XLI.
Et haec quidem pars Suevorum in secretiora Germaniae porrigitur. Propior, ut quo modo paulo ante Rhenum, sic nunc Danubium sequar, Hermundurorum civitas, fida Romanis, eoque solis Germanorum non in ripa commercium, sed penitus, atque in splendidissima Rhaetiae provinciae colonia. Passim et sine custode transeunt: et, cum ceteris gentibus arma modo castraque nostra ostendamus, his domos villasque patefecimus non concupiscentibus. In Hermunduris Albis oritur, flumen inclitum et notum olim; nunc tantum auditur.
41.
The part of the Suevi I have just dealt with stretches out even into the more secluded regions of Germany. If now I follow the Danube, just as I did earlier the Rhine, the Hermunduri are quite close to us: they are a nation loyal to Rome, and for that reason the only one in Germany to have commerce with us not limited to the banks of the Rhine and Danube, but extending well within our borders, and in the most splendid colony of the province of Rhaetia into the bargain.. They can come and go as they please without guard escort, and whereas to other tribes we show only our military might and armed camps, to them we open our houses and villas, since they have no desire to wrest them from us. The Albis has its source in their territory, a celebrated river once very familiar to the Romans, but nowadays nothing more than a name to us.
XLII.
Juxta Hermunduros Narisci, ac deinde Marcomanni et Quadi agunt. Praecipua Marcomannorum gloria viresque, atque ipsa etiam sedes, pulsis olim Boiis, virtute parta. Nec Narisci Quadive degenerant. Eaque Germaniae velut frons est, quatenus Danubio peragitur. Marcomannis Quadisque usque ad nostram memoriam reges manserunt ex gente ipsorum, nobile Marobodui et Tudri genus: jam et externos patiuntur. Sed vis et potentia regibus ex auctoritate Romana: raro armis nostris, saepius pecunia juvantur, nec minus valent.
42.
Next to the Hermunduri are the Narisci, and after them the Marcomanni and Quadi. As to power and glory, the Marcomanni are first: their bravery has won them the territory itself they now inhabit, after expelling the Buoii a long time ago. The Narisci and the Quadi are not behindhand in valor either. These tribes, in a way, are the forefront of Germany to the extent that the country is delimited by the Danube. So long as we can remember, the Marcomanni and the Quadi have had native kings from the noble line of Marobodus and Tudrus, but now they also tolerate outsiders. The source of their power and prestige, however, comes from the protection of Rome: we sustain them more often with money than with force of arms, nor are they any weaker because of that.
XLIII.
Retro Marsigni, Gothini, Osi, Burii, terga Marcomannorum Quadorumque claudunt: e quibus Marsigni et Burii sermone cultuque Suevos referunt Gothinos Gallica, Osos Pannonica lingua coarguit non esse Germanos, et quod tributa patiuntur. Partem tributorum Sarmatae, partem Quadi, ut alienigenis, imponunt. Gothini, quo magis pudeat, et ferrum effodiunt. Omnesque hi populi pauca campestrium, ceterum saltus et vertices montium jugumque insederunt. Dirimit enim scinditque Sueviam continuum montium jugum, ultra quod plurimae gentes agunt: ex quibus latissime patet Lygiorum nomen in plures civitates diffusum. Valentissimas nominasse sufficiet, Harios, Helveconas, Manimos, Elysios, Naharvalos. Apud Naharvalos antiquae religionis lucus ostenditur. Praesidet sacerdos muliebri ornatu: sed deos, interpretatione Romana, Castorem Pollucemque memorant: ea vis numini; nomen Alcis. Nulla simulacra, nullum peregrinae superstitionis vestigium: ut fratres tamen, ut juvenes, venerantur. Ceterum Arii super vires, quibus enumeratos paulo ante populos antecedunt, truces, insitae feritati arte ac tempore lenocinantur. Nigra scuta, tincta corpora: atras ad proelia noctes legunt: ipsaque formidine atque umbra feralis exercitus terrorem inferant, nullo hostium sustinente novum ac velut infernum aspectum: nam primi in omnibus proeliis oculi vincuntur.
43.
To the east and northeast of these tribes, the Marsigni, the Gothini, the Osi, and the Buri close the Marcomanni and the Quadi from the rear. Of these the Marsigni and Buri are akin to the Suevi in language and culture; the Gallic and the Pannonian speech of the Gothini and of the Hosi respectively show that they are not Germans, and so does their tolerance of the tribute. The Sarmatae and the Quadi impose each a part of the tribute on them for not being native to the area. The Gothini, to make their shame greater, also work in the iron mines. All of these peoples inhabit land that is not flat or level, for the most part woodland passes and the summits of mountainous country, since a long stretch of rising ground cuts Suevia and separates it from from a number of tribes living beyond this range. Of these the Lygii spread their name through many communities over a vast territory. It will suffice to mention the strongest among them, the Harii, the Helvecones, the Manimi, the Helisii, and the Naharvali. In the country of these last, a grove is shown considered sacred since ancient times. A priest in woman’s clothes is in charge and the deities honored are said to be Castor and Pollux, at least by Roman interpretation. That is the divine power these people worship under the name of Alcis. No images, no trace of the superstition having originated abroad, yet these deities are venerated as twin brothers and as two men in the flower of youth. For the rest, the Harii, aside from the strength thanks to which they are superior to the tribes I have just enumerated, even though they are already a fierce race, enhance their ferocious look using artifice and opportunity: their shields are blackened, their bodies dyed, they choose dark, gloomy nights to launch their attacks, the horror itself they inspire and the funereal aspect of their arrays are calculated to seed terror, no enemy being able to sustain a vision so unsettling and specter-like, for the eyes are the first to despair of victory.
