinds of actions,
exhibiting every human passion, the colors laid on with a bold hand, the
principal features presented in a strong light, the minuter strokes
omitted, the soft and delicate finish despised. We feel, that we have
gained not a little insight into the character of those men, who are
barely introduced in the extant books of Tacitus, but whose history is
given in the books that are lost. Men of inferior rank even, who appear
on the stage only for a short time, develope strongly marked characters,
which are drawn with dramatic distinctness and power, while yet the
thread of history is never broken, the dignity of history never
sacrificed. And those Emperors, whose history is preserved entire,--with
them we feel acquainted, we know the controlling principles, as well as
the leading events of their lives, and we feel sure that we could predict
how they would act, under almost any imaginable circumstances.

In a faithful portraiture of the private and public life of the
degenerate Romans, there was much to call for the hand of a master in
_satire_. And we find in the glowing sketches of our author, all the
vigor and point of a Juvenal, without his vulgarity and obscenity; all
the burning indignation which the Latin is so peculiarly capable of
expressing, with all the vigor and stateliness by which the same language
is equally characterized. Tacitus has been sometimes represented as a
very Diogenes, for carping and sarcasm--a very Aristophanes, to blacken
character with ridicule and reproach. But he is as far removed from the
cynic or the buffoon, as from the panegyrist or the flatterer. He is not
the indiscriminate admirer that Plutarch was. Nor is he such a universal
hater as Sallust. It is the fault of the times that he is obliged to deal
so much in censure. If there ever were perfect monsters on earth, such
were several of the Roman Emperors. Yet Tacitus describes few, if any, of
them without some of the traits of humanity. He gives us in his history
neither demons nor gods, but veritable men and women. In this respect, as
also in his descriptions of battles, Tacitus is decidedly superior to
Livy. The characters of Livy are distinguishable only as classes--the
good all very good, the bad very bad, the indifferent very indifferent.
You discover no important difference between a Fabius and a Marcellus,
further than it lies on the face of their actions. In Tacitus, the
characters are all individuals. Each stands out distinctly from the
surrounding multitude, and not only performs his own proper actions, but
is governed by his own peculiar motives. Livy places before us the
statues of heroes and gods; Tacitus conducts us through the crowd of
living men.

In an attempt to sketch the most striking features of Tacitus, as a
writer, no critic can omit to mention his sage and pithy maxims.
Apothegms abound on every page--sagacious, truthful, and profound in
sentiment, in style concise, antithetic and sententious. Doubtless he is
excessively fond of pointed antithesis. Perhaps he is too much given to
moralizing and reflection. It was, as we have said, the fault of his age.
But no one, who is familiar with Seneca, will severely censure Tacitus.
He will only wonder that he should have risen so far above the faults of
his contemporaries. Indeed, Tacitus interweaves his reflections with so
much propriety, and clothes his apothegms with so much dignity--he is so
manifestly competent to instruct the world by maxims, whether in civil,
social, or individual life, that we are far from wishing he had indulged
in it less. His reflections do not interrupt the thread of his narrative.
They grow naturally out of his incidents. They break forth spontaneously
from the lips of his men. His history is indeed philosophy teaching by
examples; and his pithy sayings are truly lessons of wisdom, embodied in
the form most likely to strike the attention, and impress the memory. We
should love to see a collection of apothegms from the pen of Tacitus. It
would make an admirable book of laconics. No book would give you more
ideas in fewer words. Nowhere could you gain so much knowledge, and lose
so little time. The reader of Tacitus, who will study him with pen in
hand, to mark, or refer to the most striking passages, will soon find
himself master of a text book in moral and political science, we might
say a text book in human nature, singularly concise and sententious, and
what is not always true even of concise and sententious writers, as
singularly wise and profound. In such a book, many of the _speeches_
would find a place entire; for many of them are little else than a series
of condensed, well-timed, and most instructive apothegms. [E.g. the
speech of Galba to Piso. His. i. 15, 16.]

But the scholar, who is on the lookout, will find lurking in every
section, and almost every sentence, some important truth in morals, in
politics, in the individual or social nature of man. Neither the editor
nor the teacher can be expected to develope these sentiments, nor even,
in many instances, to point them out. That labor must be performed by the
scholar; and his will be the reward.

No hasty perusal, no single reading of Tacitus, will give a just
conception of the surpassing richness of his works. They must be studied
profoundly to be duly appreciated. They are a mine of wisdom, of vast
extent and unknown depth, whose treasures lie chiefly beneath the
surface, imbedded in the solid rock which must be entered with mining
implements, explored with strong lights, and its wealth brought up by
severe toil and sweat.






