Germania and Agricola

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_Vocentur_. The subj. expresses the opinion of others, not the direct
affirmation of the author. H. 529; Z. 549.

_Deo_==hoc deo, sc. Mannus--Germ. Mann, Eng. Man.

_Marsos, Gambrivios_. Under the names of Franci and Salii these tribes
afterwards became formidable to the Romans. Cf. Prichard's Researches
into the Physical History of Mankind, Vol. III. chap. 6, sec. 2.--
_Suevos_, cf. note, 38.--_Vandalios_. The Vandals, now so familiar in
history.

_Additum_, sc. esse, depending on _affirmant_.

_Nunc Tungri_, sc. vocentur, cf. His. 4, 15, 16. In confirmation of the
historical accuracy of this passage, Gr. remarks, that Caes. (B.G. 2, 4)
does not mention the Tungri, but names four tribes on the left bank of
the Rhine, who, he says, are called by the common name of _Germans_;
while Pliny (Nat. His. 4, 31), a century later, gives not the names of
these four tribes, but calls them by the new name _Tungri_.

_Ita--vocarentur_. Locus vexatissimus! exclaim all the critics. And so
they set themselves to amend the text by conjecture. Some have written
_in nomen gentis_ instead of _non gentis_. Others have proposed _a
victorum metu_, or _a victo ob metum_, or _a victis ob metum_. But these
emendations are wholly conjectural and unnecessary. Guenther and Walch
render _a victore, from_ the victorious tribe, i.e. _after the name of_
that tribe. But _a se ipsis_ means _by_ themselves; and the antithesis
doubtless requires _a_ to be understood in the same sense in both
clauses. Grueber translates and explains thus: "In this way the name of a
single tribe, and not of the whole people, has come into use, so that
all, at first by the victor (the Tungri), in order to inspire fear, then
by themselves (by the mouth of the whole people), when once the name
became known, were called by the name of Germans. That is, the Tungri
called all the kindred tribes that dwelt beyond the Rhine, Germans, in
order to inspire fear by the wide extension of the name, since they gave
themselves out to be a part of so vast a people; but at length all the
tribes began to call themselves by this name, probably because they were
pleased to see the fear which it excited." This is, on the whole, the
most satisfactory explanation of the passage, and meets the essential
concurrence of Wr., Or. and Doed.--_Germani_. If of German etymology,
this word==gehr or wehr (Fr. guerre) and mann, _men of war_; hence the
_metus_, which the name carried with it. If it is a Latin word
corresponding only in _sense_ with the original German, then==_brethren_.
It will be seen, that either etymology would accord with Grueber's
explanation of the whole passage--in either case, the name would
inspire fear. The latter, however, is the more probable, cf. Ritter in
loc. A people often bear quite different names abroad from that by which
they call themselves at home. Thus the people, whom we call _Germans_,
call themselves _Deutsche_ (Dutch), and are called by the French
_Allemands_, cf. Latham. _Vocarentur_ is subj. because it stands in a
subordinate clause of the oratio obliqua, cf. H. 531; Z. 603.

_Metum_. Here taken in an _active_ sense; oftener passive, but used in
both senses. Quintilian speaks of _metum duplicem_, quem patimur et quem
facimus (6, 2, 21). cf. A. 44: nihil metus in vultu, i.e., nothing to
inspire fear in his countenance. In like manner admiratio (Sec. 7) is used
for the admiration which one excites, though it usually denotes the
admiration which one feels. For _ob_, cf. Ann. 1, 79: _ob moderandas
Tiberis exundationes_.

_Nationis--gentis. Gens_ is often used by T. as a synonym with _natio_.
But in antithesis, _gens_ is the whole, of which _nationes_ or _populi_
are the parts, e.g. G. 4: populos--gentem; Sec. 14: nationes--genti. In
like manner, in the civil constitution of Rome, a _gens_ included several
related _families_.

III. _Herculem_. That is, Romana interpretatione, cf. Sec. 34. The Romans
found _their_ gods everywhere, and ascribed to Hercules, quidquid ubique
magnificum est, cf. note 34: _quicquid--consensimus_. That this is a
Roman account of the matter is evident, from the use of _eos_, for if
the Germans were the subject of _memorant_, _se_ must have been used. On
the use of _et_ here, cf. note 11.

