Chapter 12

_Affectavere. Aspired to the government of_, cf. note on affectationem, 28. After _donec_, T. always expresses a single definite past action by the perf. ind., cf. A. 36: _donec--cohortatus est_; a repeated, or continued past action by the imp. subj. cf. note, A. 19: _donec--fieret_; and a present action, which is in the nature of the case also a continued action, by the pres. subj. cf. note, 1: _separet_.

_Triumphati_. Poetice, cf. Virg. Aen. 6, 837: Triumphata Corintho; Hor. Od. 3, 3, 43: Triumphati Medi. The reference here is to the ridiculous triumph of Domitian, A. 39, in which slaves, purchased and dressed out for the purpose, were borne as captives through the streets.

XXXVIII. _Suevis_. In the time of T. a powerful confederacy, embracing all the tribes enumerated in 39-45, and covering all the eastern and larger half of Germany. But the confederacy was soon dissolved and seldom appears in subsequent history. We still have a trace of their name in the Modern _Suabia_. The name is supposed by some philologists (e.g. Zeuss) to denote _unsettled wanderers_ (Germ. Schweben, to wave, to hover, cf. Caes. B.G. 4, 1: Suevis non longius anno remanere uno in loco, etc.); as that of the Saxons does settlers, or _fixed residents_ (Germ. Sassen), and that of the Franks, _freemen_. See Rup. in loc. An ingenious Article in the North American Review (July, 1847), makes the distinction of Suevi and non-Suevi radical and permanent in the religion and the language of the Germans; the Suevi becoming Orthodox Catholics, and the non-Suevi Arians in Ecclesiastical History, and the one High-Dutch and the other Low-Dutch in the development of their language.

_Adhuc_. Cf. note on it, 19. As to position, cf. _insuper_ 31, and 34. The Suevi are _still (adhuc)_ divided into distinct tribes bearing distinct names, though united in a confederacy. Cf. Hand's Tursellinus, 1, 163. Död. renders _besides_, sc. the general designation of Suevi.

_In commune. In common_. Not used in this sense by Cic., Caes. and Liv., though frequent in T. Gr. Cf. note on the same, 27.

_Obliquare. To turn the hair back, or comb it up_ contrary to its natural direction--and then fasten it in a knot on the top of the head (_substringere nodo_); so it seems to be explained by the author himself below: _horrentem capillum retro sequuntur ac in ipso solo vertice religant_. Others translate _obliquare_ by _twist_. Many ancient writers speak of this manner of tying the hair among the Germans, cf. Sen. de Ira. 3, 26.; Juv. 13, 164.

_A servis separantur. Separantur_==distinguuntur. Servants among the Suevi seem to have had their hair shorn. So also it was among the Franks at a later date. Vid. Greg. Tur. 3, 8.

_Rarum et intra_, etc. Enallage, cf. note _certum quique_, 32.

_Retro sequuntur_, i.e. _follow it back_, as it were, in its growth, and _tie it up on the very crown of the head only_, instead of letting it hang down, as it grows (submittere crinem). So K., Or. and many others. Passow and Död. take sequuntur in the sense of _desire, delight in_ (our word _seek_). The word bears that sense, e.g. 5: argentum magis quam aurum _sequuntur_. But then what is _retro_ sequuntur? for _retro_ must be an adjunct of _sequuntur_ both from position, and because there is no other word which it can limit. _Saepe_ implies, that sometimes they made a knot elsewhere, but _often they fasten_ it there, and there _only_. See Or. in loc. This whole passage illustrates our author's disposition to avoid technical language. Cf. note, II. 2, 21.

_Innoxiae. Harmless_, unlike the beauty cultivated among the _Romans_ to dazzle and seduce.

_In altitudinem_, etc. _For the sake of_ (increased) _height and terror_, i.e. to appear tall and inspire terror. Cf. note, A, 5: _in jactationem_; A. 7: _in suam famam_. The antithetic particle is omitted before this clause as it often is by our author.

_Ut hostium oculis_, to strike with terror the eyes of the enemy, for primi in omnibus proeliis _oculi_ vincuntur, 43.

