Germania, pt.3

A previously unseen translation, by me, of the one of the most important ethnographic texts in history

One of the great things about being a facephag now is that I can talk about any aspect of my life and work I choose to, including all the things I’ve been and done when I wasn’t the Raw Egg Nationalist.

Here’s one thing I did as myself: I published a new translation of the Germania, by the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus. I published it in 2015, in a small run, as a tribute to my wonderful Latin teacher, just before I went up to Oxford to read for my DPhil in medieval history. The book consists of a 10,000+ word introductory essay on Tacitus, his life and works, and the Germania in particular, and then the translation itself.

I thought I’d reproduce the full book here, starting with the introductory essay, in two parts, and then the translation itself as the third and final part.

Here, at last, is the translation. You can read the first part of the introduction here, and the second part here.

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1. Germany as a whole is separated from the Gauls and from the Raeti and Pannonii by the rivers Rhine and Danube respectively, from the Sarmatians and Dacians by mutual fear or mountains. The rest the ocean encircles, embracing broad peninsulas and immense extents of islands. Certain peoples and kings have recently been made known to us by war. The Rhine arises on a remote and precipitous height of the Raetian Alps, turns with a moderate bend to the west and mixes with the ocean in the north. The Danube flows gently from a mild ridge of the Abnoba range, passes many peoples, until in Pontus it meets the sea with six mouths, the seventh being consumed by marshes.

2. I should believe that the Germans are indigenous and have barely mixed with other peoples through migrations and friendships, because in the past, seekers of new homelands travelled not by land but by boat, and the immense and, I should say, hostile ocean beyond is rarely crossed by ships from our world. Who, indeed, to add to the horrors of the unknown sea, would leave Asia or Africa or Italy and make for Germany – appalling in its soils, harsh in its climate, dismal in its culture and appearance – unless if it were their fatherland?

They sing mythical poems, their only history and chronicles, of the earth-born god Tuisto and his son Mannus, the fathers and founders of the nation. To Mannus they attribute three sons, from whose names come those of the Ingaevones, on the coast; of the Herminones, in the middle of the country; and of the Istaevones — the rest. Some say, with the license of antiquity, that the god had more sons, who produced more tribes – “Marsi”, “Gambrivii” “Suebi” and “Vandilii” being true and ancient names. Others say that the very name “Germans” is a recent adoption, because those who first crossed the Rhine and expelled the Gauls are now the “Tungri”, but were “Germans” then. Only gradually did the name become a national and not a tribal name. At first, through fear, the vanquished Gauls called other tribes “Germans”, who soon adopted the name themselves, once they had discovered the fear it brought.

3. Some say that Hercules was among them. Going into battle they sing that he is the bravest of all men. They have certain songs by whose performance, which they call “barditum”, they rouse their spirits and influence the result of the battle-to-come. The songs terrify the enemy or cause the army to waver according as they are performed, and the singing is less about the quality of the performance than the courage it inspires. A harsh sound and broken rhythm are especially aimed at, and they set their shields at mouth-level so their voices swell fuller and heavier with the repercussion. Another thing some believe is that Ulysses, on his long and legendary journey, was carried into the northern ocean and came to the German lands, and that Asciburgium, which sits on the bank of the Rhine and is inhabited today, was founded and named by him. In fact, they even say that an altar consecrated to him – with the name of his father, Laertes, added – was discovered there, and that monuments and tumuli inscribed with Greek letters are visible to this very day in Germany and Raetia. I intend neither to prove these claims with evidence nor refute them: let each man believe or disbelieve according to his own bent.

4. I myself agree with the opinions of those who think the peoples of Germany untainted by marriages with other nations, and a nation peculiar, pure and like to itself alone. For this reason, their physical appearance, although there are a great many of them, is the same: savage blue eyes, reddish hair, bodies large and powerful only for quick bursts of effort. They do not have the same endurance for work and toil, nor can they tolerate drought and heat, despite the weather and the soil having inured them to hunger and cold.