_Primum_--ut principem, fortissimum. Guen.

_Haec quoque_. _Haec_ is rendered _such_ by Ritter. But it seems rather,
as Or. and Doed. explain it, to imply nearness and familiarity to the mind
of the author and his readers: _these_ well known songs. So 20: _in haec
corpora, quae miramur_. _Quoque_, like _quidem_, follows the emphatic
word in a clause, H. 602, III. 1; Z. 355.

_Relatu_, called _cantus trux_, H. 2, 22. A Tacitean word. Freund. Cf. H.
1, 30.

_Baritum_. Al. barditum and barritum. But the latter has no ms.
authority, and the former seems to have been suggested by the bards of
the Gauls, of whose existence among the Germans however there is no
evidence. Doed. says the root of the word is common to the Greek, Latin,
and German languages, viz. _baren_, i.e. _fremere_, a verb still used by
the Batavians, and the noun _bar_, i.e. carmen, of frequent occurrence
in Saxon poetry to this day.

_Terrent trepidantve. They inspire terror or tremble with fear, according
as the line_ (the troops drawn up in battle array) _has sounded_, sc. the
_baritus_ or battle cry. Thus the Batavians perceived, that the _sonitus
aciei_ on the part of the Romans was more feeble than their own, and
pressed on, as to certain triumph. H. 4, 18. So the Highlanders augured
victory, if their shouts were louder than those of the enemy. See Murphy
in loco.

_Repercussu_. A post-Augustan word. The earlier Latin authors would have
said _repercussa_, or _repercutiendo_. The later Latin, like the English,
uses more abstract terms.--_Nec tam--videntur. Nor do those carmina seem
to be so much voices_ (well modulated and harmonized), _as acclamations_
(unanimous, but inarticulate and indistinct) _of courage_. So Pliny uses
_concentus_ of the acclamations of the people. Panegyr. 2. It is often
applied by the poets to the concerts of birds, as in Virg. Geor. 1, 422.
It is here plural, cf. Or. in loc. The reading _vocis_ is without MS.
authority.

_Ulixem_. "The love of fabulous history, which was the passion of ancient
times, produced a new Hercules in every country, and made Ulysses wander
on every shore. Tacitus mentions it as a romantic tale; but Strabo seems
willing to countenance the fiction, and gravely tells us that Ulysses
founded a city, called Odyssey, in Spain. Lipsius observes, that Lisbon,
in the name of Strabo, had the appellation of Ulysippo, or Olisipo. At
this rate, he pleasantly adds, what should hinder us inhabitants of the
Low Countries from asserting that Ulysses built the city of Ulyssinga,
and Circe founded that of Circzea or Ziriczee?" Murphy.

_Fabuloso errore. Storied, celebrated in song_, cf. fabulosus Hydaspes.
Hor. Od. 1, 227. Ulysses having _wandered westward_ gave plausibility to
alleged traces of him in Gaul, Spain and Germany--_Asciburgium_. Now
Asburg.

_Quin etiam_, cf. notes, 13: _quin etiam_, and 14: _quin immo.--Ulixi_,
i.e. ab Ulixe, cf. Ann. 15,41: Aedes statoris Jovis Romulo vota, i.e. by
Romulus. This usage is especially frequent in the poets and the later
prose writers, cf. H. 388, II. 3; Z. 419; and in T. above all others, cf.
Boet. Lex. Tac. sub _Dativus_. Wr. and Rit. understand however an altar
(or monument) consecrated to Ulysses, i.e. erected in honor of him by the
citizens.

_Adjecto_. Inscribed with the name of his father, as well as his own,
i.e. [Greek: Laertiadae].

_Graecis litteris. Grecian characters_, cf. Caes. B.G. 1, 29: In castris
_Helvetiorum_, tabulae repertae sunt _litteris Graecis_ confectae; and
(6, 14): _Galli_ in publicis privatisque rationibus _Graecis utuntur
litteris_. T. speaks (Ann. 11, 14) of alphabetic characters, as passing
from Phenicia into Greece, and Strabo (4, 1) traces them from the Grecian
colony at Marseilles, into Gaul, whence they doubtless passed into
Germany, and even into Britain.

