Transcript

003 - Section 3 · Germania

0:00
Speaker 1: Part three of tacituses germagnia. This is a LibriVox according
0:06
Speaker 1: all Libervox accordings are in the public domain. For more
0:09
Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
0:14
Speaker 1: My Julife Mulcham Gamargia by Publius Cornelius Tacitus, translated by
0:21
Speaker 1: Alfred John Churche and William Jackson brodrib Part three Next
0:28
Speaker 1: to the Cati on the rhine, which is now a
0:31
Speaker 1: well defined channel and serves as a boundary dwell the
0:35
Speaker 1: Usurpee and Tanctuary. The latter, besides the more usual military distinctions,
0:42
Speaker 1: particularly excel in the organization of cavalry and the catie,
0:47
Speaker 1: are not more famous for their foot soldiers than are
0:50
Speaker 1: the Tanctory for their horsemen. What if their forefathers originated
0:55
Speaker 1: posterity maintain the supply is brought to their children, rivalry
1:01
Speaker 1: to their youths. Even the aged cup it of horses
1:06
Speaker 1: are bequeath it along with the slaves, the dwelling house,
1:10
Speaker 1: and the usual right of inheritance. They go to the son,
1:14
Speaker 1: not to the eldest as does in the other property,
1:17
Speaker 1: but to the most warlike and courageous. After the Tanctuary
1:22
Speaker 1: came in former days the bructerory. But a general account
1:26
Speaker 1: now is that the Camove and Angrivari entered their settlements,
1:32
Speaker 1: drove them out, and utterly exterminated them with the common
1:35
Speaker 1: help of the neighboring tribes. Either from hatred of their tyranny,
1:40
Speaker 1: or from the attractions of plunder, or from Heaven's favorable
1:44
Speaker 1: regard for us, It did not even grudge us the
1:47
Speaker 1: spectacle of the conflict. More than sixty thousand fell not
1:52
Speaker 1: beneath the Roman arms and weapons, but Grand Afar, before
1:56
Speaker 1: our delighted eyes made the trial. I pray, ever, retain,
2:01
Speaker 1: if not love for us, at least hatred for each other.
2:06
Speaker 1: For while the destinies of empire hurri us on fortune
2:09
Speaker 1: can give no greater boon than discord among our foes.
2:15
Speaker 1: The Angrivari and Camove are bounded in the rear by
2:19
Speaker 1: the Dulgabini and Cassuari, and other tribes not equally famous.
2:25
Speaker 1: Towards the river are the Frizzy, distinguished as a greater
2:30
Speaker 1: and lesser Frizzy according to their strengths. Both these stribes,
2:34
Speaker 1: as far as the ocean, are skirted by the Rhine,
2:38
Speaker 1: and their territory also embraces vast lakes which Roman fleets
2:43
Speaker 1: have navigated. We have ventured on the ocean itself. In
2:46
Speaker 1: these parts pillars of Hercules, so rumor commonly says, still exist,
2:53
Speaker 1: whether the Hercules rarely visited the country, or whether we
2:56
Speaker 1: have agreed to ascribe every work of grandeur wherever to
3:00
Speaker 1: his renown. Drousis Germanicus indeed did not lack daring, but
3:06
Speaker 1: the ocean barred the explorer's access to itself and to Hercules. Subsequently,
3:12
Speaker 1: no one has made the attempt, and it has been
3:15
Speaker 1: sought more pious and reverential to believe in the actions
3:19
Speaker 1: of the gods than to inquire. Thus far we have
3:24
Speaker 1: taken note of western Germany. Northwards, the country takes a
3:28
Speaker 1: vast sweep. First comes the tribe of the Cousi, which,
3:33
Speaker 1: beginning at the Frygian settlement and occupying a part of
3:36
Speaker 1: the coast, stretches along the frontier of all the tribes
3:39
Speaker 1: which I have enumerated till it reaches Whiziband as far
3:43
Speaker 1: as the Catti. This vast extent of country is not
3:47
Speaker 1: merely possessed, but densely peebled by the Cousi. The nobles
3:51
Speaker 1: of the German races. A nation who would maintain their
3:54
Speaker 1: greatness by righteous dealing without ambition, without law is violent.