5. Even if the land differs somewhat in specific detail, universally, however, it is bristling with forests and foul with marshes, more humid where it faces the Gallic lands, windier where it faces Noricum and Pannonia. It is fertile for sown crops, but unable to support fruiting trees, abundant of cows, but mostly undersized. Not even their oxen have the glorious appearance and brows proper to them. Whether the gods were propitious or angry when they denied the Germans silver or gold, I do not know, but I should not say that in Germany no vein yields either metal – for who has investigated this? They care for the use and possession of these metals less than you would think. Golden vessels are to be seen among them, given to their ambassadors and princes as gifts, but they are held as cheaply as clay. The practice of trade, however, has made gold and silver valuable to the Germans closest to us, and they are familiar with certain forms of our money and choose them. The people of the interior use an older form of commerce. They prefer coins which are old and long-familiar to them – notched coins with an image of Victory driving a chariot. They also seek silver more than gold, by no disposition of character, but because the denomination of silver coins is more useful to those trading indiscriminate and cheap goods.

6.  Even iron is not in abundance there, as is gathered from the sort of weapons they use. Rarely do they use swords or bigger lances. They wield spears, or “framae” in their tongue, short and with little iron, but sharp and handy to use, so that with the same spear, as the situation demands, they may fight hand-to-hand or at distance. And the cavalryman, in fact, is content with a shield and framea. The infantry also scatter large numbers of missiles individually, hurling them a great distance, naked or lightly armed with a cloak. There is no ostentation in their equipment – only their shields, decorated with chosen colours. Few have breastplates, scarcely one or two a metal or leather helmet. Their horses are not conspicuous in appearance or speed, and they do not teach them to vary their courses, in our custom: they advance in a single line or with a turn to the right, describing a circle, with no man further behind.

Generally, it is judged that the greater part of their strength is in their infantry, which fights mixed together with the cavalry, being selected from the best of the young men and swift enough to fight in mounted engagements. The number of infantry is prescribed at one hundred from each canton, and they are called this very name – “hundreds” – so that what was first a number is now a name and honour. The army is organised into wedges. To cede ground, provided you advance again, is seen as wisdom rather than cause for alarm. They retrieve the bodies of their own, even when the outcome of the battle is uncertain. To have abandoned one’s shield is the ultimate disgrace, and morality prevents those guilty of such a crime from being present at rituals and going to council. Many survivors of battle have ended their infamy with the noose.

7. They take kings by nobility, leaders by courage. Their kings do not have infinite or free power, and their leaders – if they are resolute, distinguished and lead from the front – command more by example and admiration than by orders. Neither to punish nor restrain, nor even to beat, is permitted unless by the priests, not as if in punishment or at the command of the leader, but as if ordered by the god they believe is present with them in battle. And they take into battle effigies and certain insignias they have brought out of the forest. But the most outstanding incentive to them is that neither chance nor fortuitous mustering make a squadron of cavalry or a battalion, but families and kinsmen. During battle, their loved ones stand close by, from whom can be heard the cries of the women and the bleating of the infants. They are each warrior’s most sacred witnesses, his greatest supporters. The men take their wounds to mother and wife, who are not afraid to count or examine the wounds, and carry with them food and encouragements for the fighters.

8. It is handed down to memory that women have rallied certain armies when they were losing ground and wavering – by the strength of their entreaties, by revealing their chests and by warning the men that captivity is imminent. For their women’s sake, the soldiers fear that outcome most keenly, so that they are more effectively under the will of the people. Noble girls are demanded from them when hostages are taken. The Germans believe something sacred and prophetic resides in women, and they do not spurn their advice or reject their oracles. Under the god Vespasian we saw Veleda, long held by many to be a divine being. They also once held Albruna and several others in great awe, but not with adulation or as if they were making them goddesses.