IV. _Aliis aliarum_. The Greek and Latin are both fond of a repetition
of different cases of the same word, even where one of them is redundant,
e.g. [Greek: oioden oios] (Hom. II. 7, 39), and particularly in the
words [Greek: allos] and _alius_. _Aliis_ is not however wholly
redundant; but brings out more fully the idea: _no intermarriages, one
with one nation, and another with another_. Walch and Ritter omit
_aliis_, though it is found in all the MSS.

_Infectos_. Things are said _infici_ and _imbui_, which are so penetrated
and permeated by something else, that that something becomes a part of
its nature or substance, as inficere colore, sanguine, veneno, animum
virtutibus. It does not necessarily imply corruption or degeneracy.

_Propriam--similem_. Three epithets not essentially different used for
the sake of emphasis==_peculiar, pure, and sui-generis. Similis_ takes
the gen., when it expresses, as here, an internal resemblance in
character; otherwise the dat., cf. Z. 411, H. 391, 2. 4.

_Habitus_. Form and features, external appearance. The physical features
of the Germans as described by Tacitus, though still sufficient to
distinguish them from the more southern European nations, have proved
less permanent than their mental and social characteristics.

_Idem omnibus_. Cf. Juv. 13, 164:

_Caerula_ quis stupuit _Germani lumina? flavam
Caesariem_, et madido torquentem cornua cirro?
Nempe quod haec illis natura est _omnibus una_.

_Magna corpora_. "Sidonius Apollinaris says, that, being in Germany and
finding the men so very tall, he could not address verses of six feet to
patrons who were seven feet high:

Spernit senipedem stilum Thalia,
Ex quo septipedes vidit patronos." Mur.

Skeletons, in the ancient graves of Germany, are found to vary from 5 ft.
10 in. to 6 ft. 10 in. and even 7 ft. Cf. Ukert, Geog. III. 1. p. 197.
These skeletons indicate a _strong_ and _well formed_ body.

_Impetum. Temporary exertion_, as opposed to _persevering toil and
effort, laboris atque operum_.

_Eadem_. Not so much _patientia_, as _ad impetum valida_. See a like
elliptical use of _idem_ Sec. 23: eadem temperantia; Sec. 10: iisdem nemoribus.
Also of totidem Sec. 26.

_Minime--assueverunt_. "Least of all, are they capable of sustaining
thirst and heat; cold and hunger, they are accustomed, by their soil and
climate, to endure." Ky. The force of _minime_ is confined to the first
clause, and the proper antithetic particle is omitted at the beginning of
the second. _Tolerare_ depends on _assueverunt_, and belongs to both
clauses. _Ve_ is distributive, referring _coelo_ to _frigora_ and _solo_
to _inediam_. So _vel_ in H. 1, 62: strenuis _vel_ ignavis spem metumque
addere==strenuis spem, ignavis metum addere.

V. _Humidior--ventosior. Humidior_ refers to _paludibus, ventosior_ to
_silvis_; the mountains (which were exposed to sweeping _winds_) being
for the most part covered with forests, and the low grounds with marshes.
_Ventosus_==Homeric [Greek: aenemoeis], windy, i.e. lofty. H. 3, 305:
[Greek: Ilion aenemoessan].

_Satis ferax. Satis==segetibus_ poetice. _Ferax_ is constructed with
abl., vid. Virg. Geor. 2, 222: ferax oleo.

_Impatiens_. Not to be taken in the absolute sense, cf. Sec. 20, 23, 26,
where fruit trees and fruits are spoken of.

_Improcera_ agrees with _pecora_ understood.

_Armentis. Pecora_--flocks in general. _Armenta_ (from _aro_, to plough),
larger cattle in particular. It _may_ include horses.

_Suus honor_. Their proper, i.e. usual size and beauty.

_Gloria frontis_. Poetice for _cornua_. Their horns were small.

_Numero_. Emphatic: _number_, rather than _quality_. Or, with Ritter,
_gaudent_ may be taken in the sense of enjoy, possess: _they have a good
number of them_. In the same sense he interprets _gaudent_ in A. 44:
_opibus nimiis non gaudebat_.

_Irati_, sc. quia _opes_ sunt _irritamenta malorum_. Ov. Met. 1, 140.--
_Negaverint_. Subj. H. 525; Z. 552--_Affirmaverim_. cf. note, 2:
_crediderim_.

