Translations and Reprints From the Original Sources of European History, Vol. 6

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Excerpt from Translations and Reprints From the Original Sources of European History, Vol. 6: The Early Germans Julius Cæsar born 100 (101), murdered 44 B.C, became proconsul of the Gallic provinces in 58. While in this region he came in frequent contact with the Germans who were beginning to cross the Rhine into Gaul in large iKimbers, In describing the campaign of 53 B.C. Cæsar makes a long digression to describe the manners and customs of the Gauls and the Germans. The passage relating to the latter is here given. The best edition of the Gallic War is that of Kübler. Extract From The Gallic War. Lib. VI. cc. XXI-XXIV. (Latin). XXI. The customs of the Germans differ much from those of the Gauls, for neither have they Druids to preside over religious services, nor do they care much for sacrifices. They count among the number of the gods those only whom they can see, and whose benign influence is manifest, namely, the Sun, Vulcan and the Moon. Of the others they have never even heard. Their whole life is made up of hunting and thoughts of war. From childhood they are exercised in labor and hardship. Those among them who remain longest in a state of celibacy are held in the highest esteem, as they claim that thereby the stature of some is increased, while it adds to the strength and sinews of others. Indeed, to have had intercourse with a woman before twenty is considered a most disgraceful thing, nor is the concealment of such a matter possible, since they not only bathe together promiscuously in the streams, but use skins or small garments of reindeer hide for clothing, whereby a great part of the body is bare. XXII. They are not devoted to agriculture, and the greater part of their food consists of milk, cheese and flesh, nor does anyone possess a particular piece of land as his own property, with fixed boundaries, but the magistrates and the chiefs assign every year to the clans and the bands of kinsmen who have assembled together as much land as they please in any locality they see fit, and on the following year compel them to move elsewhere. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.