XXXIX. _Vetustissimos. Oldest_. _Vetus_ is _old_, of long _duration_ ([Greek; etos], aetas). _antiquus, ancient_, belonging to a _preceding_ age (ante). _Recens_ (fresh, young) is opposed to the former: _novus_ (new, modern), to the latter. See Ramshorn and Freund.

_Fides antiquitatis. Antiquitatis_ is objective gen.==_the belief, or persuasion of their antiquity_.

_Auguriis--sacram_. The commentators all note the hexameter structure of these words, and many regard them as a quotation from some Latin poet. The words themselves are also poetical, e.g. _patrum_ for _majorum_, and _formidine_ for _religione_. The coloring is Virgilian. Cf. Aen. 7, 172; 8, 598. See Or. in loc. and Preliminary Remarks to the Histories, p. 234.

_Legationibus coeunt_. Just as we say: _convene by their delegates_, or _representatives_.

_Publice_==publica auctoritate, cf. same word, 10.

_Primordia_. Initiatory rites.

_Minor_, sc. numine. _Inferior to the god_.

_Prae se ferens. Expressing in his external appearance, or bearing in his own person an acknowledgment of the power of the divinity_.

_Evolvuntur_==se evolvunt, cf. Ann. 1, 13: cum Tiberii genua advolveretur; also _lavantur_, 22.

_Eo--tanquam. Has reference to this point, as if_, i.e. to this opinion, viz. that thence, etc. Cf. _illuc respicit tanquam_, 12.--_Inde_ From the grove, or the god of the grove. Cf. 3: _Tuisconem ... originem gentis_.

_Adjicit auctoritatem_, sc. isti superstitioni.

_Magno corpore_==reipublicae magnitudine. _Corpore_, the body politic. So His. 4, 64: redisse vos in corpus nomenque Germanorum.--_Habitantur_. Al. habitant and habitantium, by conjecture. The subject is the Semnonian _country_ implied in _Semnonum: the Semnonians inhabit a hundred villages_, is the idea.

XL. _Langobardos_. The Lombards of Mediaeval history; so called probably from their long beards (Germ, lang and bart). First mentioned by Velleius, 2, 106: gens etiam Germana feritate ferocior. See also Ann. 2, 45, 46, 62-64.--_Paucitas_ here stands opposed to the _magno corpore_ of the Semnones in 39.

_Per--periclitando_. Three different constructions, cf. notes 16, 18.

_Reudigni_. Perhaps the Jutes, so intimately associated with the Angles in subsequent history. See Or. in loc. In like manner, Zeuss identifies the _Suardones_ with the Heruli, and the _Nuithones_ with the Teutones. _Suardones_ perhaps==_sword_-men.

_Anglii_. The English reader will here recognize the tribe of Germans that subsequently invaded, peopled, and gave name to England (==_Angl-land_), commonly designated as the Anglo-Saxons. T. does not mention the _Saxons_. They are mentioned by Ptolemy and others, as originally occupying a territory in this same part of Germany. They became at length so powerful, as to give their name to the entire confederacy (including the Angles), which ruled northern Germany, as the Franks (the founders of the French monarchy) did southern. The Angles seem to have dwelt on the right bank of the Elbe, near its mouth, in the time of T.

_Nerthum_. This is the reading of the MSS. and the old editions. It cannot be doubted that T. speaks of Hertha (see Turn. His. Ang. Sax., App. to B. 2. chap. 3). "But we must take care not to correct our author himself." Passow. Grimm identifies this deity with Niördhr of the Edda, and derives the name from Nord (North).--_Terram matrem_. The Earth is worshipped by almost all heathen nations, as the mother of men and the inferior gods. See Mur. in loco. Cf. 2: Tuisconem Deum, _terra editum_; also note, 9. Isidi.

_Insula_. Scholars differ as to the Island. Probabilities perhaps are in favor of Rugen, where the _secretus lacus_ mentioned below is still shown, still associated with superstitious legends.

_Castum. Polluted by nothing profane_. So Hor: _castis lucis_.

