Tacitus: Germania [Paperback]

J.G.C. Anderson (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1853995037 | ISBN-13: 978-1853995033 | Publication Date: September 17, 2009

Updated to include the findings of archaeological investigation over the century, it serves to lift the veil that shrouded the pre-history of the Germanic peoples and the process of their expansion over central Europe.

Product Details

• Paperback: 296 pages
• Publisher: Duckworth Publishers (September 17, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853995037
• ISBN-13: 978-1853995033
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,088,893 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars English AND Latin, April 1, 2011

By 

Keri Leaman - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Tacitus: Germania (Paperback)

What this page doesn't say is

the introductory chapters and the notes are in English.

The text itself is in the original Latin. If you're not a translator or haven't translated Latin in 20+ years, be forewarned. I am returning the copy I just bought for this reason.

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable to the Modern Historian, December 20, 2007

By 

William J. Hoyt "Bill Hoyt" (Fort Scott, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tacitus: Germania (Paperback)

In the Germania, one of Tacitus' most valuable works, the author gives a First and Second Century look at the various Germanic tribes that hovered outside the eastern border of Roman Gaul. Beginning with a general geographic introduction, he reviews the culture all the various tribes shared, their religion, their war cries, their marriage and funeral rites, and the German way of war. In the remaining chapters, Tacitus describes the various tribes of the Germans and their location to one another and to major rivers and mountains; this is invaluable to the modern historian and is the most complete study of the Germany of late Rome.

Tacitus' writing is clear and thorough, giving us a consistent and accurate picture of the Germany of his day, a swirling cauldron of tribes filled with young men who fight bravely, though often just for the fun of it. We get a clear glimpse of the German character, his rites and his habits, his strengths and his weaknesses. There is no other book quite like it, and in its four dozen short chapters we come to know not only who waited outside Rome's borders, but why Tacitus thought they were a reason for concern.

While there's not much to not like about Germania, I do think Tacitus overplays the innocent virtue of the Germans, drawing too many parallels between their character that of the old Roman Republic. While his political purpose was important to him, it is less important to us, if only because we can see in hindsight that the Germans were not so different from the Romans in the end. That they didn't have wealth and splendor does not mean they didn't desire it; it only means that they had not yet acquired it. It will turn out, however, that they are as willing to take it from the Romans as the Romans were from everyone else.