_Sit_. Praesens, ut de re vera. Gun. _Nisi si_ is nearly equivalent to
_nisi forte: unless perchance_; unless if we may suppose the case. Cf.
Wr. note on Ann. 2, 63, and Hand's Tursellinus, 3, 240.
_Memoriae et annalium_. Properly opposed to each other as _tradition_ and
_written history_, though we are not to infer that written books existed
in Germany in the age of Tacitus.
_Carminibus_. _Songs, ballads_ (from cano). Songs and rude poetry have
been, in all savage countries, the memorials of public transactions,
e.g. the runes of the Goths, the bards of the Britons and Celts, the
scalds of Scandinavia, &c.
_Tuisconem_. The god from whom Tuesday takes its name, as Wednesday from
Woden, Thursday from Thor, &c., cf. Sharon Turner's His. of Ang. Sax.
app. to book 2. chap. 3. Some find in the name of this god the root of
the words Teutonic, Dutch (Germ. Deutsche or Teutsche &c.,) Al. Tuistonem,
Tristonem, &c. More likely it has the same root as the Latin divus,
dius, deus, and the Greek theios, dios, theos, cf. Grimm's _Deutsche
Mythologie_, sub v.
_Terra editum==indigena_ above; and gaegenaes and autochthon in Greek.
_Originem_==auctores. It is predicate after _Mannum_.
_Ut in licentia vetustatis. As in the license of antiquity_, i.e. since
such license is allowed in regard to ancient times.
_Ingaevones_. "According to some German antiquaries, the _Ingaevones_ are
die _Einwohner_, those dwelling inwards towards the sea; the _Istaevones_
are die _Westwohner_, the inhabitants of the western parts; and the
_Hermiones_ are the _Herumwohner_, midland inhabitants," Ky. cf.
Kiessling in loc. Others, e.g. Zeuss and Grimm, with more probability,
find in these names the roots of German words significant of _honor_
and _bravery_, assumed by different tribes or confederacies as epithets
or titles of distinction. Grimm identifies these three divisions with
the Franks, Saxons, and Thuringians of a later age. See further, note
chap. 27.
_Vocentur_. The subj. expresses the opinion of others, not the direct
affirmation of the author. H. 529; Z. 549.
_Deo_==hoc deo, sc. Mannus--Germ. Mann, Eng. Man.
_Marsos, Gambrivios_. Under the names of Franci and Salii these tribes
afterwards became formidable to the Romans. Cf. Prichard's Researches
into the Physical History of Mankind, Vol. III. chap. 6, sec. 2.--
_Suevos_, cf. note, 38.--_Vandalios_. The Vandals, now so familiar in
history.
_Additum_, sc. esse, depending on _affirmant_.
_Nunc Tungri_, sc. vocentur, cf. His. 4, 15, 16. In confirmation of the
historical accuracy of this passage, Gr. remarks, that Caes. (B.G. 2, 4)
does not mention the Tungri, but names four tribes on the left bank of
the Rhine, who, he says, are called by the common name of _Germans_;
while Pliny (Nat. His. 4, 31), a century later, gives not the names of
these four tribes, but calls them by the new name _Tungri_.
_Ita--vocarentur_. Locus vexatissimus! exclaim all the critics. And so
they set themselves to amend the text by conjecture. Some have written
_in nomen gentis_ instead of _non gentis_. Others have proposed _a
victorum metu_, or _a victo ob metum_, or _a victis ob metum_. But these
emendations are wholly conjectural and unnecessary. Gunther and Walch
render _a victore, from_ the victorious tribe, i.e. _after the name of_
that tribe. But _a se ipsis_ means _by_ themselves; and the antithesis
doubtless requires _a_ to be understood in the same sense in both
clauses. Gruber translates and explains thus: "In this way the name of a
single tribe, and not of the whole people, has come into use, so that
all, at first by the victor (the Tungri), in order to inspire fear, then
by themselves (by the mouth of the whole people), when once the name
became known, were called by the name of Germans. That is, the Tungri
called all the kindred tribes that dwelt beyond the Rhine, Germans, in
order to inspire fear by the wide extension of the name, since they gave
themselves out to be a part of so vast a people; but at length all the
tribes began to call themselves by this name, probably because they were
pleased to see the fear which it excited." This is, on the whole, the
most satisfactory explanation of the passage, and meets the essential
concurrence of Wr., Or. and Dod.--_Germani_. If of German etymology,
this word==gehr or wehr (Fr. guerre) and mann, _men of war_; hence the
_metus_, which the name carried with it. If it is a Latin word
corresponding only in _sense_ with the original German, then==_brethren_.
It will be seen, that either etymology would accord with Gruber's
explanation of the whole passage--in either case, the name would
inspire fear. The latter, however, is the more probable, cf. Ritter in
loc. A people often bear quite different names abroad from that by which
they call themselves at home. Thus the people, whom we call _Germans_,
call themselves _Deutsche_ (Dutch), and are called by the French
_Allemands_, cf. Latham. _Vocarentur_ is subj. because it stands in a
subordinate clause of the oratio obliqua, cf. H. 531; Z. 603.