_Nullam venam_. "Mines of gold and silver have since been discovered in
Germany; the former, indeed, inconsiderable, but the latter valuable."
Ky. T. himself in his later work (the Annals), speaks of the discovery of
a silver mine in Germany. Ann. 11, 20.

_Perinde. Not so much as might be expected_, or as the _Romans_, and
other civilized nations. So Gronovius, Doed. and most commentators. See
Rup. in loc. Others, as Or. and Rit. allow no ellipsis, and render: _not
much_. See Hand's Tursellinus, vol. IV. p. 454. We sometimes use _not so
much, not so very, not so bad_, &c., for _not very, not much_, and _not
bad_. Still the form of expression strictly implies a comparison. And the
same is true of _haud perinde_, cf. Boet. Lex. Tac.

_Est videre. Est_ for _licet_. Graece et poetice. Not so used in the
earlier Latin prose. See Z. 227.

_Non in alia vilitate_, i.e. eadem vilitate, aeque vilia, _held in the
same low estimation.--Humo_. Abl. of material.

_Proximi_, sc. ad ripam. Nearest to the Roman border, opposed to
_interiores_.

_Serratos_. Not elsewhere mentioned; probably coins with serrated edges,
still found. The word is post-Augustan.

_Bigatos_. Roman coins stamped with a biga or two-horse chariot. Others
were stamped with a quadriga and called quadrigati. The bigati seem to
have circulated freely in foreign lands, cf. Ukert's Geog. of Greeks and
Romans, III. 1: Trade of Germany, and places cited there. "The serrati
and bigati were old coins, of purer silver than those of tho Emperors."
Ky. Cf. Pliny, H. N. 33, 13.

_Sequuntur_. Sequi==expetere. So used by Cic., Sal., and the best
writers. Compare our word _seek_.

_Nulla affectione animi. Not from any partiality for the silver in
itself_ (but for convenience).

_Numerus_. Greater number and consequently less relative value of the
silver coins. On _quia_, cf. note, H. 1, 31.

VI. _Ne--quidem_. _Not even_, i.e. iron is scarce as well as gold and
silver. The weapons found in ancient German graves are of _stone_, and
bear a striking resemblance to those of the American Indians. Cf. Ukert,
p. 216. Ad verba, cf. note, His. 1, 16: _ne--fueris_. The emphatic word
always stands between _ne_ and _quidem_. H. 602, III. 2; Z. 801.--
_Superest_. Is over and above, i.e. _abounds_. So superest ager, Sec. 26.

_Vel_. Pro _sive_, Ciceroni inauditum. Guen. Cf. note, 17.

_Frameas_. The word is still found in Spain, as well as Germany.
_Lancea_. is also a Spanish word, cf. Freund.

_Nudi_. Cf. Sec. 17, 20, and 24. Also Caes., B.G. 6, 21: magna corporis
parte nuda.

_Sagulo_. Dim. of sago. A small short cloak.--_Leves_==Leviter induti.
The clause _nudi--leves_ is added _here_ to show, that their dress is
favorable to the use of missiles.

_Missilia spargunt_. Dictio est Virgiliana. K.

_Coloribus_. Cf. nigra scuta, Sec. 43. "Hence coats of arms and the origin
of heraldry." Mur.

_Cultus_. Military equipments. Cultus complectitur omnia, quae studio et
arte eis, quae natura instituit, adduntur. K.

_Cassis aut galea_. _Cassis_, properly of metal; _galea_ of leather (Gr.:
galen); though the distinction is not always observed.

_Equi--conspicui_. Cf. Caes. B.G. 4, 2, 7, 65.

_Sed nec variare_. _But_ (i.e. on the other hand) _they are not even_
(for _nec_ in this sense see Ritter in loc.) _taught to vary their
curves_ (i.e. as the antithesis shows, to bend now towards the right and
now towards the left in their gyrations), _but they drive them straight
forward or by a constant bend towards the right in so connected a circle_
(i.e. a complete ring), _that no one is behind_ (for the obvious reason,
that there is neither beginning nor end to such a ring). Such is on the
whole the most satisfactory explanation of this difficult passage, which
we can give after a careful examination. A different version was given in
the first edition. It refers not to battle, but to equestrian exercises,
cf. Gerlach, as cited by Or. in loc.

