The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus
feminarum fatidicas et, augescente superstitione, arbitrantur deas;"
_i.e._ they deem (_arbitrantur_) very many of their women possessed of
prophetic powers, and, as their religious feeling increases, they deem
(_arbitrantur_) them goddesses, _i.e._ possessed of a superhuman nature;
they do not, however, make them goddesses and worship them, as the
Romans did Poppaea and her infant, which is covertly implied in
_facerent deas_.--_White_.
[62] Mercury, _i.e._ a god whom Tacitus thus names, because his
attributes resembled those of the Roman Mercury. According to Paulus
Diaconus (de Gestis Langobardorum, i. 9), this deity was Wodun, or
Gwodan, called also Odin. Mallet (North. Ant. ch. v.) says, that in
the Icelandic mythology he is called "the terrible and severe God, the
Father of Slaughter, he who giveth victory and receiveth courage in
the conflict, who nameth those that are to be slain." "The Germans drew
their gods by their own character, who loved nothing so much themselves
as to display their strength and power in battle, and to signalize their
vengeance upon their enemies by slaughter and desolation." There remain
to this day some traces of the worship paid to Odin in the name given by
almost all the people of the north to the fourth day of the week, which
was formerly consecrated to him. It is called by a name which signifies
"Odin's day;" "Old Norse, _Odinsdagr_; Swedish and Danish, _Onsdag_;
Anglo-Saxon, _Wodenesdaeg_, _Wodnesdaeg_; Dutch, _Woensdag_; English,
Wednesday. As Odin or Wodun was supposed to correspond to the Mercury of
the Greeks and Romans, the name of this day was expressed in Latin _Dies
Mercurii_."--_White_.
[63] "The appointed time for these sacrifices," says Mallet (North. Ant.
ch. vi.), "was always determined by a superstitious opinion which
made the northern nations regard the number 'three' as sacred and
particularly dear to the gods. Thus, in every ninth month they renewed
the bloody ceremony, which was to last nine days, and every day they
offered up nine living victims, whether men or animals. But the most
solemn sacrifices were those which were offered up at Upsal in Sweden
every ninth year...." After stating the compulsory nature of the
attendance at this festival, Mallet adds, "Then they chose among the
captives in time of war, and among the slaves in time of peace, nine
persons to be sacrificed. In whatever manner they immolated men, the
priest always took care in consecrating the victim to pronounce certain
words, as 'I devote thee to Odin,' 'I send thee to Odin.'" See Lucan i.
444.
"Et quibus immitis placatur sanguine diro
Teutates, horrensque feris altaribus Hesus."
Teutates is Mercury, Hesus, Mars. So also at iii. 399, &c.
"Lucus erat longo nunquam violatus ab aevo.
... Barbara ritu
Sacra Deum, structae diris altaribus arae,
Omnis et humanis lustrata cruoribus arbor."
[64] That is, as in the preceding case, a deity whose attributes
corresponded to those of the Roman Mars. This appears to have been
not _Thor_, who is rather the representative of the Roman Jupiter, but
_Tyr_, "a warrior god, and the protector of champions and brave men!"
"From _Tyr_ is derived the name given to the third day of the week in
most of the Teutonic languages, and which has been rendered into Latin
by _Dies Martis_. Old Norse, _Tirsdagr_, _Tisdagr_; Swedish, _Tisdag_;
Danish, _Tirsdag_; German, _Dienstag_; Dutch, _Dingsdag_; Anglo-Saxon,
_Tyrsdaeg_, _Tyvesdag_, _Tivesdaeg_; English, _Tuesday_"--(Mallet's
North. Ant. ch. v.)--_White_.
[65] The Suevi appear to have been the Germanic tribes, and this also
the worship spoken of at chap. xl. _Signum in modum liburnae figuration
_corresponds with the _vehiculum_ there spoken of; the real thing being,
according to Ritter's view, a pinnace placed on wheels. That _signum
ipsum _("the very symbol") does not mean any image of the goddess, may
be gathered also from ch. xl., where the goddess herself, _si credere
velis_, is spoken of as being washed in the sacred lake.
[66] As the Romans in their ancient coins, many of which are now extant,
recorded the arrival of Saturn by the stern of a ship; so other nations
have frequently denoted the importation of a foreign religious rite by
the figure of a galley on their medals.
[67] Tacitus elsewhere speaks of temples of German divinities (e.g. 40;
Templum Nerthae, Ann. i. 51; Templum Tanfanae); but a consecrated grove,
or any other sacred place, was called templum by the Romans.
[68] The Scythians are mentioned by Herodotus, and the Alans by Ammianus
Marcellinus, as making use of these divining rods. The German method of
divination with them is illustrated by what is said by Saxo-Grammaticus
(Hist. Dan. xiv, 288) of the inhabitants of the Isle of Rugen in the
Baltic Sea: "Throwing, by way of lots, three pieces of wood, white in
one part, and black in another, into their laps, they foretold good
fortune by the coming up of the white; bad by that of the black."
[69] The same practice obtained among the Persians, from whom the
Germans appear to be sprung. Darius was elected king by the neighing
of a horse; sacred white horses were in the army of Cyrus; and Xerxes,
retreating after his defeat, was preceded by the sacred horses
and consecrated chariot. Justin (i. 10) mentions the cause of this
superstition, viz. that "the Persians believed the Sun to be the only
God, and horses to be peculiarly consecrated to him." The priest of the
Isle of Rugen also took auspices from a white horse, as may be seen in
Saxo-Grammaticus.