C. CORN. TACITUS

DE SITU, MORIBUS ET POPULIS GERMANIAE




BREVIARIUM LIBELLI.


Cap. 1. Germaniae situs: 2. incolae indigenae: auctores gentis: nominis
origo: Hercules. 3. Baritus: ara Ulixis. 4. Germani, gens sincera:
habitus corporum. 5. Terrae natura: non aurum, non argentum, nec
aestimatum. 6. Germanorum arma, equitatus, peditatus, ordo militiae: 7.
reges, duces, sacerdotes: 8. feminarum virtus et veneratio: Veleda:
Aurinia. 9. dii, sacra, simulacra nulla. 10. Auspicia, sortes: ex equis,
e captivo praesagia. 11. Consultationes publicae et conventus. 12.
Accusationes, poenae, jus redditum. 13. Scuto frameaque ornati juvenes,
principum comites: eorum virtus et fama. 14. Gentis bellica studia. 15.
In pace, venatio, otium: Collata principibus munera. 16. Urbes nullae:
vici, domus, specus suffugium hiemi et receptaculum frugibus. 17.
Vestitus hominum, feminarum. 18. Matrimonia severa: dos a marito oblata.
19. Pudicitia. Adulterii poena: Monogamia: Liberorum numerus non finitus.
20. Liberorum educatio: Successionis leges. 21. Patris, propinqui,
amicitiae, inimicitiaeque susceptae: homicidii pretium: Hospitalitas. 22.
Lotio, victus, ebriorum rixae: consultatio in conviviis. 23. Potus,
cibus. 24. Spectacula: aleae furor. 25. Servi, libertini. 26. Fenus
ignotum: Agricultura: Anni tempora. 27. Funera, sepulcra, luctus.

28. Singularum gentium instituta: Galli, olim valida gens, in Germaniam
transgressi, Helvetii, Boii: Aravisci, Osi, incertum genus: Germanicae
originis populi Treveri, Nervii, Vangiones, Triboci, Nemetes, Ubii. 29.
Batavi, Cattorum proles: Mattiaci: Decumates agri. 30, 31. Cattorum
regio, habitus, disciplina militaris; vota, virtutis incentiva. 32.
Usipii, Tencteri, equitatu praestantes. 33. Bructerorum sedes, a Chamavis
et Angrivariis occupatae. 34. Dulgibini: Chasvari: Frisii. 35. Chauci,
pacis studio, justitia, et virtute nobiles. 36. Cherusci et Fosi, a
Cattis victi. 37. Cimbrorum parva civitas, gloria ingens: Romanorum
clades; Germani triumphati magis quam victi. 38. Suevorum numerus, mores.
39. Semnonum religio, victimae humanae 40. Longobardi: Reudigni: Aviones:
Angli: Varini: Eudoses: Suardones: Nuithones: Herthae cultus communis.
41. Hermunduri. 42. Narisci: Marcomanni: Quadi. 43. Marsigni: Gothini:
Osi: Burii: Lygiorum civitates, Arii, Helvecones, Manimi, Elysii,
Naharvali; horum numen Alcis: Gotones: Rugii: Lemovii. 44. Suiones,
classibus valentes. 45. Mare pigrum: Aestyi, Matris Deum cultores,
succinum legunt: Sitonibus femina imperat. 46. Peucini, Venedi, Fenni,
Germani, an Sarmatae? Eorum feritas, paupertas: Hominum monstra,
Hellusii, Oxiones.




I. Germania omnis a Gallis Rhaetisque et Pannoniis Rheno et Danubio
fluminibus, a Sarmatis Dacisque mutuo metu aut montibus separatur: cetera
Oceanus ambit, latos sinus et insularum immensa spatia complectens, nuper
cognitis quibusdam gentibus ac regibus, quos bellum aperuit. Rhenus,
Rhaeticarum Alpium inaccesso ac praecipiti vertice ortus, modico flexu in
occidentem versus, septentrionali Oceano miscetur. Danubius, molli et
clementer edito montis Abnobae jugo effusus, plures populos adit, donec
in Ponticum mare sex meatibus erumpat: septimum os paludibus hauritur.

