Germania (Clarendon Ancient History) [Hardcover]

Tacitus (Author), J. B. Rives (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 29, 1999 | ISBN-10: 0198150504 | ISBN-13: 978-0198150503

The Germania of Tacitus is the most extensive account of the ancient Germans written during the Roman period, but has been relatively neglected in the scholarship of the English-speaking world. This new commentary provides a current and comprehensive guide to the relevant textual and archaeological evidence and also examines the methodological issues involved in the interpretation of this important work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A reader seeking information about Tacitus' monograph and guidance as to its importance in a variety of areas will receive good value from this book. Sane, learned, and well written, it will at once become an important entry in all bibliographies on the Germania. Gnomon Rives has given us a volume which will require the attention of all students of the Germania, both for his own views and his recapitulation of earlier scholarship. It is a rich feast. Gnomon Rives ducks no important and difficult point; his discussions are extensive and sane. Gnomon The reader who comes to study the monograph without much background will learn a great deal. Rives is particularly good on the ethnographic tradition of which Tacitus was a part and on anthropology. Gnomon Rives has done a masterful job ... handsomely produced, with attractive type and ample white space on the page. It will serve its varied readers well, both those who know no Latin and those who wish the text elucidated. Gnomon A scholarly, authoritative text ... a great resource. Phoenix

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Latin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 360 pages
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA (November 29, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0198150504
• ISBN-13: 978-0198150503
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,144,227 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars More than another translation, August 9, 2000

By 

Rick A. Riedlinger (Ft Lauderdale, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Germania (Clarendon Ancient History Series) (Paperback)

In this Clarendon Ancient History Series edition, James Rives has given us much more than another translation. Enough background materials and commentary are provided to give a reader all that is needed for an informed understanding of this important historical text.

Conflicting theories are treated in an even-handed manner and the author's conclusions are well reasoned. The actual text is an easy to read, yet pleasingly accurate version of the original Latin in which the surviving copies of the Germania were written.

A hefty price for a paperback, but in this instance it is one justified by the wealth of information the book contains.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ausgezeichnet, October 20, 2002

By 

James G. Adams - See all my reviews

This review is from: Germania (Clarendon Ancient History Series) (Paperback)

The book suggests it is for scholars and post-graduate researchers. I admire the thought of being a scholar, but this is book for anyone with an interest in the structure of the ancient Germanic world. Every phrase is dissected. Alternative interpretations of text, possible errors, conflicting theories on every facet of the text of Tacitus's monumental work fill page after page. In the process, one sees beyond Tacitus into minute details of the Germanic past, the very nature of their existence. References to other scholarly works is vast! Critique is refined, balanced, meticulous. Who knows, maybe even a Frenchman would like this book. Now. I said it.

11 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A reliable source of ancient history, November 1, 2005

By 

Terance R. Johnson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Germania (Clarendon Ancient History Series) (Paperback)

The treatise Germania was written by the Roman historian Publis (or Gaius, his first name is uncertain) Cornelius Tacitus, who was born around 55 CE and is thought to have died circa 117 CE. A prominent citizen during the rule of the Emperor Trajan, Tacitus published Germania sometime around 98 CE, which was intended to provide crucial information about the warrior-barbarians inhabiting Rome's northern hinterlands. It is our only surviving source of information about the early Germans, thus providing data for which we would have no other resource.

Tacitus is considered one of antiquity's greatest historians, and his most prominent works (the Annals and the Histories) were primarily about the Roman Empire in the first century. He also penned three less ambitious works: the Agricola (a laudatory biography of his father-in-law), the Dialogus (a discussion of oratory in the style of Cicero), and Germania. Beyond his written works, little is known for certain about his life. A born aristocrat, his father was a commander of the Roman army garrisoned in Britain. Tacitus himself rose to prominence as a Roman senator while cultivating a well-deserved reputation as an eloquent orator and an effective lawyer (he successfully prosecuted Marius Priscus - proconsul of Africa - for corruption). Later appointed substitute consul under Nerva in 97 CE, he subsequently became proconsul of Asia (the western part of modern Turkey) around 112-113 CE. It is not known whether he fathered any children.