_Metum_. Here taken in an _active_ sense; oftener passive, but used in
both senses. Quintilian speaks of _metum duplicem_, quem patimur et quem
facimus (6, 2, 21). cf. A. 44: nihil metus in vultu, i.e., nothing to
inspire fear in his countenance. In like manner admiratio (§ 7) is used
for the admiration which one excites, though it usually denotes the
admiration which one feels. For _ob_, cf. Ann. 1, 79: _ob moderandas
Tiberis exundationes_.
_Nationis--gentis. Gens_ is often used by T. as a synonym with _natio_.
But in antithesis, _gens_ is the whole, of which _nationes_ or _populi_
are the parts, e.g. G. 4: populos--gentem; § 14: nationes--genti. In
like manner, in the civil constitution of Rome, a _gens_ included several
related _families_.
III. _Herculem_. That is, Romana interpretatione, cf. § 34. The Romans
found _their_ gods everywhere, and ascribed to Hercules, quidquid ubique
magnificum est, cf. note 34: _quicquid--consensimus_. That this is a
Roman account of the matter is evident, from the use of _eos_, for if
the Germans were the subject of _memorant_, _se_ must have been used. On
the use of _et_ here, cf. note 11.
_Primum_--ut principem, fortissimum. Gun.
_Haec quoque_. _Haec_ is rendered _such_ by Ritter. But it seems rather,
as Or. and Dod. explain it, to imply nearness and familiarity to the mind
of the author and his readers: _these_ well known songs. So 20: _in haec
corpora, quae miramur_. _Quoque_, like _quidem_, follows the emphatic
word in a clause, H. 602, III. 1; Z. 355.
_Relatu_, called _cantus trux_, H. 2, 22. A Tacitean word. Freund. Cf. H.
1, 30.
_Baritum_. Al. barditum and barritum. But the latter has no ms.
authority, and the former seems to have been suggested by the bards of
the Gauls, of whose existence among the Germans however there is no
evidence. Dod. says the root of the word is common to the Greek, Latin,
and German languages, viz. _baren_, i.e. _fremere_, a verb still used by
the Batavians, and the noun _bar_, i.e. carmen, of frequent occurrence
in Saxon poetry to this day.
_Terrent trepidantve. They inspire terror or tremble with fear, according
as the line_ (the troops drawn up in battle array) _has sounded_, sc. the
_baritus_ or battle cry. Thus the Batavians perceived, that the _sonitus
aciei_ on the part of the Romans was more feeble than their own, and
pressed on, as to certain triumph. H. 4, 18. So the Highlanders augured
victory, if their shouts were louder than those of the enemy. See Murphy
in loco.
_Repercussu_. A post-Augustan word. The earlier Latin authors would have
said _repercussa_, or _repercutiendo_. The later Latin, like the English,
uses more abstract terms.--_Nec tam--videntur. Nor do those carmina seem
to be so much voices_ (well modulated and harmonized), _as acclamations_
(unanimous, but inarticulate and indistinct) _of courage_. So Pliny uses
_concentus_ of the acclamations of the people. Panegyr. 2. It is often
applied by the poets to the concerts of birds, as in Virg. Geor. 1, 422.
It is here plural, cf. Or. in loc. The reading _vocis_ is without MS.
authority.
_Ulixem_. "The love of fabulous history, which was the passion of ancient
times, produced a new Hercules in every country, and made Ulysses wander
on every shore. Tacitus mentions it as a romantic tale; but Strabo seems
willing to countenance the fiction, and gravely tells us that Ulysses
founded a city, called Odyssey, in Spain. Lipsius observes, that Lisbon,
in the name of Strabo, had the appellation of Ulysippo, or Olisipo. At
this rate, he pleasantly adds, what should hinder us inhabitants of the
Low Countries from asserting that Ulysses built the city of Ulyssinga,
and Circe founded that of Circzea or Ziriczee?" Murphy.
_Fabuloso errore. Storied, celebrated in song_, cf. fabulosus Hydaspes.
Hor. Od. 1, 227. Ulysses having _wandered westward_ gave plausibility to
alleged traces of him in Gaul, Spain and Germany--_Asciburgium_. Now
Asburg.
_Quin etiam_, cf. notes, 13: _quin etiam_, and 14: _quin immo.--Ulixi_,
i.e. ab Ulixe, cf. Ann. 15,41: Aedes statoris Jovis Romulo vota, i.e. by
Romulus. This usage is especially frequent in the poets and the later
prose writers, cf. H. 388, II. 3; Z. 419; and in T. above all others, cf.
Bot. Lex. Tac. sub _Dativus_. Wr. and Rit. understand however an altar
(or monument) consecrated to Ulysses, i.e. erected in honor of him by the
citizens.
_Adjecto_. Inscribed with the name of his father, as well as his own,
i.e. [Greek: Laertiadae].
_Graecis litteris. Grecian characters_, cf. Caes. B.G. 1, 29: In castris
_Helvetiorum_, tabulae repertae sunt _litteris Graecis_ confectae; and
(6, 14): _Galli_ in publicis privatisque rationibus _Graecis utuntur
litteris_. T. speaks (Ann. 11, 14) of alphabetic characters, as passing
from Phenicia into Greece, and Strabo (4, 1) traces them from the Grecian
colony at Marseilles, into Gaul, whence they doubtless passed into
Germany, and even into Britain.