II. Ipsos Germanos indigenas crediderim, minimeque aliarum gentium
adventibus et hospitiis mixtos; quia nec terra olim, sed classibus
advehebantur, qui mutare sedes quaerebant, et immensus 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 coelo,
tristem cultu aspectuque, nisi si patria sit? Celebrant carminibus
antiquis (quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est) Tuisconem
deum terra editum, et filium Mannum, originem gentis conditoresque. Manno
tres filios assignant, e quorum nominibus proximi Oceano Ingaevones,
medii Hermiones, ceteri Istaevones vocentur. Quidam autem, ut in licentia
vetustatis, plures deo ortos pluresque gentis appellationes, Marsos,
Gambrivios, Suevos, Vandalios, affirmant; 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 a seipsis invento nomine Germani vocarentur.

III. Fuisse apud eos et Herculem memorant, primumque omnium virorum
fortium ituri in proelia canunt. Sunt illis haec quoque carmina, quorum
relatu, quem baritum vocant, accendunt animos, futuraeque pugnae fortunam
ipso cantu augurantur: terrent enim trepidantve, prout sonuit acies. Nec
tam voces illae, quam virtutis concentus videntur. Affectatur praecipue
asperitas soni et fractum murmur, objectis ad os scutis, quo plenior et
gravior vox repercussu intumescat. Ceterum et Ulixem quidam opinantur
longo illo et fabuloso errore in hunc Occanum delatum, adisse Germaniae
terras, Asciburgiumque, quod in ripa Rheni situm hodieque incolitur, ab
illo constitutum nominatumque. Aram quin etiam Ulixi consecratam,
adjecto Laertae patris nomine, eodem loco olim repertam, monumentaque et
tumulos quosdam Graecis litteris inscriptos in confinio Germaniae
Rhaetiaeque adhuc exstare: quae neque confirmare argumentis, neque
refellere in animo est: ex ingenio suo quisque demat, vel addat fidem.

IV. Ipse eorum opinionibus accedo, qui Germaniae populos nullis aliis
aliarum nationum connubiis infectos propriam et sinceram et tantum sui
similem gentem exstitisse arbitrantur: unde habitus quoque corporum,
quanquam in tanto hominum numero, idem omnibus; truces et cacrulei
oculi, rutilae comae, magna corpora et tantum ad impetum valida; laboris
atque operum non eadem patientia: minimeque sitim aestumque tolerare,
frigora atque inediam coelo solove assueverunt.

V. Terra, etsi aliquanto specie differt, in universum tamen aut silvis
horrida aut paludibus foeda: humidior, qua Gallias; ventosior, qua
Noricum ac Pannoniam aspicit: satis ferax; frugiferarum arborum
impatiens: pecorum fecunda, sed plerumque improcera; ne armentis quidem
suus honor, aut gloria frontis: numero gaudent; eaeque solae et
gratissimae opes sunt. Argentum et aurum propitii an irati dii
aegaverint, dubito. Nec tamen affirmaverim, nullam Germaniae venam
argentum aurumve gignere: quis enim scrutatus est? possessione et usu
haud perinde afficiuntur. Est videre apud illos argentea vasa, legatis et
principibus eorum muneri data, non in alia vilitate, quam quae humo
finguntur quanquam proximi, ob usum commerciorum, aurum et argentum in
pretio habent, formasque quasdam nostrae pecuniae agnoscunt atque
eligunt: interiores simplicius et antiquius permutatione mercium utuntur.
Pecuniam probant veterem et diu notam, serratos bigatosque. Argentum
quoque, magis quam aurum sequuntur, nulla affectione animi, sed quia
numerus argenteorum facilior usui est promiscua ac vilia mercantibus.

VI. Ne ferrum quidem superest, sicut ex genere telorum colligitur. Rari
gladiis aut majoribus 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 cominus vel eminus pugnent: et eques
quidem scuto frameaque contentus est: pedites et missilia spargunt, plura
singuli, atque in immensum vibrant, nudi aut sagulo leves. Nulla cultus
jactatio; scuta tantum lectissimis coloribus distinguunt: paucis loricae:
vix uni alterive cassis aut galea. Equi non forma, non velocitate
conspicui: sed nec variare gyros in morem nostrum docentur. In rectum,
aut uno flexu dextros agunt ita conjuncto 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 juventute delectos ante aciem locant. Definitur et numerus:
centeni ex singulis pagis sunt: idque ipsum inter suos vocantur; et quod
primo numerus fuit, jam nomen et honor est. Acies per cuneos componitur.
Cedere loco, dummodo rursus instes, consilii quam formidinis arbitrantur.
Corpora suorum etiam in dubiis proeliis referunt. Scutum reliquisse,
praecipuum flagitium; nec aut sacris adesse, aut concilium inire,
ignominioso fas; multique superstites bellorum infamiam laqueo finierunt.

