While I was reading Tacitus description of the German Peoples I came away with a couple of interesting things.
The several communities of the Sitones 266 succeed those of the Suiones; to whom they are similar in other respects, but differ in submitting to a female reign; so far have they degenerated, not only from liberty, but even from slavery. Here Suevia terminates.
There are three types of "government" depicted: a government consisting of freemen with a limited in power: executive; a government by Monarchical male, or Monarchical FEMALE.
Of course, Tacitus was accustomed to a form of slavery that showed a plethora of debauchery. In the German context, it was like a tenant on a piece of land, paying for the privilege with a percentage of what was produced, had his own house, wife, children and could do quite well for himself.
Interestingly, this practice is still reflected in the Frysian Law. 800 AD. This is a degeneration from de Frya Tex according to the Oera Linda Bok:
He who robs another of his freedom, even though a debt is owed, must be showed around on a leash by a female slave [...] and his ashes buried 30 feet under.
I can only regard as free he is neither slave to his appetites nor someone else.
He who sells his freedom has bastardized blood.
It is interesting to contemplate the description in the Ura Linda Book with of this ideal of the human potential, and the degeneration from it, as described by Tacitus in the above quote.
But there is a fourth: And really, it is anarchic:
The Fenni live in a state of amazing savageness and squalid poverty. They are destitute of arms, horses, and settled abodes: their food is herbs; their clothing, skins; their bed, the ground. Their only dependence is on their arrows, which, for want of iron, are headed with bone; and the chase is the support of the women as well as the men; the former accompany the latter in the pursuit, and claim a share of the prey. Nor do they provide any other shelter for their infants from wild beasts and storms, than a covering of branches twisted together. This is the resort of youth; this is the receptacle of old age. Yet even this way of life is in their estimation happier than groaning over the plough; toiling in the erection of houses; subjecting their own fortunes and those of others to the agitations of alternate hope and fear. Secure against men, secure against the gods, they have attained the most difficult point, not to need even a wish.
I would make a recommendation in terms of reading an article: https://www.thecollector.com/germania-tacitus-publius-cornelius-historian/
Of special note here, are the remarks of the writer of the article concerning the image Tacitus painted about Germans in general:
- strong families
- absolute high regard for women
- having babies enrichment and social stability.
Below is his conclusion, which consideration I entrust to you in closing:
A thoughtful Roman audience might even ask itself; did Germanic ferocity in war mirror that of Rome’s early founders before this had been blunted by the riches of empire? Had not Rome’s forefathers lived a more simple, naturalistic, and noble life, in stable family groups, unadulterated by intermarriage or foreign luxury? Long before the Empire, wealth and material goods had distorted the moral compass of her citizens. Rome’s early ancestors had once shunned adultery, childless relationships, and casual divorce. Like the Germanic tribes, Rome’s early founders had not been weakened by indolent addiction to entertainment or a reliance on money, luxury, or slaves. Not unlike the Germans, had not the early Romans once spoken freely in assemblies, protected from the worst excesses of tyranny, or dare it even be thought, emperors? In moralistic terms, Rome’s early forefathers had once practiced a simple, wholesome, and warlike existence not unlike some aspects of the early Germans. At least this is how Tacitus seems to be thinking and this is the deeper message he transmits through the Germania. We should be aware of its potentially distorting effect.
Tacitus: a modern image reflected in a etnography of old.
More about Tacitus who wrote concerning Jesus, (a hostile witness)
Tacitus wrote an account of the great fire of Rome which occurred AD 64, which Emperor Nero blamed on the Christians It is sometimes alleged that there is no evidence for Jesus Christ outside the pages of our New Testament. Fortunately, the informed Christian can easily address and disprove this misconception by becoming familiar with a few ancient sources and writers. In this post, we will see several important facts concerning Christ mentioned in a source outside of the Bible from Publius Tacitus, who was a Roman senator and historian.
Tacitus – The Annals – Book 15: Consequently, to get rid of the report, Nero fastened the guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations, called Christians by the populace. Christus, from whom the name had its origin, suffered the extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our procurators, Pontius Pilatus, and a most mischievous superstition, thus checked for the moment, again broke out not only in Judaea, the first source of the evil, but even in Rome, where all things hideous and shameful from every part of the world find their centre and become popular. Accordingly, an arrest was first made of all who pleaded guilty; then, upon their information, an immense multitude was convicted, not so much of the crime of firing the city, as of hatred against mankind.