IV. _Aliis aliarum_. The Greek and Latin are both fond of a repetition
of different cases of the same word, even where one of them is redundant,
e.g. [Greek: oioden oios] (Hom. II. 7, 39), and particularly in the
words [Greek: allos] and _alius_. _Aliis_ is not however wholly
redundant; but brings out more fully the idea: _no intermarriages, one
with one nation, and another with another_. Walch and Ritter omit
_aliis_, though it is found in all the MSS.
_Infectos_. Things are said _infici_ and _imbui_, which are so penetrated
and permeated by something else, that that something becomes a part of
its nature or substance, as inficere colore, sanguine, veneno, animum
virtutibus. It does not necessarily imply corruption or degeneracy.
_Propriam--similem_. Three epithets not essentially different used for
the sake of emphasis==_peculiar, pure, and sui-generis. Similis_ takes
the gen., when it expresses, as here, an internal resemblance in
character; otherwise the dat., cf. Z. 411, H. 391, 2. 4.
_Habitus_. Form and features, external appearance. The physical features
of the Germans as described by Tacitus, though still sufficient to
distinguish them from the more southern European nations, have proved
less permanent than their mental and social characteristics.
_Idem omnibus_. Cf. Juv. 13, 164:
_Caerula_ quis stupuit _Germani lumina? flavam
Caesariem_, et madido torquentem cornua cirro?
Nempe quod haec illis natura est _omnibus una_.
_Magna corpora_. "Sidonius Apollinaris says, that, being in Germany and
finding the men so very tall, he could not address verses of six feet to
patrons who were seven feet high:
Spernit senipedem stilum Thalia,
Ex quo septipedes vidit patronos." Mur.
Skeletons, in the ancient graves of Germany, are found to vary from 5 ft.
10 in. to 6 ft. 10 in. and even 7 ft. Cf. Ukert, Geog. III. 1. p. 197.
These skeletons indicate a _strong_ and _well formed_ body.
_Impetum. Temporary exertion_, as opposed to _persevering toil and
effort, laboris atque operum_.
_Eadem_. Not so much _patientia_, as _ad impetum valida_. See a like
elliptical use of _idem_ § 23: eadem temperantia; § 10: iisdem nemoribus.
Also of totidem § 26.
_Minime--assueverunt_. "Least of all, are they capable of sustaining
thirst and heat; cold and hunger, they are accustomed, by their soil and
climate, to endure." Ky. The force of _minime_ is confined to the first
clause, and the proper antithetic particle is omitted at the beginning of
the second. _Tolerare_ depends on _assueverunt_, and belongs to both
clauses. _Ve_ is distributive, referring _coelo_ to _frigora_ and _solo_
to _inediam_. So _vel_ in H. 1, 62: strenuis _vel_ ignavis spem metumque
addere==strenuis spem, ignavis metum addere.
V. _Humidior--ventosior. Humidior_ refers to _paludibus, ventosior_ to
_silvis_; the mountains (which were exposed to sweeping _winds_) being
for the most part covered with forests, and the low grounds with marshes.
_Ventosus_==Homeric [Greek: aenemoeis], windy, i.e. lofty. H. 3, 305:
[Greek: Ilion aenemoessan].
_Satis ferax. Satis==segetibus_ poetice. _Ferax_ is constructed with
abl., vid. Virg. Geor. 2, 222: ferax oleo.
_Impatiens_. Not to be taken in the absolute sense, cf. § 20, 23, 26,
where fruit trees and fruits are spoken of.
_Improcera_ agrees with _pecora_ understood.
_Armentis. Pecora_--flocks in general. _Armenta_ (from _aro_, to plough),
larger cattle in particular. It _may_ include horses.
_Suus honor_. Their proper, i.e. usual size and beauty.
_Gloria frontis_. Poetice for _cornua_. Their horns were small.
_Numero_. Emphatic: _number_, rather than _quality_. Or, with Ritter,
_gaudent_ may be taken in the sense of enjoy, possess: _they have a good
number of them_. In the same sense he interprets _gaudent_ in A. 44:
_opibus nimiis non gaudebat_.
_Irati_, sc. quia _opes_ sunt _irritamenta malorum_. Ov. Met. 1, 140.--
_Negaverint_. Subj. H. 525; Z. 552--_Affirmaverim_. cf. note, 2:
_crediderim_.
_Nullam venam_. "Mines of gold and silver have since been discovered in
Germany; the former, indeed, inconsiderable, but the latter valuable."
Ky. T. himself in his later work (the Annals), speaks of the discovery of
a silver mine in Germany. Ann. 11, 20.
_Perinde. Not so much as might be expected_, or as the _Romans_, and
other civilized nations. So Gronovius, Dod. and most commentators. See
Rup. in loc. Others, as Or. and Rit. allow no ellipsis, and render: _not
much_. See Hand's Tursellinus, vol. IV. p. 454. We sometimes use _not so
much, not so very, not so bad_, &c., for _not very, not much_, and _not
bad_. Still the form of expression strictly implies a comparison. And the
same is true of _haud perinde_, cf. Bot. Lex. Tac.
_Est videre. Est_ for _licet_. Graece et poetice. Not so used in the
earlier Latin prose. See Z. 227.