_Penetrali_, viz. _the sacred vehicle_.

_Dignatur_. _Deems worthy_ of her visits.

_Templo_, sc. the sacred grove. Templum, like [Greek: temenos], denotes any place _set apart_ (from [Greek: temno]) for sacred purposes, cf. 9.

_Numen ipsum. The goddess herself_, not an image of her; for the Germans have no images of their gods, 9. _Abluitur_, as if contaminated by intercourse with mortals.

_Perituri_, etc. _Which can be seen only on penalty of death_.

XLI. _Propior_, sc. to the Romans.--_Hermundurorum_. Ritter identifies the name (_Hermun_ being omitted, and _dur_ being==_thur_) and the people with the _Thur_ingians. Cf. note 2: _Ingaevones_.

_Non in ripa. Not only_ (or _not so much_) _on the border_ (the riverbank), but also within the bounds of the Roman Empire.

_Splendidissima--colonia_. This flourishing colony had no distinctive name in the age of T.; called afterwards Augusta Vindelicorum, now Augsburg.

_Passim_. Wherever they chose--_Sine custode_. Not so others. Cf. His. 4, 64: ut inermes ac prope nudi, _sub custode_ et pretio coiremus.

_Cum--ostendamus. Cum==while, although_. Hence the subj.

_Non concupiscentibus. Since they were not covetous_, Gün. Gr renders: _though they were not equally desirous of it_.

_Notum--auditur_. The Elbe had been _seen_ and _crossed_ by Drusus Domitius, and Tiberius. But now it was known only by _hearsay_. See a like patriotic complaint at the close of 37.

XLII. _Marcomanni_==men of the marches. See Latham in loc--_Sedes_, sc. Bohemia.--_Pulsis olim Boiis_, cf. 28.

_Degenerant_, sc. _a reliquorum virtute_, i.e. the Narisci and Quadi _are not unworthy, do not fall short_ of the bravery of their neighbors. the Marcomanni.

_Peragitur_. Al. _protegitur, porrigitur_, &c. Different words are supplied as the subject of _peragitur_, e.g. Passow _iter_.; Rit. _cursus_; K. _frons_. The last is preferable. The meaning is: _This country_ (sc. of these tribes) _is the front_, so to speak (i.e. the part _facing the Romans_) _of Germany, so far as it is formed by the Danube_, i.e. so far as the Danube forms the boundary between Germany and the Roman Empire.

_Marobodui_. Cf. Ann. 2, 62; Suet. Tib. 37.

_Externos_, sc. reges, viz. the kings of the Hermunduri. Ann. 2, 62.-- _Potentia. Power_ irrespective of right. _Potestas_ is lawful _authority_. See note, 7

_Nec minus valent_, sc. being aided by our money, than they would be if they were reinforced by our arms. This clause in some copies stands at the beginning of 43.

XLIII. _Retro. Back_ from the Danube and the Roman border.--_Referunt. Resemble_. Poetical, cf. 20.

_Et quod patiuntur_, sc. proves that they are not of German origin. They paid tribute as _foreigners_. The Gothini were probably a remnant of the expelled Boii. Cf. note, 28, and Prichard, as there cited. Hence their Gallic language.

_Quo magis pudeat_. They have iron beyond even most of the Germans (cf. 6), but (shame to tell) do not know how to use it in asserting their independence. Subj. H. 497; Z. 536.

_Pauca campestrium_. Poetical, but not uncommon in the later Latin. So 41: secretiora Germaniae; His. 4, 28: extrema Galliarum. H. 396, III. 2. 3; Z. 435.

_Jugum. A mountain chain.--Vertices. Distinct summits_.

_Insederunt_. This word usually takes a dat., or an abl., with _in_. But the poets and later prose writers use it as a transitive verb with the acc.==_have settled, inhabited_. Cf. H. 371, 4; Z. 386; and Freund sub voce. Observe the comparatively unusual form of the perf. 3d plur. in _-erunt_ instead of _-ere_. Cf. note, His. 2, 20.