[70] Montesquieu finds in this custom the origin of the duel, and of
knight-errantry.
[71] This remarkable passage, so curious in political history, is
commented on by Montesquieu, in his Spirit of Laws. vi 11. That
celebrated author expresses his surprise at the existence of such a
balance between liberty and authority in the forests of Germany; and
traces the origin of the English constitution from this source. Tacitus
again mentions the German form of government in his Annals, iv. 33.
[72] The high antiquity of this made of reckoning appears from the Book
of Genesis. "The evening and the morning were the first day." The Gauls,
we are informed by Caesar, "assert that, according to the tradition of
their Druids, they are all sprung from Father Dis; on which account they
reckon every period of time according to the number of nights, not of
days; and observe birthdays and the beginnings of months and years in
such a manner, that the day seems to follow the night." (Bell. Gall.
vi. 18.) The vestiges of this method of computation still appear in the
English language, in the terms se'nnight and fort'night.
[73] _Ut turbae placuit_. Doederlein interprets this passage as
representing the confused way in which the people took their seats in
the national assembly, without reference to order, rank, age, &c.
It rather represents, however, that the people, not the chieftains,
determined when the business of the council should begin.--_White_.
[74] And in an open plain. Vast heaps of stone still remaining, denote
the scenes of these national councils. (See Mallet's Introduct. to Hist.
of Denmark.) The English Stonehenge has been supposed a relic of this
kind. In these assemblies are seen the origin of those which, under the
Merovingian race of French kings, were called the Fields of March;
under the Carlovingian, the Fields of May; then, the Plenary Courts of
Christmas and Easter; and lastly, the States General.
[75] The speech of Civilis was received with this expression of
applause. Tacitus, Hist. iv. 15.
[76] Gibbeted alive. Heavy penalties were denounced against those who
should take them down, alive or dead. These are particularized in the
Salic law.
[77] By cowards and dastards, in this passage, are probably meant those
who, being summoned to war, refused or neglected to go. Caesar (Bell.
Gall. vi. 22) mentions, that those who refused to follow their chiefs
to war were considered as deserters and traitors. And, afterwards, the
emperor Clothaire made the following edict, preserved in the Lombard
law: "Whatever freeman, summoned to the defence of his country by his
Count, or his officers, shall neglect to go, and the enemy enter the
country to lay it waste, or otherwise damage our liege subjects,
he shall incur a capital punishment." As the crimes of cowardice,
treachery, and desertion were so odious and ignominious among the
Germans, we find by the Salic law, that penalties were annexed to the
unjust imputation of them.
[78] These were so rare and so infamous among the Germans, that barely
calling a person by a name significant of them was severely punished.
[79] Incestuous people were buried alive in bogs in Scotland. Pennant's
Tour in Scotland, 1772; part i. p. 351; and part ii. p. 421.
[80] Among these slighter offences, however, were reckoned homicide,
adultery, theft, and many others of a similar kind. This appears from
the laws of the Germans, and from a subsequent passage of Tacitus
himself.
[81] These were at that time the only riches of the country, as was
already observed in this treatise. Afterwards gold and silver became
plentiful: hence all the mulcts required by the Salic law are pecuniary.
Money, however, still bore a fixed proportion to cattle; as appears from
the Saxon law (Tit. xviii.): "The Solidus is of two kinds; one contains
two tremisses, that is, a beeve of twelve months, or a sheep with its
lamb; the other, three tremisses, or a beeve of sixteen months. Homicide
is compounded for by the lesser solidus; other crimes by the greater."
The Saxons had their Weregeld,--the Scotch their Cro, Galnes, and
Kelchin,--and the Welsh their Gwerth, and Galanus, or compensations for
injuries; and cattle were likewise the usual fine. Vide Pennant's Tour
in Wales of 1773, pp. 273, 274.
[82] This mulct is frequently in the Salic law called "fred," that is,
peace; because it was paid to the king or state, as guardians of the
public peace.
[83] A brief account of the civil economy of the Germans will here be
useful. They were divided into nations; of which some were under a
regal government, others a republican. The former had kings, the latter
chiefs. Both in kingdoms and republics, military affairs were under the
conduct of the generals. The nations were divided into cantons; each of
which was superintended by a chief, or count, who administered justice
in it. The cantons were divided into districts or hundreds, so called
because they contained a hundred vills or townships. In each hundred
was a companion, or centenary, chosen from the people, before whom small
causes were tried. Before the count, all causes, as well great as small,
were amenable. The centenaries are called companions by Tacitus, after
the custom of the Romans; among whom the titles of honor were, Caesar,
the Legatus or Lieutenant of Caesar, and his comites, or companions. The
courts of justice were held in the open air, on a rising ground, beneath
the shade of an oak, elm, or some other large tree.
[84] Even judges were armed on the seat of justice. The Romans, on
the contrary, never went armed but when actually engaged in military
service.
[85] These are the rudiments of the famous institution of chivalry. The
sons of kings appear to have received arms from foreign princes. Hence,
when Audoin, after overcoming the Gepidae, was requested by the Lombards
to dine with his son Alboin, his partner in the victory, he refused;
for, says he, "you know it is not customary with us for a king's son
to dine with his father, until he has received arms from the king of
another country."--Warnefrid, De gestis Langobardorum, i. 23.
[86] An allusion to the _toga virilis_ of the Romans. The German youth