_Non in alia vilitate_, i.e. eadem vilitate, aeque vilia, _held in the
same low estimation.--Humo_. Abl. of material.
_Proximi_, sc. ad ripam. Nearest to the Roman border, opposed to
_interiores_.
_Serratos_. Not elsewhere mentioned; probably coins with serrated edges,
still found. The word is post-Augustan.
_Bigatos_. Roman coins stamped with a biga or two-horse chariot. Others
were stamped with a quadriga and called quadrigati. The bigati seem to
have circulated freely in foreign lands, cf. Ukert's Geog. of Greeks and
Romans, III. 1: Trade of Germany, and places cited there. "The serrati
and bigati were old coins, of purer silver than those of tho Emperors."
Ky. Cf. Pliny, H. N. 33, 13.
_Sequuntur_. Sequi==expetere. So used by Cic., Sal., and the best
writers. Compare our word _seek_.
_Nulla affectione animi. Not from any partiality for the silver in
itself_ (but for convenience).
_Numerus_. Greater number and consequently less relative value of the
silver coins. On _quia_, cf. note, H. 1, 31.
VI. _Ne--quidem_. _Not even_, i.e. iron is scarce as well as gold and
silver. The weapons found in ancient German graves are of _stone_, and
bear a striking resemblance to those of the American Indians. Cf. Ukert,
p. 216. Ad verba, cf. note, His. 1, 16: _ne--fueris_. The emphatic word
always stands between _ne_ and _quidem_. H. 602, III. 2; Z. 801.--
_Superest_. Is over and above, i.e. _abounds_. So superest ager, § 26.
_Vel_. Pro _sive_, Ciceroni inauditum. Gun. Cf. note, 17.
_Frameas_. The word is still found in Spain, as well as Germany.
_Lancea_. is also a Spanish word, cf. Freund.
_Nudi_. Cf. § 17, 20, and 24. Also Caes., B.G. 6, 21: magna corporis
parte nuda.
_Sagulo_. Dim. of sago. A small short cloak.--_Leves_==Leviter induti.
The clause _nudi--leves_ is added _here_ to show, that their dress is
favorable to the use of missiles.
_Missilia spargunt_. Dictio est Virgiliana. K.
_Coloribus_. Cf. nigra scuta, § 43. "Hence coats of arms and the origin
of heraldry." Mur.
_Cultus_. Military equipments. Cultus complectitur omnia, quae studio et
arte eis, quae natura instituit, adduntur. K.
_Cassis aut galea_. _Cassis_, properly of metal; _galea_ of leather (Gr.:
galen); though the distinction is not always observed.
_Equi--conspicui_. Cf. Caes. B.G. 4, 2, 7, 65.
_Sed nec variare_. _But_ (i.e. on the other hand) _they are not even_
(for _nec_ in this sense see Ritter in loc.) _taught to vary their
curves_ (i.e. as the antithesis shows, to bend now towards the right and
now towards the left in their gyrations), _but they drive them straight
forward or by a constant bend towards the right in so connected a circle_
(i.e. a complete ring), _that no one is behind_ (for the obvious reason,
that there is neither beginning nor end to such a ring). Such is on the
whole the most satisfactory explanation of this difficult passage, which
we can give after a careful examination. A different version was given in
the first edition. It refers not to battle, but to equestrian exercises,
cf. Gerlach, as cited by Or. in loc.
_Aestimanti_. Greek idiom. Elliptical dative, nearly equivalent to the
abl. abs. (nobis aestimantibus), and called by some the dat. abs. In A.
II. the ellipsis is supplied by _credibile est_. Cf. Botticher's Lex.
Tac. sub _Dativus_.
_Eoque mixti. Eo_, causal particle==for that reason. Caesar adopted this
arrangement in the battle of Pharsalia. B.C. 3, 84. The Greeks also had
[Greek: pezoi amippoi]. Xen. Hellen. 7, 5.
_Centeni_. A hundred is a favorite number with the Germans and their
descendants. Witness the hundred _pagi_ of the Suevi (Caes. B.G. 4, 1),
and of the Semnones (G. 39), the _cantons_ of Switzerland, and the
_hundreds_ of our Saxon ancestors in England. The _centeni_ here are a
military division. In like manner, Caesar (B.G. 4, 1) speaks of a
_thousand_ men drafted annually from each _pagus_ of the Suevi, for
military service abroad.
_Idque ipsum_. Predicate nominative after a verb of calling, H. 362,
2. 2; Z. 394. The division was called a _hundred_, and each man in it a
_hundreder_; and such was the estimation in which this service was held,
that to be a hundreder, became an honorable distinction, _nomen et
honor_==honorificum nomen.
_Cuneos_. A body of men arranged in the form of a wedge, i.e. narrow in
front and widening towards the rear; hence peculiarly adapted to break
the lines of the enemy.
_Consilii quam formidinis_. Supply _magis_. The conciseness of T.
leads him often to omit one of two correlative particles, cf. note on
_minime_, 4.
_Referunt. Carry into the rear_, and so secure them for burial.
_Etiam in dubiis proeliis_. Even while the battle remains undecided. Gun.