Germania is an ethnographic account of the cultures comprising the northern European tribes, who thus far had successfully resisted conquest by Rome. The essay - along with an earlier account in 58 BCE by Julius Caesar entitled De Bello Gallico - comprises the only surviving report on the domestic lives, habits, and beliefs of these second century Teutonic barbarians who lived in what today comprises Germany and Eastern Europe. Sprinkled liberally among various facts about the region, Tacitus simultaneously compares the "decadence" of Rome with German virility, strict monogamy, and self-reliance by idealistically portraying the various Germanic tribes as rugged and noble in sharp contrast to his characterization of Rome as corrupt and immoral. In this comparison, Tacitus makes use of facts, myths, and half-truths to idealize many facets of the German society. In addition to his analysis of the history and varied social structures among the German tribes, Tacitus also provides a detailed description of the geography and climate of their territory.

Each of Germania's passages deals with a particular area of German civilization. The first half of the account consists of a generalized description of the inhabitant's origin and the lands, laws and customs of the region. Tacitus then spends the second half presenting a geographical account of the locations of the main German tribes - beginning with those who live closest to Roman territory and ending on the shores of the Baltic with a description of the savage Fenni living a life mired in stone-age poverty. An interesting note: Among the Baltic coast tribes listed by Tacitus were the Anglii who, four hundred years later, invaded Britain and successfully conquered the Romanized Celts while renaming the island Angla-land (England).

Although taking notice of their habitual drunkenness, laziness, and barbarism, his purpose in writing the book appears to be primarily moralistic, extolling the virtues of Germanic simplicity, bravery, honor, and fidelity while simultaneously warning of the havoc that could ensue should these "noble savages" ever cease fighting amongst themselves and turn their attention south toward Italy ("May the Gods continue to perpetuate amongst these nations, if not any love for us, yet by all means this their animosity and hate towards each other, since whilst the destiny of the Empire thus urges it, fortune cannot more signally befriend us, than in sowing strife amongst our foes."). Though replete with sociological opinions, the book serves primarily as a concise, factual treatise on the culture and geography of the German region.

Though displaying a pro-German bias and unapologetic admiration in his observations of their culture, Tacitus wishes to improve - not replace - Roman society with the "nobler" aspects of German society. The work is clearly moralistic in its structure, as Tacitus' descriptions of German habits, customs, and family life are compared favorably with "old fashioned" Roman Republican ideals. Tacitus longs for the Republic's idealized Roman virtues, bemoaning the Roman Empire's degeneration.

He portrays the Germans as a people who have maintained their freedom and their pride, both highly valued universally, while uncompromisingly maintaining their individual cultures in the shadow of the great Roman Empire. They are illiterate and live in huts while farming and hunting for sustenance. But they thrive, and Tacitus seems to believe that freedom, even in poverty, is preferable to wealth and modernity in captivity. The work, however, is not objective; it is a picture of the "simple Germans" glorified by comparison with the corruption and luxurious immorality of the Romans. The moral purpose and severe criticism of contemporary Rome, fallen from the virtuous vigor of the old republic, is a common theme.

Mention is made in several sections of mythological occurrences, with both Hercules and Ulysses prominently featured. The author also occasionally mentions traditional folklore as a source of information. Considering the personal danger a Roman citizen could expect while wandering around these foreign and barbaric surroundings, it is reasonable to assume that Tacitus made liberal use of oral and written second-hand accounts, historical lore and legends in the compilation of his book. It must be remembered, though, that Roman military excursions into this territory had been commonplace for two hundred years, so one can assume that Tacitus had the means of obtaining accurate information on the character and history of the Germans. His account of German customs and institutions can therefore be assumed to be reliable.

The treatise is a concise and instructive document produced by one of the preeminent philosophical historians of the ancient world. The intrinsic credibility of the author makes it a reliable source of ancient historical and geographical information. Furthermore, the political maxims and moral sentiments interwoven for the sake of instruction are merely incidental and in no way detract from the abundant factual and methodically presented documentation. As the only detailed account of German culture in the ancient world, Tacitus' rich and instructive Germania provides us with an invaluable glimpse of life beyond Rome's influence in Eastern Europe