_Nomen_==gens. So nomen Latinum==Latins. Liv. pass.

_Interpretatione Romana_. So we are every where to understand Roman accounts of the gods of other nations. They transferred to them the names of their own divinities according to some slight, perhaps fancied resemblance. Cf. note, 34: _quicquid consensimus_.

_Ea vis numini_, i.e. these gods render the same service to the Germans, as Castor and Pollux to the Romans.

_Alcis_, dat. pl. Perhaps from the Slavonic word holcy==kouros, Greek for Castor and Pollux. Referable to no German root.

_Peregrinae_, sc. Greek or Roman.--_Tamen_. Though these gods bear no visible trace of Greek or Roman origin, _yet_ they are worshipped as brothers, as youth, like the _Greek_ and _Roman Twins_.-- _Superstitionis_==religionis. Cf. notes, His. 3, 58; 5, 13.

_Lenocinantur. Cherish_, increase. Used rhetorically; properly, _to pander_.--_Arte_, sc. nigra scuta, &c.--_Tempore_, sc. atras noctes, &c. --_Tincta==tattooed_.

_Ipsaque formidine_, etc. _And by the very frightfulness and shadow of the deathlike army. Umbra_ may be taken of the literal _shadows_ of the men in the night, with Rit., or with Död. and Or., of the general _image_ or _aspect_ of the army. _Feralis_, as an adj., is found only in poetry and post-Augustan prose. See Freund.

_Gothones_. Probably the Getae of earlier, and the Goths of later history. See Or. in loc. and Grimm and other authorities as there cited. The _Rugii_ have perpetuated their name in an island of the Baltic (Rugen).

_Adductius_. Lit. with tighter rein, _with more absolute power_ cf. His. 3, 7: adductius, quam civili bello, imperitabat. The adv. is used only in the comp.; and the part. adductus is post-Augustan. _Jam_ and _nondum_ both have reference to the writer's progress in going over the tribes of Germany, those tribes growing less and less free as he advances eastward: _already_ under more subjection than the foregoing tribes, but _not yet_ in such abject slavery, as some we shall soon reach, sc. in the next chapter, where see note on _jam_.

_Supra_. So as to _trample down_ liberty and destroy it.

_Protinus deinde ab_, etc. _Next in order, from the ocean_, i.e. with territory beginning from or at the ocean.

XLIV. _Suionum. Swedes_. Not mentioned under this name, however, by any other ancient author.

_Ipso_. The Rugii, &c., mentioned at the close of the previous section, dwelt _by_ the ocean (_ab_ Oceano); but the _Suiones in_ the ocean (_in_ Oceano). _Ipso_ marks this antithesis.

_In Oceano_. An island in the Baltic. Sweden was so regarded by the ancients, cf. 1, note.

_Utrimque prora. Naves biprorae_. Such also had the Veneti, Caes. B.G. 3, 13. Such Germanicus constructed, His. 3, 47. So also the canoes of the N. Am. Indians.

_Ministrantur_, sc. naves==_the ships are not furnished with sails_, cf. His. 4, 12: _viros armaque ministrant_. Or it may be taken in the more literal sense: are served, i.e. worked, mannged. Cf. Virg. Aen. 6, 302: velisque ministrat.--_In ordinem. For a row_, i.e. so as to form a row, cf. Z. 314: also Rit. and Död. in loc. The northmen (Danes and Swedes) became afterwards still more famous for navigation and piratical excursions, till at length they settled down in great numbers in France and England.

_In quibusdam fluminum_. Rivers with steep banks require the oars to be removed in order to approach the bank.

_Est--honos_. Contrary to the usual fact in Germany, cf. 5.

_Exceptionibus_. _Limitations_.--_Jam_. Now, i.e. _here_, opposed to the _foregoing_ accounts of _free states_ and _limited monarchies_.

_Precario_. Properly: _obtained by entreaty_. Hence: _dependent on the will of another_, cf. A. 16.--_Parendi_. A gerund with passive sense, lit. _with no precarious right of being obeyed_. So Pass., K., Wr. and Gün.