_Finierunt_. In a present or aorist sense, as often in T. So
_prohibuerunt_, § 10; _placuit_ and _displicuit_, 11. cf. Lex. Tac. Bot.
VII. _Reges_, civil rulers; _duces_, military commanders. _Ex_==
secundum. So _ex ingenio_, § 3. The government was elective, yet not
without some regard to hereditary distinctions. They _chose (sumunt)_
their sovereign, but chose him from the royal family, or at least one of
noble extraction. They chose also their commander--the king, if he was
the bravest and ablest warrior; if not, they were at liberty to choose
some one else. And among the Germans, as among their descendants, the
Franks, the authority of the commander was quite distinct from, and
sometimes (in war) paramount to, that of the king. Here Montesquieu and
others find the original of the kings of the first race in the French
monarchy, and the _mayors of the palace_, who once had so much power in
France. Cf. Sp. of Laws, B. 31, chap. 4.
_Nec_ is correlative to _et. The kings on the one hand do not possess
unlimited or unrestrained authority, and the commanders on the other, &c.
Infinita_==sine modo; _libera_==sine vinculo. Wr. _Potestas_==rightful
power, authority; _potentia_==power without regard to right, ability,
force, cf. note, 42. Ad rem, cf. Caes. B.G. 5, 27. Ambiorix tells Caesar,
that though he governed, yet the people made laws for him, and the
supreme power was shared equally between him and them.
_Exemplo--imperio_. "_Dative_ after _sunt==are to set an example, rather
than to give command_." So Gruber and Dod. But Wr. and Rit. with more
reason consider them as ablatives of means limiting a verb implied in
_duces: commanders_ (command) _more by example, than by authority_
(official power). See the principle well stated and illustrated in
Doderlein's Essay on the style of Tacitus, p. 15, in my edition of the
Histories.
_Admiratione praesunt. Gain influence, or ascendency, by means of the
admiration which they inspire_, cf. note on metus, § 2.
_Agant_. Subj., ut ad judicium admirantium, non mentem scriptoris
trahatur. Gun.
_Animadvertere_==interficere. Cf. H. 1, 46. 68. _None but the priests are
allowed to put to death, to place in irons, nor even_ (ne quidem) _to
scourge_. Thus punishment was clothed with divine authority.
_Effigies et signa. Images and standards_, i.e. images, which serve for
standards. Images of wild beasts are meant, cf. H. 4, 22: depromptae
silvis lucisve ferarum imagines.--_Turmam_, cavalry. _Cuneum_, infantry,
but sometimes both. _Conglobatio_ is found only in writers after the
Augustan age and rarely in them. It occurs in Sen. Qu. Nat. 1, 15, cf.
Freund.
_Familiae_ is less comprehensive than _propinquitates. Audiri_, sc.
solent. Cf. A. 34 _ruere_. Wr. calls it histor. inf., and Rit. pronounces
it a gloss.
_Pignora_. Whatever is most dear, particularly mothers, wives, and
children.--_Unde_, adv. of place, referring to _in proximo_.
_Vulnera ferunt_, i.e. on their return from battle.
_Exigere. Examine_, and compare, to see who has the most and the most
honorable, or perhaps to soothe and dress them.--_Cibos et hortamina_.
Observe the singular juxtaposition of things so unlike. So 1: _metu aut
montibus_; A. 25: _copiis et laetitia_; 37: _nox et satietas_; 38:
_gaudio praedaque_.
VIII. _Constantia precum==importunate entreaties_.
_Objectu pectorum. By opposing their breasts_, not to the enemy but to
their retreating husbands, praying for death in preference to captivity.
_Monstrata--captivitate_. _Cominus_ limits _captivitate_, pointing to
captivity as just before them.--_Impatientius_. _Impatienter_ and
_impatientia_ (the adv. and the subst.) are post-Augustan words. The adj.
(impatiens) is found earlier. Cf. Freund.
_Feminarum--nomine_, i.e. propter feminas suas. Gun. So Cic.: tuo nomine
et reipublicae==on your account and for the sake of the republic. But it
means perhaps more than that here, viz. in the person of. They dreaded
captivity more for their women than for themselves. _Adeo==insomuch
that_.
_Inesse_, sc. feminis. _They think, there is in their women something
sacred and prophetic_. Cf. Caes. B.G. 1, 50, where Caesar is informed by
the prisoners, that Ariovistus had declined an engagement because the
_women_ had declared against coming to action before the new moon.--
_Consilia, advice_ in general; _responsa, inspired answers_, when
consulted.
_Vidimus_, i.e. she lived in our day--under the reign of Vespasian.--
_Veledam_. Cf. H. 4, 61. 65.
_Auriniam_. Aurinia seems to have been a common name in Germany for
prophetess or wise woman. Perhaps==Al-runas, women knowing all things. So
_Veleda_==wise woman. Cf. Wr. in loc.
_Non adulatione_, etc. "Not through adulation, nor as if they were
raising mortals to the rank of goddesses." Ky. This is one of those
oblique censures on Roman customs in which the treatise abounds. The
Romans in the excess of their adulation to the imperial family _made_
ordinary women goddesses, as Drusilla, sister of Caligula, the infant
daughter of Poppaea (Ann. 15, 23), and Poppaea herself (Dio 63, 29). The
Germans, on the other hand, really thought some of their wise women to be
divine. Cf. His. 4, 62, and my note ibid. Reverence and affection for
woman was characteristic of the German Tribes, and from them has diffused
itself throughout European society.