4:00
Speaker 1: They live peaceful and secluded, never provoking a war or
4:04
Speaker 1: rendering others by rapine and robbery. Indeed, the crowning proof
4:10
Speaker 1: of their valor and their strengths is that they keep
4:13
Speaker 1: up their superiority without harm to others. Yet all have
4:18
Speaker 1: their weapons and readiness, and an army of necessary with
4:22
Speaker 1: a multitude of men and horses, And even while at peace,
4:26
Speaker 1: they have the same renown of valor. Dwelling on one
4:31
Speaker 1: side of the causey and catti, the Karaiski long cherished
4:35
Speaker 1: unassailed an excessive and unevating love of peace. This was
4:40
Speaker 1: more pleasant than safe for to be a peaceful self
4:44
Speaker 1: deception among lawlers and powerful neighbors, where the strong hand decides,
4:50
Speaker 1: moderation and justice are terms applied only to the more powerful,
4:54
Speaker 1: and so the Karski, ever reputed good and just, are
4:58
Speaker 1: now called cowards and fools. While in the case of
5:02
Speaker 1: the victorious Catty, success has been identified with prudence, the
5:07
Speaker 1: downfall of the Kereski brought with it also that of
5:10
Speaker 1: the FOSSi, a neighboring tribe which shared equally in their disasters,
5:15
Speaker 1: though they had been aferiti them in prosperous days. In
5:20
Speaker 1: the same remote corner of Germany, bordering on the ocean,
5:24
Speaker 1: dwelled the Kimbrie, a now insignificant tribe, but of great
5:28
Speaker 1: renown of their ancient glory. Widespread traces yet to remain
5:33
Speaker 1: on both the sides of the Rhine are encampments of
5:36
Speaker 1: vast extent, and by this circuit you may even now
5:40
Speaker 1: measure the warlike strengths of the tribe and find evidence
5:44
Speaker 1: of that mighty emigration. Rome was in her six hundred
5:48
Speaker 1: and fortieth year when we first heard of the Kimbrian invader,
5:52
Speaker 1: in the consulship of Cecilius Mattilus and Papirius Carbo, from
5:57
Speaker 1: which time to the second consulship of the Emperor Trajan
6:01
Speaker 1: we have to reckon about two hundred and ten years.
6:05
Speaker 1: So long have we been in conquering Germany. In the
6:08
Speaker 1: space of this long epoch, many losses have been sustained
6:12
Speaker 1: on both sides. Neither sam Night nor Carthaginian, neither is
6:18
Speaker 1: Spain nor Gaul. Not even the Parthians have given as
6:21
Speaker 1: more frequent warnings. German independence truly is fiercer than the
6:27
Speaker 1: despotism of an Arcesses. What else, indeed, can the East
6:31
Speaker 1: taunt us with but the slaughter of Gressus when it
6:35
Speaker 1: has itself lost Pacaras and been crushed under a Ventidius.
6:40
Speaker 1: But Germans, by routing or making prisoners of Carbo, Cassius, Scouris, Aurelius,
6:48
Speaker 1: Civilius Capio and Marcellus Manlius, deprived of the Roman people
6:53
Speaker 1: of five councilor armies, and they robbed even the Caesar
6:56
Speaker 1: of Pharries and as I three legions. Not with that
7:01
Speaker 1: lost to us were they discomfited by Marias in Italy,
7:04
Speaker 1: by the great Julias in Gaul, and by Bruises, Nero
7:08
Speaker 1: and Germanicus on their own ground. Soon after the mighty
7:13
Speaker 1: manaces of Caius Caesar were turned into a jest. Then
7:17
Speaker 1: came a lull, until on the occasion of our discords
7:21
Speaker 1: and the civil war they stormed as the winter camp
7:24
Speaker 1: of our legions, and even designed the conquest of Gaul.