VII. 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 jussu, sed velut deo imperante,
quem adesse bellantibus credunt: 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 conjuges vulnera ferunt; nec illae
numerare, aut exigere plagas pavent; cibosque et hortamina pugnantibus
gestant.

VIII. Memoriae proditur, quasdam acies, inclinatas jam et labantes, a
feminis restitutas, constantia precum et objectu pectorum et monstrata
cominus captivitate, quam longe impatientius 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 negligunt. Vidimus sub divo Vespasiano Veledam diu apud
plerosque numinis loco habitam. Sed et olim Auriniam et complures alias
venerati sunt non adulatione, nec tanquam facerent deas.

IX. Deorum maxime Mercurium colunt, cui certis diebus humanis quoque
hostiis litare fas habent. Herculem ac Martem concessis animalibus
placant: pars Suevorum et Isidi sacrificat. Unde causa et origo peregrino
sacro parum comperi, nisi quod signum ipsum, in modum liburnae figuratum,
docet advectam religionem. Ceterum nec cohibere parietibus deos, neque in
ullam humani oris speciem assimulare, ex magnitudine coelestium
arbitrantur: lucos ac nemora consecrant, deorumque nominibus appellant
secretum illud, quod sola reverentia vident.

X. 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 consuletur, sacerdos civitatis, sin privatim,
ipse paterfamiliae, precatus deos coelumque suspiciens, ter singulos
tollit, sublatos secundum impressam ante notam interpretatur. 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 iisdem nemoribus ac
lucis candidi et nullo mortali opere contacti: quos pressos sacro curru
sacerdos ac rex vel princeps civitatis comitantur, hinnitusque ac
fremitus observant. Nec ulli auspicio major 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; ejus gentis, cum qua bellum est, captivum, quoquo modo
interceptum, cum electo popularium suorum, patriis quemque armis,
committunt: victoria hujus vel illius pro praejudicio accipitur.

XI. De minoribus rebus principes consultant; de majoribus omnes: ita
tamen, ut ea quoque, quorum penes plebem arbitrium est, apud principes
pertractentur. Coeunt, nisi quid fortuitum et subitum inciderit, certis
diebus, cum aut inchoatur luna aut impletur: nam agendis rebus hoc
auspicatissimum initium credunt. Nec dierum numerum, ut nos, sed noctium
computant. Sic constituunt, sic condicunt: nox ducere diem videtur. Illud
ex libertate vitium, quod non simul, nec ut jussi conveniunt, sed et
alter et tertius dies cunctatione coeuntium absumitur. Ut turbae placuit,
considunt armati. Silentium per sacerdotes, quibus tum et coercendi jus
est, imperatur. Mox rex vel princeps, prout aetas cuique, prout nobilitas,
prout decus bellorum, prout facundia est, audiuntur, auctoritate suadendi
magis, quam jubendi potestate. Si displicuit sententia, fremitu
aspernantur; sin placuit, frameas concutiunt. Honoratissimum assensus
genus est, armis laudare.

XII. Licet apud concilium accusare quoque et discrimen capitis intendere.
Distinctio poenarum ex delicto: proditores et transfugas arboribus
suspendunt; ignavos et imbelles et corpore infames coeno ac palude,
injecta insuper crate, mergunt. Diversitas supplicii illuc respicit,
tanquam scelera ostendi oporteat, dum puniuntur, flagitia abscondi. Sed
et levioribus delictis, pro modo poenarum, equorum pecorumque numero
convicti mulctantur: pars mulctae regi vel civitati, pars ipsi, qui
vindicatur, vel propinquis ejus exsolvitur. Eliguntur in iisdem conciliis
et principes, qui jura per pagos vicosque reddunt. Centeni singulis ex
plebe comites, consilium simul et auctoritas, adsunt.

XIII. 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
propinquus scuto frameaque juvenem ornant: haec apud illos toga, hic
primus juventae honos: ante hoc domus pars videntur, mox reipublicae.
Insignis nobilitas, aut magna patrum merita, principis dignationem etiam
adolescentulis assignant: ceteris robustioribus ac jampridem probatis
aggregantur; nec rubor, inter comites aspici. Gradus quin etiam et ipse
comitatus habet judicio ejus, 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
electorum juvenum globo circumdari, in pace decus, in bello praesidium.
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.

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