IX. _Deorum_. T. here, as elsewhere, applies Roman names, and puts a
Roman construction (Romana interpretatione, § 43), upon the gods of other
nations, cf. § 3.
_Mercurium_. So Caes. B.G. 6, 17: Deum maxime Mercurium colunt. Probably
the German _Woden_, whose name is preserved in our Wednesday, as that of
Mercury is in the French name of the same day, and who with a name
slightly modified (Woden, Wuotan, Odin), was a prominent object of
worship among all the nations of Northern Europe. _Mars_ is perhaps the
German god of war (Tiw, Tiu, Tuisco) whence Tuesday, French Mardi, cf.
Tur. His. Ang. Sax. App. to B. 2. chap. 3. _Herculem_ is omitted by
Ritter on evidence (partly external and partly internal) which is
entitled to not a little consideration. Hercules is the god of strength,
perhaps Thor.
_Certis diebus_. Statis diebus. Gun.
_Humanis--hostiis_. Even _facere_ in the sense of _sacrifice_ is
construed with abl. Virg. Ec. 3, 77. _Quoque_==even. For its position in
the sentence, cf. note, 3.
_Concessis animalibus_. Such as the Romans and other civilized nations
offer, in contradistinction to _human_ sacrifices, which the author
regards as _in_-concessa. The attempt has been made to remove from the
Germans the stain of human sacrifices. But it rests on incontrovertible
evidence (cf. Tur. His. Ang. Sax., App. to B. 2. cap. 3), and indeed
attaches to them only in common with nearly all uncivilized nations. The
Gauls and Britons, and the Celtic nations generally, carried the practice
to great lengths, cf. Caes. B.G. 6, 15. The neighbors of the Hebrews
offered human victims in great numbers to their gods, as we learn from
the Scriptures. Nay, the reproach rests also upon the Greeks and Romans
in their early history. Pliny informs us, that men were sacrificed as
late as the year of Rome 657.
_Isidi_. The Egyptian Isis in Germany! This shows, how far the Romans
went in comparing the gods of different nations. Gr. Ritter identifies
this goddess with the Nertha of chap. 40, the Egyptian Isis and Nertha
being both equivalent to Mother Earth, the Terra or Tellus of the Romans.
_Liburnae_. A light galley, so called from the Liburnians, a people of
Illyricum, who built and navigated them. The _signum_, here likened to a
galley, was more probably a rude crescent, connected with the worship of
the moon, cf. Caes. B.G. 6, 21: Germani deorum numero ducunt Solem et
_Lunam_.
_Cohibere parietibus_==aedificiis includere, K. T. elsewhere speaks of
temples of German divinities (e.g. 40: templum Nerthi; Ann. 1, 51:
templum Tanfanae); but a consecrated grove or any other sacred place was
called _templum_ by the Romans (templum from [Greek: temno], cut off, set
apart).
_Ex magnitudine_. _Ex_==secundum, cf. _ex nobilitate_, _ex virtute_ § 7.
_Ex magnitudine_ is predicate after _arbitrantur: they deem it unbecoming
the greatness_, etc.
_Humani--speciem_. Images of the gods existed at a later day in Germany
(S. Tur. His. of Ang. Sax., App. to B. 2. cap. 3). But this does not
prove their existence in the days of T. Even as late as A.D. 240 Gregory
Thaumaturgus expressly declares, there were no images among the Goths. No
traces of temple-walls or images have been discovered in connection with
the numerous sites of ancient altars or places of offering which have
been exhumed in _Germany_, though both these are found on the _borders_,
both south and west, cf. Ukert, p. 236.
_Lucos et nemora_. "Lucus (a [Greek: lukae], crepusculum) sylva densior,
obumbrans; nemus ([Greek: nemos]) sylva rarior, in quo jumenta et pecora
pascuntur." Bredow.
_Deorumque--vident. They invoke under the name of gods that mysterious
existence, which they see_ (not under any human or other visible form,
but) _with the eye of spiritual reverence alone_. So Gr. and K. Others
get another idea thus loosely expressed: They give to that sacred recess
the name of the divinity that fills the place, which is never profaned by
the steps of man.
_Sola reverentia_, cf. _sola mente_ applied by T. to the spiritual
religion of the Jews, H. 5, 5. The religion of the Germans and other
northern tribes was more spiritual than that of southern nations, when
both were Pagan. And after the introduction of Christianity, the Germans
were disinclined to the image-worship of the Papists.
X. _Auspicia sortesque_. _Auspicia_ (avis-spicia) properly divination by
observing the flight and cry of birds; _sortes_, by drawing lots: but
both often used in the general sense of omens, oracles.
_Ut qui maxime_, sc. _observant_. Ellipsis supplied by repeating
_observant_==to the greatest extent, none more.
_Simplex_. Sine Romana arte, cf. Cic. de Div. 2, 41, K. The Scythians had
a similar method of divining, Herod. 4, 67. Indeed, the practice of
_divining_ by _rods_ has hardly ceased to this day, among the descendants
of the German Tribes.