7:29
Speaker 1: Again were they driven back, and in recent times we
7:33
Speaker 1: have celebrated triumphs rather than one conquest over them. I
7:38
Speaker 1: must now speak of the swevee, while not one nation,
7:41
Speaker 1: as are the Catti and Tanctuary, for they occupy the
7:44
Speaker 1: greater part of Germany and have hitherto been divided into
7:48
Speaker 1: separate tribes with names of their own, though they are
7:52
Speaker 1: called by the adreneral designation of Swevee. A national peculiarity
7:57
Speaker 1: with them is to twisted their hair back and fasten
8:01
Speaker 1: it in a knot. This distinguishes the Swevee from the
8:04
Speaker 1: other Germans, as it also does their own free born
8:08
Speaker 1: from their slaves with other tribes, either from some connection
8:13
Speaker 1: with the Suavic grace, or as often happens, from imitation.
8:18
Speaker 1: The practice is an occasional one and restricted to youth.
8:22
Speaker 1: The Swevy till their heads are gray, affect the fashion
8:26
Speaker 1: of drawing back their own camped logs, and often they
8:30
Speaker 1: are not on the very top of the head. The
8:33
Speaker 1: chiefs have a more elaborate style, so much do they
8:37
Speaker 1: study appearance, but in perfect innocence, not with any thoughts
8:41
Speaker 1: of love making, but arranging their hair when they go
8:44
Speaker 1: to battle to make themselves tall and terrible. They adorn
8:49
Speaker 1: themselves so to speak, for the eyes of the foe.
8:54
Speaker 1: The Samnonies give themselves out to be the most ancient
8:57
Speaker 1: and renowned branch of the swevey. Their antiquity is strongly
9:02
Speaker 1: attested by the religion. At a stated period, all the
9:06
Speaker 1: tribes of the same race assemble by their representatives in
9:09
Speaker 1: a grove consecrated by the auguries of their forefathers and
9:14
Speaker 1: by immemorial associations of terror. Here, having publicly slaughtered a
9:20
Speaker 1: human victim, they celebrate the horrible beginning of the barbarous rite. Reverence.
9:27
Speaker 1: Also in other ways is page to the grove. No
9:30
Speaker 1: one enters it, except bound with a chain as an inferior,
9:34
Speaker 1: acknowledging the miter of the local divinity. If he chanced
9:38
Speaker 1: to fall, it is not lawful for him to be
9:41
Speaker 1: lifted up or to rise to his feet. He must
9:44
Speaker 1: crawl out along the ground. All the superstition implies to
9:49
Speaker 1: believe that from this spot the nation took its origin.
9:53
Speaker 1: Here dwells the supreme and all ruling deity, to whom
9:57
Speaker 1: all ells are subject and obedient. The fortunate lot of
10:02
Speaker 1: the Semnonis strengthens this belief. A hundred cantons are in
10:06
Speaker 1: their occupation, and the vastness of their community makes them
10:10
Speaker 1: regard themselves as a head of this weaver grays to
10:17
Speaker 1: the Languibardi. On the contrary, their scanty numbers are a distinction.
10:22
Speaker 1: Though surrounded by a host of most powerful tribes, they
10:25
Speaker 1: are safe not by submitting, but by daring the perils
10:29
Speaker 1: of war. Next come the Rhodigni, the Aviones, the Angli,
10:35
Speaker 1: the Barony, the Eudoses, the Suardones, and Newthones, who are
10:41
Speaker 1: fenced in by rivers or forests. None of these tribes
10:45
Speaker 1: have any noteworthy feature except their common worship of Eartha
10:49
Speaker 1: or Mother Earth, and their belief that she interposes in
10:53
Speaker 1: human affairs and visits of the nations in her car
10:57
Speaker 1: In an island of the ocean, there is a sacred
11:00
Speaker 1: grove and within it a consecrated chariot covered over with
11:04
Speaker 1: a garment. Only one priest is permitted to touch it.
11:09
Speaker 1: He can perceive the presence of the Goddess in the
11:11
Speaker 1: sacred recess, and walks by her side with the utmost
11:15
Speaker 1: reverence as she is drawn along by hyphas. It is
11:19
Speaker 1: a season of rejoicing and festivity reigns wherever she deigns
11:24
Speaker 1: to go and be received. They do not go to
11:27
Speaker 1: better or wear arms. Every weapon is on theer lock.