9. Of all the gods, they worship Mercury the most and hold it right, on certain days, to offer him human sacrifices. They propitiate Hercules and Mars with customary animals. Some of the Suebi also sacrifice to Isis. The cause and origin of this wandering cult I have scarcely discovered, unless its emblem, shaped like a small galley, tells us it was carried there by boat. On account of the greatness of the gods, the Germans believe they should neither be enclosed within walls nor represented in human form. They consecrate groves and woods, and they call sacred, using the names of the gods, only those things they revere.

10. They observe auspices and lot-divinations as much as they can. Their custom of lot-divination is simple: a stick from a fruiting tree is chopped into twigs, which are then marked with certain signs and cast at random across a white blanket. The diviner – if a public consultation, the priest of the people, but if in private, the head of the family – prays to the gods and looks up to the sky, before lifting three twigs and interpreting them according to their marks. If the twigs forbid, there is no further consultation on the matter, that day. But if permitted, the truth of auspices is demanded as well. They also consult the voices and flights of birds. It is characteristic of the Germans, however, to test the presentiments and warnings of horses. Horses are reared by the state in the sacred groves and woods, white and contaminated by no mortal work. They are yoked to a sacred chariot, and the priest and the king or leader of the people follow them and observe the neighing and snorting. There is no greater trust than in that auspice, among not just the people but the nobles and priests too; for the Germans believe that, whereas they themselves are servants of the gods, the horses are privy to divine knowledge. There is another kind of auspice-watching, to explore the outcome of battles. A captive of the people with whom they are at war, howsoever captured, is committed to fight with a chosen warrior of their own, each man bearing his native arms. The victory of one or the other is accepted as the prediction.

11. On lesser matters, they consult their chiefs; on greater matters, the whole people – in such a way, however, that even those matters whose decision is with the people are treated beforehand by the chiefs. Unless some accident or sudden event befalls, they convene on certain days, whenever the moon is new or full, because they consider these the most auspicious beginnings for conducting their affairs. They do not compute, as we do, the number of days but of nights. In this way they organise their business and make their agreements – night is seen to lead day. The following is a flaw which results from their freedom: they do not gather simultaneously or as ordered, but the second and third day are consumed by delaying as they assemble. As it pleases the throng, they sit, armed. Silence is ordered by the priests, who at that time have the right of controlling the assembly. Soon king or chief – each man according to his age, his nobility, his great deeds in war, his eloquence – is listened to, with the authority of persuasion exceeding the power of compulsion. If a proposition displeases, they reject it with shouting. But if it pleases, they bang their spears on the floor. The most honoured kind of assent is to praise with weapons.

12. At council, it is permitted to accuse and to threaten with a capital sentence. Punishments are differentiated by the crime: traitors and turncoats they hang from trees; cowards, poltroons and polluters of the body they drown in a filthy lake, weighed down with hurdles. This difference reveals the belief that crimes against others should be exposed while they are being punished, personal disgraces hidden. For lesser offences, the punishment is also in proportion: the convicted are fined a number of oxen or cattle. One part of the fine is released to the king or state, the other to the person seeking justice or to his relatives. In the same councils are elected influential men to administer justice in the cantons and villages. Each has a hundred companions from the people, to add to his judgement and authority.

13. There is nothing, neither public nor private, which the Germans do unless armed. But it is not their custom for anyone to take up arms before the state has decided he will pass muster. Then, at council, either a chief or the father or relatives furnish the youth with shield and spear. These things are for them what the toga is for us, the first honour of young manhood. Before this, youths are seen as part of the household; after, as part of the state.

Distinguished nobility and the great deeds of ancestors invite the attention of a chief, even in a youth. The favoured youths join more mature young men who have already been tested for some time, and there is no shame in being seen among the companions of a leading man. The retinue itself has positions, according to the judgment of the chief, and there is great rivalry among the followers as to who has the first place with their chief, and among the chiefs themselves over who has the most and the keenest followers. This dignity, this strength – always to be in the centre of a circle of elect youth – is a glory in peace, protection in war. Not only among his own people but also among neighbouring tribes is it a chief’s name and glory if his retinue is distinguished in number and courage; for these men are sought by outside embassies and bestowed with gifts, and by reputation alone can all but settle wars.