_Temere_, without plan on the part of the diviner.--_Fortuito_, under the
direction of chance. Gr.
_Si publice consuletur_. If the question to be decided is of a public
nature. _Consuletur_, fut., because at the time of drawing lots the
deliberation and decision are future. Or it may refer to the consultation
of the gods (cf. Ann. 14, 30: _consulere deos_): _if it is by the state
that the gods are to be consulted_. So Ritter in his last edition.
_Ter singulos tollit_. A three-fold drawing for the sake of certainty.
Thus Ariovistus drew lots three times touching the death of Valerius
(Caes. B.G. 1, 53). So also the Romans drew lots three times, Tibul. 1,
3, 10: sortes ter sustulit. Such is the interpretation of these disputed
words by Gruber, Ritter and many others, and such is certainly their
natural and obvious meaning: _he takes up three times one after another_
all the slips he has _scattered_ (_spargere_ is hardly applicable to
_three_ only): if the signs are twice or thrice favorable, the thing is
permitted; if twice or thrice unfavorable it is prohibited. The language
of Caesar (in loc. cit.) is still more explicit: _ter sortibus
consultum_. But Or., Wr. and Dod. understand simply the taking up of
three lots one each time.
_Si prohibuerunt_ sc. sortes==dii. The reading _prohibuerunt_ (aL
prohibuerint) is favored by the analogy of _si displicuit_, 11, and other
passages. _Sin (==si--ne)_ is particularly frequent in antithesis with
_si_, and takes the same construction after it.
_Auspiciorum--exigitur. Auspiciorum_, here some other omens, than lots;
such as the author proceeds to specify. _Adhuc_==ad hoc, praeterea, i.e.
in addition to the lots. The sense is: _besides drawing lots, the
persuasion produced by auspices is required_.
_Etiam hic_. In Germany also (as well as at Rome and other well known
countries). _Hic_ is referred to Rome by some. But it was hardly needful
for T. to inform the Romans of that custom at Rome.
_Proprium gentis. It is a peculiarity of the German race_. It is not,
however, exclusively German. Something similar prevailed among the
Persians, Herod. 1, 189. 7, 55. Darius Hystaspes was indebted to the
neighing of his horse for his elevation to the throne.
_Iisdem memoribus_, § 9.--_Mortali opere_==hominum opere.--_Contacti_.
Notio contaminandi inest, K.--_Pressi curru_. Harnessed to the sacred
chariot. More common, pressi jugo. Poetice.
_Conscios_ sc. deorum. _The priests consider themselves the servants of
the gods, the horses the confidants of the same_. So Tibullus speaks of
the _conscia_ fibra _deorum_. Tibul. 1, 8, 3.
_Committunt_. Con and mitto, send together==_engage in fight_. A
technical expression used of gladiators and champions.
_Praejudicio. Sure prognostic_. Montesquieu finds in this custom the
origin of the duel and of knight-errantry.
XI. _Apud--pertractentur. Are handled_, i.e. discussed, among, i.e. _by
the chiefs_, sc. before being referred to the people.
_Nisi_ refers not to _coeunt_, but to _certis diebus_.
_Fortuitum_, casual, unforeseen; _subitum_, requiring immediate action.
_Inchoatur--impletur_. Ariovistus would not _fight_ before the new moon,
Caes. B.G. 1, 50.
_Numerum--noctium_. Of which custom, we have a relic and a proof in our
seven-_night_ and fort-_night_. So also the Gauls. Caes. B.G. 6, 18.
_Constituunt_==decree, determine; _condicunt_==proclaim, appoint. The
_con_ in both implies _concerted_ or public action. They are forensic
terms.
_Nox--videtur_. So with the Athenians, Macrob. Saturn. 1, 3.; and the
Hebrews, Gen. 1, 5.
_Ex libertate_, sc. _ortum, arising from_. Gun.
_Nec ut jussi. Not precisely at the appointed time_, but a day or two
later, if they choose.
_Ut turbae placuit. Ut_==simul ac, as soon as, _when_. It is the _time of
commencing their session_, that depends on the will of the multitude; not
their sitting _armed_, for that they always did, cf. _frameas concutiunt_
at the close of the section; also § 13: nihil neque publicae neque
privatae rei nisi armati agunt. To express this latter idea, the order of
the words would have been reversed thus: _armati considunt_.
_Tum et coercendi_. When the session is commenced, _then (tum)_ the
priests have the right not merely to command silence, but _also (et) to
enforce it_. This use of _et_ for _etiam_ is very rare in Cic., but
frequent in Livy, T. and later writers. See note, His. 1, 23.
_Imperatur. Imperare_ plus est, quam _jubere_. See the climax in Ter.
Eun. 2, 3, 98; jubeo, cogo atque impero. _Impero_ is properly military
command. K.
_Prout_ refers, not to the order of speaking, but to the degree of
influence they have over the people. Gr.--_Aetas_. Our word _alderman_
(elderman) is a proof, that office and honor were conferred on _age_ by
our German ancestors. So _senator_ (senex) among the Romans.