11:31
Speaker 1: Peace and quiet are known, and welcomed only at these times,
11:35
Speaker 1: till the Goddess, bary of human intercourse is at length
11:38
Speaker 1: restored by the same breeze to her temple. Afterwards, the
11:43
Speaker 1: car the vestment, and if you like to believe it,
11:46
Speaker 1: the Divinity herself, are purified in a secret lake. Slaves
11:51
Speaker 1: perform the ride, who are instantly swallowed up by its waters.
11:56
Speaker 1: Hence arises a mysterious terror and a pious ignorants concerning
12:01
Speaker 1: the nature of that which is seen only by men
12:03
Speaker 1: doomed to die. This branch, indeed, of the Swathy, stretches
12:08
Speaker 1: into the remoter regions of Germany. Nearer to us, is
12:14
Speaker 1: a state of the hermundry. I shall follow the course
12:17
Speaker 1: of the Danube, but I did before that of the Rhine,
12:21
Speaker 1: a people loyal to Rome. Consequently, they alone of the Germans, strayed,
12:26
Speaker 1: not mainly on the banks of the river, but far
12:29
Speaker 1: inland and in the most flourishing colony of the province
12:32
Speaker 1: of Rusia. Everywhere they are allowed to pass without a guard.
12:37
Speaker 1: And while to the other tribes, who display only our
12:40
Speaker 1: arms and our camps to them, we have thrown open
12:44
Speaker 1: our houses and country seats, which, if they do not
12:47
Speaker 1: covert it is in their lands that the Alb takes
12:51
Speaker 1: its rise, a famous river known to us in past days.
12:55
Speaker 1: Now we only hear of it. The Narisky border on
13:00
Speaker 1: the Hermundari, and then follow the Markomeni and Quadri. The
13:05
Speaker 1: Markameni stand first in strength and renown, and their very
13:10
Speaker 1: territory from which the boy were driven in a former
13:13
Speaker 1: age was run by valor. Nor are the Nriski and
13:18
Speaker 1: Quadri inferiitism. This I may call the frontier of Germany,
13:25
Speaker 1: so far as it is completed by the Danube. The
13:28
Speaker 1: Marchameni and Quadi have up to our time been ruled
13:32
Speaker 1: by kings of their own nation, descended from the noble
13:36
Speaker 1: stock of Marabodius and Tudras. They now submit even to foreigners.
13:41
Speaker 1: But the strength and power of the monarch depend on
13:44
Speaker 1: Roman influence. He is occasionally supported by our arms, more
13:49
Speaker 1: frequently by our money, and his authority is nonetheless behind them.
13:57
Speaker 1: The Marsigni, gotiny Osi and Bury close in the rear
14:02
Speaker 1: of the Marcomanni and Quadi. Of these, the Marsigni and Bury,
14:07
Speaker 1: in their language and manner of life, resemble the Suevi.
14:11
Speaker 1: The Gautini and Osi are proved by their respective Gallic
14:15
Speaker 1: and Pannonian tongs, as well as by the fact of
14:18
Speaker 1: their enduring tribute not to be Germans. Tribude is imposed
14:23
Speaker 1: on them as aliens, partly by the Somat, partly by
14:27
Speaker 1: the Quadi. The Gautini. To complete their degradation actually work
14:31
Speaker 1: iron mines. All these nations occupy but little of the
14:35
Speaker 1: plain country, dwelling in forest and on mountain tops. For
14:39
Speaker 1: Suevia is divided and cut in half by a continuous
14:43
Speaker 1: mountain range, beyond which live a multitude of tribes. The
14:47
Speaker 1: name of Ligi, spread as it is among the many states,
14:51
Speaker 1: is most widely extended. It will be enough to mention
14:54
Speaker 1: the most powerful, which are the Hari, the Helvicones, the Manu,
15:00
Speaker 1: their Lissi, and the Nahanna Valley. Among these last is
15:05
Speaker 1: shown a grove of immemorial sanctity. A priest and female
15:08
Speaker 1: attire has a charge of it. But the deities are
15:11
Speaker 1: described in Roman language as castor and polyx. Such indeed
15:16
Speaker 1: are the attributes of the divinity, the name being alcys.
15:21
Speaker 1: They have no images, or indeed any vestige of foreign superstition.