_In promiscuo_. The privilege of wearing arms is not conceded to the mass of the people.--_Et quidem_==et eo, _and that too_.

_Otiosa--manus_. Al. _otiosae_ by conjecture. But _manus_, a collective noun sing. takes a pl. verb, cf. H. 461, 1; Z. 366.

_Regia utilitas est_==regibus utile est.

XLV. _Pigrum_. Cf. A. 10: pigrum et grave. The Northern or Frozen Ocean, of which T. seems to have heard, though some refer it to the northern part of the Baltic. See Ky. in loc.

_Hinc_. _For this reason_, viz. _quod extremus_, etc.

_In ortus_. _Till the risings_ (pl.) _of the sun_, i.e. from day to day successively. It was known in the age of T. that the longest day grew longer towards the north, till at length it became six months (cf. Plin. N.H. 2, 77), though T. supposed it to be thus long at a lower latitude than it really was, cf. A. 12.

_Sonum--aspici_. The aurora borealis, some suppose.

_Persuasio adjicit_. _The common belief adds_, i.e. _it is further believed_, cf. His. 5, 5. 13: persuasio inerat.

_Illuc--natura_. _Tantum_ is to be connected with _illuc usque_. _Thus far only nature extends_. So thought the ancients. Cf. A. 33: _in ipso terrarum ac naturae fine_. _Et vera fama_ is parenthetic. The _author_ endorses this part of the story.

_Ergo_ marks a return from the above digression.

_Suevici maris_. _The Baltic_.

_Aestyorum_==eastern men, modern Esthonians. Their language was probably neither German nor Briton, but Slavonic.

_Matrem Deum_. Cybele, as the Romans interpreted it, cf. 43.

_Insigne--gestant_. Worn, as _amulets_.

_Frumenta laborant_, i.e. labor _for_, or _to produce_, corn. Cf. Hor. Epod. 5, 60. _Laborare_ is transitive only in poetry and post-Augustan prose. _Elaborare_ would imply too much art for the author's purpose. See Rit. in loc.

_Succinum_. _Amber_, an important article of commerce in early ages, combining some vegetable juice (hence the Latin name, from _succus_) with some mineral ingredients.--_Glesum_. This name was transferred to _glass_, when it came into use. The root is German. Compare [Greek: chalaza.] Död.

_Nec_==non tamen. _Yet it is not_, etc.

_Ut barbaris_. Cf. ut inter barbaros, A. 11. _Barbaris_ is dative in apposition with _iis_, which is understood after _compertum_.

_Quae--ratio_. _What power or process of nature_.

_Donec--dedit_. Cf. note, 87: _affectavere_.

_Plerumque_. _Often_; a limited sense of the word peculiar to post-Augustan Latin. Cf. G. 13: _ipsa plerumque fama bella profligant_; and Freund ad v.

_Quae--expressa_==quorum _succus_ expressus, etc.

_In tantum_. _To such a degree_. Frequent only in late Latin.

_A servitute_. They fall short of liberty in not being free, like most of the Germans; and they fall below slavery itself, in that they are slaves to a woman.

XLVI. _Venedorum et Fennorum_. Modern _Vends and Finns_, or Fen-men. Cf. Latham in loc.--_Ac torpor procerum_. _The chief men are lazy and stupid_, besides being filthy, like all the rest.

_Foedantur_. Cf. infectos, 4.--_Habitum_, here personal appearance, cf. note, 17.--_Ex moribus_, sc. Sarmatarum.

_Erigitur_. Middle sense. _Raise themselves_, or _rise_, cf. evolvuntur, 39.

_Figunt_. Have _fixed habitations_, in contrast with the Sarmatians, who lived in carts. Cf. Ann. 13, 54: _fixerant domos Frisii_. Al. _fingunt_.

_Sarmatis_. The stock of the modern Russians, cf. 1. note.

_Cubile_. We should expect _cubili_ to correspond with _victui_ and _vestituti_. But cf. note 18: referantur; 20: ad patrem, &c.

_Comitantur_, i.e. feminae comitantur viris.