XLIV.
Trans Lygios Gothones regnantur, paulo jam adductius, quam ceterae Germanorum gentes, nondum tamen supra libertatem. Protinus deinde ab Oceano Rugii et Lemovii omniumque harum gentium insigne, rotunda scuta, breves gladii, et erga reges obsequium. Suionum hinc civitates, ipso in Oceano, praeter viros armaque classibus valent: forma navium eo differt, quod utrimque prora paratam semper appulsui frontem agit: nec velis ministrantur, nec remos in ordinem lateribus adjungunt. Solutum, ut in quibusdam fluminum, et mutabile, ut res poscit, hinc vel illinc remigium. Est apud illos et opibus honos; eoque unus imperitat, nullis jam exceptionibus, non precario jure parendi. Nec arma, ut apud ceteros Germanos, in promiscuo, sed clausa sub custode et quidem servo: quia subitos hostium incursus prohibet Oceanus, otiosa porro armatorum manus facile lasciviunt: enimvero neque nobilem neque ingenuum ne libertinum quidem, armis praeponere regia utilitas est.
44.
North of the Lygii, the Gothones are governed by kings already a little more severely than the rest of the German tribes, but not yet so as to be a danger to liberty. Farther on, not far from the ocean are the Rugii and the Lemovii and all these peoples have as distinctive marks round shields, short swords, and obedience to kings. From there, on the ocean itself, we find the communities of the Suinones, who, beside a strong army, also have a strong navy. The shape of their ships is different from ours in that they have a prow at either end enabling them to move forward at any time, as for instance is the case when putting in to land. They are not provided with sails and, instead of oars fixed in place in a row along the sides of the ship, they have oars that can be moved from one side to the other as need demands, the way is done in some rivers. The Suinones greatly value wealth, thus one man only now rules supreme, with no limitations to his power and no dubious title to unquestioning obedience. Arms are not in the hands of everyone, as among other Germans, but are kept stored under guard, and the guard himself is a slave. Since the ocean bars any sudden invasion, any troop of idle men, armed to boot, could easily run riot at any time. Certainly, it is not in a king’s interest to trust a nobleman or a freeborn citizen or even an ex-slave with the safekeeping of arms.
XLV.
Trans Suionas aliud mare, pigrum ac prope immotum, quo cingi cludique terrarum orbem hinc fides, quod extremus cadentis jam solis fulgor in ortus edurat adeo clarus, ut sidera hebetet; sonum insuper audiri, formasque equorum radios capitis aspici persuasio adjicit. Illuc usque, et fama vera, tantum natura. Ergo jam dextro Suevici maris littore Aestyorum gentes alluuntur: quibus ritus habitusque Suevorum; lingua Britannicae propior. Matrem deum venerantur: insigne superstitionis, formas aprorum gestant; id pro armis omnique tutela: securum deae cultorem etiam inter hostes praestat. Rarus ferri, frequens fustium usus. Frumenta ceterosque fructus patientius, quam pro solita Germanorum inertia, laborant. Sed et mare scrutantur, ac soli omnium succinum, quod ipsi glesum vocant inter vada atque in ipso littore legunt. Nec, quae natura quaeve ratio gignat, ut barbaris, quaesitum compertumve. Diu quin etiam inter cetera ejectamenta maris jacebat, donec luxuria nostra dedit nomen: ipsis in nullo usu: rude legitur, informe perfertur, pretiumque mirantes accipiunt. Succum tamen arborum esse intelligas, quia terrena quaedam atque etiam volucria animalia plerumque interlucent, quae implicata humore, mox, durescente materia, cluduntur. Fecundiora igitur nemora lucosque, sicut Orientis secretis, ubi thura balsamaque sudantur, ita Occidentis insulis terrisque inesse, crediderim; quae vicini solis radiis expressa atque liquentia in proximum mare labuntur, ac vi tempestatum in adversa littora exundant. Si naturam succini admoto igne tentes, in modum taedae accenditur, alitque flammam pinguem et olentem: mox ut in picem resinamve lentescit. Suionibus Sitonum gentes continuantur. Cetera similes, uno differunt, quod femina dominatur: in tantum non modo a libertate, sed etiam a servitute degenerant. Hic Sueviae finis.
45.