15:25
Speaker 1: But it is as brothers and as youths that the
15:28
Speaker 1: deities are worshiped the Harvei. Besides being superior in strength
15:33
Speaker 1: to the tribes just enumerated savage as they are, make
15:37
Speaker 1: the most of their natural ferocity by the help of
15:40
Speaker 1: art and opportunity. Their shields are black, their bodies dyed.
15:47
Speaker 1: They choose dark eyes for battle, and by the dread
15:50
Speaker 1: and gloomy aspect of their deaths like host, strike terror
15:54
Speaker 1: into the foe, who can never confront their strange and
15:57
Speaker 1: almost infernal appearance, for in all battles it is in
16:02
Speaker 1: the eye which is first vanquished. Beyond the Legy are
16:07
Speaker 1: the Catonis, who are ruled by kings a little more
16:11
Speaker 1: strictly than the other German tribes, but not as yet
16:14
Speaker 1: inconsistently with freedom. Immediately adjoining them, further from the coast
16:20
Speaker 1: are the Rugi and Lemvi. The batch of all these
16:24
Speaker 1: tribes being the round shield, the short sword, and servile
16:28
Speaker 1: submission to their kings. And now begin the state of
16:33
Speaker 1: the Siones, situated on the ocean itself. And these beside
16:37
Speaker 1: men and arms, are powerful in ships. The form of
16:41
Speaker 1: their vessels is peculiar in this respect that a frau
16:45
Speaker 1: at either extremity acts as a fore part, always ready
16:49
Speaker 1: for running into shore. They are not worked by sails,
16:54
Speaker 1: nor have they row of oars attached to their sides,
16:57
Speaker 1: but as on some rivers, the rats of rowing is
17:01
Speaker 1: unfixed and shifted from side to side as circumstances require.
17:06
Speaker 1: And they likewise on a wealth. And so a single
17:10
Speaker 1: ruler holds sway with no restrictions and with no uncertain
17:14
Speaker 1: claim to obedience. Arms are not with them, as with
17:17
Speaker 1: the odered Germans, at the general disposal, but are in
17:21
Speaker 1: the charge of a keeper who is actually a slave
17:24
Speaker 1: for the ocean forbids the sudden inroad of enemies, and besides,
17:29
Speaker 1: an idle multitude of armed men is easily demoralized. And indeed,
17:35
Speaker 1: it is by no means that the policy of a
17:37
Speaker 1: monarch to place either a nobleman, a free born citizen,
17:41
Speaker 1: or even a freedman at the head of an armed force.
17:46
Speaker 1: Beyond the Siuenes is anozze sluggish and almost motionless, which
17:51
Speaker 1: we may certainly infer girdles and surrounds the world from
17:55
Speaker 1: the fact that the last radiance of the setting sun
17:58
Speaker 1: lingers on till sunrise, with the brightness sufficient to dim
18:02
Speaker 1: the light of the stars, even the very sound of
18:05
Speaker 1: his rising as popular believe as may be heard, and
18:10
Speaker 1: the forms of gods and the glory round his head
18:12
Speaker 1: may be seen. Only thus far, and here roma seems true.
18:18
Speaker 1: Does the world extend? At this point? The Swavic Sea,
18:23
Speaker 1: on its eastern shore washes the tribes of the Esti,
18:27
Speaker 1: whose rights and fashions and style of dress are those
18:31
Speaker 1: of the Suevie, while their language is more like the British.
18:35
Speaker 1: They worship the Mother of the gods, and rare as
18:37
Speaker 1: a religious symbol, the device of a wild boar. This
18:41
Speaker 1: serves as armor and as a universal defense, rendering devotary
18:46
Speaker 1: of the Goddess safe even amidst enemies. They often use
18:50
Speaker 1: clubs ron weapons, but seldom. They are more patient in
18:55
Speaker 1: cultivating corn and other presers than might be expected from
18:59
Speaker 1: the general indolence of the Germans. But they also search
19:03
Speaker 1: the deep and are the only people who gather amber,
19:07
Speaker 1: which is they call gleason in the shadows, and also
19:10
Speaker 1: on the shore itself. Barbarians as they are, they have
19:14
Speaker 1: not investigated or discovered what natural cause or process produced it.