_Armis laudare_, i.e. armis concussis. "Montesquieu is of opinion that
in this Treatise on the manners of the Germans, an attentive reader may
trace the origin of the British constitution. That beautiful system, he
says, was formed in the forests of Germany, Sp. of Laws 11, 6. The
_Saxon_ Witena-gemot (Parliament) was, beyond all doubt, an improved
political institution, grafted on the rights exercised by the people in
their own country." Murphy, cf. S. Tur. His. of Ang. Sax. B. 8. cap. 4
XII. _Accusare--intendere. To accuse and impeach for capital crimes_.
Minor offences were tried before the courts described at the end of the
section.--_Quoque_. In addition to the legislative power spoken of in the
previous section, the council exercised _also_ certain judicial
functions. _Discrimen capitis intendere_, lit. _to endeavor to bring one
in danger of losing his life_.
_Ignavos--infames. The sluggish, the cowardly, and the impure_; for so
_corpore infames_ usually means, and there is no sufficient reason for
adopting another sense here. _Infames_ foeda Veneris aversae nota. K. Gr.
understands those, whose persons were disfigured by dishonorable wounds,
or who had mutilated themselves to avoid military duty. Gun. includes
both ideas: _quocunque_, non tantum _venereo_, corporis abusu contempti.
_Insuper_==superne. So 16: multo _insuper_ fimo onerant.
_Diversitas_ is a post-Augustan word, cf. Freund, sub v.
_Illuc respicit. Has respect to this principle. Scelera==crimes;
flagitia==vices, low and base actions. Scelus_ poena, _flagitium_
contemptu dignum. Gun.
_Levioribus delictis_. Abl. abs.==_when lighter offences are committed_;
or abl. of circum.==_in case of lighter offences_.
_Pro modo poenarum_. Such is the reading of all the MSS. _Pro modo,
poena_ is an ingenious _conjecture_ of Acidalius. But it is unnecessary.
Render thus: _in case of lighter offences, the convicted persons are
mulcted in a number of horses or cattle, in proportion to the severity of
the sentence adjudged to be due_.
_Qui vindicatur. The injured party_, or _plaintiff_. This principle
of pecuniary satisfaction was carried to great lengths among the
Anglo-Saxons. See Turner, as cited, 21.
_Qui reddunt_. Whose _business_ or _custom_ it is to administer justice,
etc. E. proposes _reddant_. But it is without authority and would give a
less appropriate sense.
_Centeni_. Cf. note, § 6: centeni ex singulis pagis. "Sunt in quibusdam
locis Germaniae, velut Palatinatu, Franconia, etc. Zentgericht
(hundred-courts)," cf. Bernegger.
_Consilia et auctoritas_. Abstract for concrete==_his advisers and the
supporters of his dignity_.
XIII. _Nihil nisi armati_. The _Romans_ wore arms only in time of war or
on a journey.
_Moris_, sc. est. A favorite expression of T. So 21: concedere moris
(est). And in A. 39.
_Suffecturum probaverit. On examination has pronounced him competent_
(sc. to bear arms). Subj. after _antequam_. H. 523, II.; Z. 576.
_Ornant. Ornat_ would have been more common Latin, and would have made
better English. But this construction is not unfrequent in T., cf. 11:
rex vel princeps audiuntur. Nor is it without precedent in other authors.
Cf. Z. 374. Ritter reads _propinqui_. The attentive reader will discover
here traces of many subsequent usages of _chivalry_.
_Haec toga_. This is the badge of manhood among the Germans, as the toga
virilis was among the Romans. The Romans assumed the toga at the age of
seventeen. The Athenians were reckoned as [Greek: Ephaeboi] at the same
age, Xen. Cyr, 1, 2, 8. The Germans (in their colder climate) not till
the 20th year. Caes. B.G. 6, 21.
_Dignationem. Rank, title_. It differs from _dignitas_ in being more
external. Cf. H. 1, 19: _dignatio Caesaris_; 8, 80: _dignatio viri_.
Ritter reads _dignitatem_.
_Assignant. High birth or great merits of their fathers assign_ (i.e.
mark out, not consign, or fully confer) _the title of chief even to young
men_.
_Gradus--habet_. Observe the emphatic position of _gradus_, and the force
of _quin etiam ipse: Gradations of rank, moreover the retinue itself
has_, i.e. the retainers are not only distinguished as a body in
following such a leader, _but_ there are _also distinctions_ among
_themselves. Quin etiam_ seldom occupies the second place. T. is fond of
anastrophe. Cf. Bot. Lex. Tac.
_Si--emineat. If he_ (cuique) _stands pre-eminent for the number and
valor of his followers. Comitatus_ is gen. _Emineat_, subj. pres. H. 504
et 509; Z. 524.
_Ceteris--aspici_. These noble youth, thus designated to the rank of
chieftains, _attach themselves_ (for a time, with some followers perhaps)
_to the other_ chiefs, who are _older and already distinguished, nor are
they ashamed to be seen among their attendants_.
_Quibus--cui_, sc. sit==_who shall have_, etc.
_Ipsa fama. Mere reputation_ or _rumor_ without coming to arms.
_Profligant_==ad finem perducunt. So Kiessling, Botticher and Freund.
Ritter makes it==_propellunt_, frighten away. _Profligare bella,
proelia_, &c., is Tacitean. _Profligare hostes_, etc., is the common expression. |
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