On the other side of the Suinones there is another sea, torpid, almost stagnant, by which we might conjecture the entire world to be enclosed and surrounded, since the declining splendor of the setting sun endures until dawn, intense enough to blot out the stars. It is also believed that the sound of his risings out of the sea can be heard and that the vague forms of the horses as well as the radiance of his halo can be seen. Only so far and no further, true indeed is the rumor, does the world extend. To resume, east of the Suinones, the Suevian sea washes the land of the Aesti, who follow the rites and customs of the Suevi, but who speak a language closer to that of the Britons. They worship the mother of the gods and carry about them the talisman of their superstitious faith, the figure of a wild boar, which for them is a substitute for body armor and other protective measures: it guarantees safety to the true devotee of the goddess even if surrounded by enemies. Rare is the use of iron weapons, clubs are more the norm. They grow wheat and other crops with a perseverance that surpasses all expectations, given the general indolence of the Germans. But they also scour the sea and are the only people who gather amber (they call it ‘glesum’) in the shallows and also along the shore. Being barbarians, they have not tried to look into or discover its nature and how it comes about. Nay, for a long time amber even lay ignored amog the drftwood and other trash thrown up by the sea, until our love of luxuries lent it renown. It is of no use to them: they collect it rough as they find it, sell it unrefined, and are stunned by the price it fetches. Amber may be viewed as the sap of trees, since insects, both with wings and without, are most often visible within: caught in the sticky liquid, they became permanent captives when the liquid hardened. Just as the luxuriant woods and groves in the retired regions of the Orient exude incense and balsam, so I should think that in the lands and islands of the west, exposed to the near rays of the sun, the liquid sap of the trees imperceptibly slides down into the near by sea and is then, by the violence of storms, disposed of on the opposite shores. If the nature of amber is tested by fire, it burns like a torch, nursing a flame thick and fragrant, and soon becomes a sticky and viscous matter resembling pitch or resin. The tribes of the Sitones are an extension of the Suiones, in all similar to them except in being ruled by women, so low have they sunk not only from freedom, but from slavery itself. Here ends our survey of the Swevi.
XLVI.
Peucinorum Vene dorumque et Fennorum nationes Germanis an Sarmatis ascribam, dubito: quanquam Peucini, quos quidam Bastarnas vocant, sermone, cultu, sede ac domiciliis, ut Germani, agunt. Sordes omnium ac torpor procerum: connubiis mixtis, nonnihil in Sarmatarum habitum foedantur. Venedi multum ex moribus traxerunt. Nam quidquid inter Peucinos Fennosque silvarum ac montium erigitur, latrociniis pererrant. Hi tamen inter Germanos potius referuntur, quia et domos figunt et scuta gestant et pedum usu ac pernicitate gaudent; quae omnia diversa Sarmatis sunt, in plaustro equoque viventibus. Fennis mira feritas, foeda paupertas: non arma, non equi, non penates: victui herba, vestitui pelles, cubile humus: sola in sagittis spes, quas, inopia ferri, ossibus asperant. Idemque venatus viros pariter ac feminas alit. Passim enim comitantur, partemque praedae petunt. Nec aliud infantibus ferarum imbriumque suffugium, quam ut in aliquo ramorum nexu contegantur: huc redeunt juvenes, hoc senum receptaculum. Sed beatius arbitrantur, quam ingemere agris, illaborare domibus, suas alienasque fortunas spe metuque versare. Securi adversus homines, securi adversus deos, rem difficillimam assecuti sunt, ut illis ne voto quidem opus esset. Cetera iam fabulosa: Hellusios et Oxionas ora hominum vultusque, corpora atque artus ferarum gerere: quod ego ut incompertum in medio relinquam.
46.
With regard to the Peucini, Venedi, and Fenni, I am in doubt whether to place them with the Germans or with the Sarmatae, although the Peucini, whom some call the Bastarnae, in language, dress, site locations, and abodes live like the Germans. Squalor and sloth are the distinguishing marks of all three nations. Their leaders, by their intermarriages, have to some extent come down to resemble the Sarmatae. The Venedi have borrowed much from the ways of the Sarmatae, for in their raiding expeditions they rove over all the forested and mountainous tracts that divide the Peucini from the Fenni. Even they, however, are counted among the Germans, in that they have fixed dwellings, carry shields, and like walking and running, all things that make them the opposite of the Sarmatae, who live in covered carts or astride a horse. As for the Fenni, they are surprisingly no better than savages and are horribly poor: they have no arms, no horses, no homes; grass is their food, skins their dress, the bare ground their bed. All their hopes center on arrows, which they, in the absence of iron, make pointed with bone shards. Hunting supports both men and women. The latter accompany the men in all their wanderings and demand their share of the prey. The children have no other protection from wild beasts and storms than some contraption made with intertwined branches. To such a home do the young return and such is the final retreat of the aged. Yet in their eyes all this is better than to sweat in the fields, to labor at building houses, to be harried, between hope and fear, by worries about one’s fortune and that of others. Safe against men and gods, they enjoy a condition that is the most difficult to attain, freedom from even the need to wish for anything. All the rest is shrouded in legend: that the Hellusii and the Oxiones have the face and feature of men, the body and limbs of beasts, that I will leave open to question as something not yet confirmed.