19:19
Speaker 1: Nay it evenly limits if the sea's other refuse till
19:23
Speaker 1: our luxury gave it a name to them, It is
19:26
Speaker 1: utterly useless. They gather it in its draw state, bring
19:30
Speaker 1: it to us in shapeless lumps, and marvel at the
19:33
Speaker 1: price which they receive it is, however, it jews from trees,
19:38
Speaker 1: as you may infer from the fact that there are
19:41
Speaker 1: often seen shining through it, reptiles and even winged insects, which,
19:46
Speaker 1: having become entangled in the fluid, are gradually enclosed in
19:50
Speaker 1: the substance as it hardens. I am therefore inclined to
19:54
Speaker 1: think that the islands and countries of the West, like
19:58
Speaker 1: the remote recesses of the east, where Frankinson's and balsamic suit,
20:03
Speaker 1: contain fruitful woods and grows, that these productions, acted on
20:07
Speaker 1: by the near rays of the sun, glide in a
20:10
Speaker 1: liquid state into the adjacent sea, and are thrown up
20:14
Speaker 1: by the force of storms on the opposite shores. If
20:17
Speaker 1: you test of the composition of amber by applying fire,
20:21
Speaker 1: it burns like pine wood and sends forth a rich
20:24
Speaker 1: and fragrant flame. It is soon softened into something like
20:28
Speaker 1: pitch or raisin. Closely bordering on the Siurnes are the
20:34
Speaker 1: tribes of the Setons, which, resembling them in all wells,
20:38
Speaker 1: differ only in being ruled by a woman. So low
20:42
Speaker 1: have they fallen, not merely from freedom, but even from
20:46
Speaker 1: slavery itself. Here suavior ends. As to the tribes of
20:52
Speaker 1: the Pekines, Fineti and Fanny, I am in doubt whether
20:56
Speaker 1: I should class them with the Germans or the Smarte.
21:00
Speaker 1: Although indeed the Peoginy, called by some Bastonnay, are like
21:04
Speaker 1: Germans in their language, mode of life, and in the
21:07
Speaker 1: permanence of their settlements. They all live in filth and sloth,
21:12
Speaker 1: and by the intermarriages of the Cheese they are becoming
21:15
Speaker 1: in some degree debased, and do resemblance to the Smarte.
21:19
Speaker 1: The Veneti have borrowed largely from the some Martian character
21:24
Speaker 1: and their plundering expeditions, their roam over the whole extent
21:28
Speaker 1: of forests and mountain between the Pogony and Fenny. They are, however,
21:33
Speaker 1: to be rather referred to the German race, for they
21:36
Speaker 1: have fixed habitations, carries shields, and delight in strengths and
21:40
Speaker 1: fleetness of foot, thus presenting a complete contrast to the Somate,
21:45
Speaker 1: who live in wagons and on horseback. The Fanny are
21:49
Speaker 1: strangely beastlike and squadidly poor. Neither arms nor horses have
21:55
Speaker 1: they their food as herbs, their clothing, skins, their backs.
22:00
Speaker 1: The earth they trust wholly to their arrows, which, for
22:05
Speaker 1: want of iron, are pointed with bone. The men and
22:09
Speaker 1: women ironlike supplied by the jays, where the latter are
22:13
Speaker 1: always present and demand a share of the bray. The
22:17
Speaker 1: little children have no shelter from wild beasts and storms,
22:21
Speaker 1: but a covering of interlaced boughs. Such are the homes
22:25
Speaker 1: of the young, such the resting place of the old.
22:29
Speaker 1: Yet they count this greater happiness than groaning over field, labor,
22:33
Speaker 1: toiling and building and poising the fortunes of themselves and others.
22:38
Speaker 1: Between hope and fear, heedless of men, heedlers of gods,
22:43
Speaker 1: they have attained the hardest of results, the not needing
22:47
Speaker 1: so much as a wish. All elves as fabulous as
22:51
Speaker 1: at a halluci and exiones have the faces and expressions
22:55
Speaker 1: of men, with the bodies and limbs of wild beasts.
22:59
Speaker 1: All this is unauthenticated, and I shall leave it open.
23:05
Speaker 1: End of Part three, End of Gammania by published Cornelius Tacitus,
23:10
Speaker 1: translated by Alpha John Church and William Jackson. Rodrib