Germania and Agricola Part 5

War in general, no particular war.--_Versus_. This word has been considered by some as an adverb, and by others as a preposition. It is better however to regard it as a participle, like _ortus_, with which it is connected, though without a conjunction expressed. Ritter omits _in_.

_Molli et clementer edito. Of gentle slope and moderate elevation_ in studied ant.i.thesis to _inaccesso ac praecipiti, lofty and steep_. In like manner, _jugo, ridge, summit_, is contrasted with _vertice, peak, height_, cf. Virg. Ecl. 9, 7: _molli clivo_; Ann. 17, 38: _colles clementer a.s.surgentes_. The _Rhaetian_ Alps, now the mountains of the Grisons. _Alp_ is a Celtic word==hill. _Albion_ has the same root==_hilly country. Mons Abn.o.ba_ (al. Arn.o.ba) is the northern part of the Schwartzwald, or Black Forest.--_Erumpat_, al. erumpit. But the best MSS.

and all the recent editions have _erumpat_: and Tacitus never uses the pres. ind. after _donec, until_, cf. Rup. & Rit. in loc. Whenever he uses the present after _donec, until_, he seems to have conceived the relation of the two clauses, which it connects, as that of a means to an end, or a condition to a result, and hence to have used the subj. cf. chap. 20: _separet_; 31: _absolvat_; 35: _sinuetur_; Ann. 2, 6: _misceatur_. The two examples last cited, like this, describe the course of a river and boundary line. For the general rule of the modes after _donec_, see H.

522; Z. 575. See also notes H. 1, 13. 35.--_Septimum_. According to the common understanding, the Danube had _seven_ mouths. So Strabo, Mela, Ammian, and Ovid; Pliny makes six. T. reconciles the two accounts. The _enim_ inserted after _septimum_ in most editions is not found in the best mss. and is unnecessary. Or. & Rit. omit it.

II. _Ipsos_ marks the transition from the country to the people--_the Germans themselves_. So A. 13: _Ipsi Britanni_.

_Crediderim_. Subj. attice. A modest way of expressing his opinion, like our: I should say, I am inclined to think. H. 486, I. 3; Z. 527.

_Adventibus et hospitiis. Immigrants and visitors. Adventibus_ certae sedes, _hospitiis_ preregrinationes significantur. Gun. Both abstract for concrete. Dod. compares [Greek: epoikoi] and [Greek: metoikoi].

_Terra--advehebantur_. Zeugma for _terra adveniebant_, cla.s.sibus advehebantur. H. 704, I. 2; Z. 775.

_Nec--et_. These correlatives connect the members more closely than et--et; as in Greek oute-te. The sentiment here advanced touching colonization (as by sea, rather than by land), though true of Carthage, Sicily, and most _Grecian_, colonies, is directly the reverse of the general fact; and Germany itself is now known to have received its population by land emigration, from western Asia. The Germans, as we learn from affinities of languages and occasional references of historians and geographers, belonged to the same great stock of the human family with the Goths and Scythians, and may be traced back to that hive of nations, that primitive residence of mankind, the country east and south of the Caspian Sea and in the vicinity of Mount Ararat: cf. Tur.

His. Ang. Sax. B. II. C. 1; also Donaldson's New Cratylus, B. I. Chap. 4.

Latham's dogmatic skepticism will hardly shake the now established faith on this subject. The science of ethnography was unknown to the ancients.

Tacitus had not the remotest idea, that all mankind were sprung from a common ancestry, and diffused themselves over the world from a common centre, a fact a.s.serted in the Scriptures, and daily receiving fresh confirmation from literature and science. Hence he speaks of the Germans as _indigenas_, which he explains below by _editum terra_, sprung from the earth, like the mutum et turpe pecus of Hor. Sat. 1. 3, 100. cf.

A. 11.

_Mutare quaerebant. Quaerere_ with inf. is poet. constr., found, however, in later prose writers, and once in Cic. (de Fin. 313: quaeris scire, enclosed in brackets in Tauchnitz's edition), to avoid repet.i.tion of _cupio_. _Cupio_ or _volo mutare_ would be regular cla.s.sic prose.

_Adversus_. That the author here uses _adversus_ in some unusual and recondite sense, is intimated by the clause: _ut sic dixerim_. It is understood by some, of a sea _unfriendly to navigation_. But its connexion by _que_ with _immensus ultra_, shows that it refers to _position_, and means _lying opposite_, i.e., belonging, as it were, to another hemisphere or world from ours; for so the Romans regarded the Northern Ocean and Britain itself, cf. A 12: ultra _nostri orbis_ mensuram; G. 17: _exterior_ ocea.n.u.s. So Cic. (Som. Scip. 6.) says: Homines partim obliquos, partim aversos, partim etiam _adversos_, stare vobis. This interpretation is confirmed by _ab orbe nostra_ in the ant.i.thesis. On the use of _ut sic dixerim_ for _ut sic dicam_, which is peculiar to the silver age, see Z. 528.

_Asia_, sc. Minor. _Africa_, sc. the Roman Province of that name, comprising the territory of Carthage.--_Peteret_. The question implies a negative answer, cf. Z. 530. The subj. implies a protasis understood: if he could, or the like. H. 502.

_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 G.o.d 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 G.o.d 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_, a.s.sumed by different tribes or confederacies as epithets or t.i.tles 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 pa.s.sage, 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 ant.i.thesis 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 pa.s.sage, 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 pa.s.sage--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 pa.s.sive, 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 ant.i.thesis, _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 const.i.tution of Rome, a _gens_ included several related _families_.

III. _Herculem_. That is, Romana interpretatione, cf. -- 34. The Romans found _their_ G.o.ds everywhere, and ascribed to Hercules, quidquid ubique magnific.u.m 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 pa.s.sion of ancient times, produced a new Hercules in every country, and made Ulysses wander on every sh.o.r.e. 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 a.s.serting 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 pa.s.sing from Phenicia into Greece, and Strabo (4, 1) traces them from the Grecian colony at Ma.r.s.eilles, into Gaul, whence they doubtless pa.s.sed into Germany, and even into Britain.

IV. _Aliis aliarum_. The Greek and Latin are both fond of a repet.i.tion 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.