_Ingemere--illaborare_. _Toil and groan upon houses and lands_, i.e. _in building and tilling them_; though some understand _domibus_ and _agris_ as the places in which they toil.

_Versare_. _To be constantly employed_ in increasing the fortune of themselves and others, agitated meanwhile by hope and fear.

_Securi_. Because they have nothing to lose.

_Illis_. Emphatic. _They_, unlike others, have no need, &c. Cf. _apud illos_, 44.

_In medium relinquam_. Leave for the public, i.e. undecided.

_Relinquere in medio_ is the more common expression. Bötticher in his Lex. Tac. explains it, as equivalent by Zeugma to _in medium vocatum relinquam in medio_. So in Greek, _en_ and _eis_ often interchange.

AGRICOLA.

The Biography of Agricola was written early in the reign of Trajan (which commenced A.U.C. 851. A.D. 98), consequently about the same time with the Germania, though perhaps somewhat later (cf. notes on Germania). This date is established by inference from the author's own language in the 3d and the 44th sections (see notes). In the former, he speaks of the dawn of a better day, which opened indeed with the reign of Nerva, but which is now brightening constantly under the auspices of Trajan. The use of the past tense (_miscuerit_) here in respect to Nerva, and of the present (_augeat_) in respect to Trajan, is quite conclusive evidence, that at the time of writing, the reign of Nerva was past, and that of Trajan had already begun.

The other passage is, if possible, still more clearly demonstrative of the same date. Here in drawing the same contrast between past tyranny and present freedom, the author, without mentioning Nerva, records the desire and hope, which his father-in-law expressed in his hearing, that he might live to see Trajan elevated to the imperial throne--language very proper and courtly, if Trajan were already Emperor, but a very awkward compliment to Nerva, if, as many critics suppose, he were still the reigning prince.

It is objected to this date, that if Nerva were not still living, Tacitus could not have failed to attach to his name (in § 3.) the epithet _Divus_, with which deceased Emperors were usually honored. And from the omission of this epithet in connection with the name of _Nerva_, together with the terms of honor in which _Trajan_ is mentioned, it is inferred that the piece was written in that brief period of three months, which intervened between the adoption of Trajan by Nerva, and Nerva's death (see Brotier and many others). But the application of the epithet in question, was not a matter of necessity or of universal practice. Its omission in this case might have been accidental, or might have proceeded from unknown reasons. And the bare absence of a single word surely cannot be entitled to much weight, in comparison with the obvious and almost necessary import of the passages just cited.

The primary object of the work is sufficiently obvious. It was to honor the memory of the writer's excellent father-in-law, Agricola (cf. § 3: honori Agricolae, mei soceri, destinatus). So far from apologizing for writing the life of so near a friend, he feels assured that his motives will be appreciated and his design approved, however imperfect may be its execution; and he deems an apology necessary for having so long delayed the performance of that filial duty. After an introduction of singular beauty and appropriateness (cf. notes), he sketches a brief outline of the parentage, education, and early life of Agricola, but draws out more at length the history of his consulship and command in Britain, of which the following summary, from Hume's History of England, may not be unprofitable to the student in anticipation: "Agricola was the general, who finally established the dominion of the Romans in this island. He governed it in the reigns of Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. He carried his victorious arms northward; defeated the Britons in every encounter, pierced into the forests and the mountains of Caledonia, reduced every state to subjection in the southern parts of the island, and chased before him all the men of fiercer and more intractable spirits, who deemed war and death itself less intolerable than servitude under the victors. He defeated them in a decisive action which they fought under Galgacus; and having fixed a chain of garrisons between the friths of Clyde and Forth, he cut off the ruder and more barren parts of the island and secured the Roman province from the incursions of the more barbarous inhabitants. During these military enterprises, he neglected not the arts of peace. He introduced laws and civility among the Britons; taught them to desire and raise all the conveniences of life; reconciled them to the Roman language and manners; instructed them in letters and science; and employed every expedient to render those chains which he had forged both easy and agreeable to them." (His. of Eng. vol. 1.)