_Aestimanti_. Greek idiom. Elliptical dative, nearly equivalent to the
abl. abs. (nobis aestimantibus), and called by some the dat. abs. In A.
II. the ellipsis is supplied by _credibile est_. Cf. Boetticher's Lex.
Tac. sub _Dativus_.

_Eoque mixti. Eo_, causal particle==for that reason. Caesar adopted this
arrangement in the battle of Pharsalia. B.C. 3, 84. The Greeks also had
[Greek: pezoi amippoi]. Xen. Hellen. 7, 5.

_Centeni_. A hundred is a favorite number with the Germans and their
descendants. Witness the hundred _pagi_ of the Suevi (Caes. B.G. 4, 1),
and of the Semnones (G. 39), the _cantons_ of Switzerland, and the
_hundreds_ of our Saxon ancestors in England. The _centeni_ here are a
military division. In like manner, Caesar (B.G. 4, 1) speaks of a
_thousand_ men drafted annually from each _pagus_ of the Suevi, for
military service abroad.

_Idque ipsum_. Predicate nominative after a verb of calling, H. 362,
2. 2; Z. 394. The division was called a _hundred_, and each man in it a
_hundreder_; and such was the estimation in which this service was held,
that to be a hundreder, became an honorable distinction, _nomen et
honor_==honorificum nomen.

_Cuneos_. A body of men arranged in the form of a wedge, i.e. narrow in
front and widening towards the rear; hence peculiarly adapted to break
the lines of the enemy.

_Consilii quam formidinis_. Supply _magis_. The conciseness of T.
leads him often to omit one of two correlative particles, cf. note on
_minime_, 4.

_Referunt. Carry into the rear_, and so secure them for burial.

_Etiam in dubiis proeliis_. Even while the battle remains undecided. Guen.

_Finierunt_. In a present or aorist sense, as often in T. So
_prohibuerunt_, Sec. 10; _placuit_ and _displicuit_, 11. cf. Lex. Tac. Boet.

VII. _Reges_, civil rulers; _duces_, military commanders. _Ex_==
secundum. So _ex ingenio_, Sec. 3. The government was elective, yet not
without some regard to hereditary distinctions. They _chose (sumunt)_
their sovereign, but chose him from the royal family, or at least one of
noble extraction. They chose also their commander--the king, if he was
the bravest and ablest warrior; if not, they were at liberty to choose
some one else. And among the Germans, as among their descendants, the
Franks, the authority of the commander was quite distinct from, and
sometimes (in war) paramount to, that of the king. Here Montesquieu and
others find the original of the kings of the first race in the French
monarchy, and the _mayors of the palace_, who once had so much power in
France. Cf. Sp. of Laws, B. 31, chap. 4.

_Nec_ is correlative to _et. The kings on the one hand do not possess
unlimited or unrestrained authority, and the commanders on the other, &c.
Infinita_==sine modo; _libera_==sine vinculo. Wr. _Potestas_==rightful
power, authority; _potentia_==power without regard to right, ability,
force, cf. note, 42. Ad rem, cf. Caes. B.G. 5, 27. Ambiorix tells Caesar,
that though he governed, yet the people made laws for him, and the
supreme power was shared equally between him and them.

_Exemplo--imperio_. "_Dative_ after _sunt==are to set an example, rather
than to give command_." So Grueber and Doed. But Wr. and Rit. with more
reason consider them as ablatives of means limiting a verb implied in
_duces: commanders_ (command) _more by example, than by authority_
(official power). See the principle well stated and illustrated in
Doederlein's Essay on the style of Tacitus, p. 15, in my edition of the
Histories.

_Admiratione praesunt. Gain influence, or ascendency, by means of the
admiration which they inspire_, cf. note on metus, Sec. 2.

_Agant_. Subj., ut ad judicium admirantium, non mentem scriptoris
trahatur. Guen.

_Animadvertere_==interficere. Cf. H. 1, 46. 68. _None but the priests are
allowed to put to death, to place in irons, nor even_ (ne quidem) _to
scourge_. Thus punishment was clothed with divine authority.

_Effigies et signa. Images and standards_, i.e. images, which serve for
standards. Images of wild beasts are meant, cf. H. 4, 22: depromptae
silvis lucisve ferarum imagines.--_Turmam_, cavalry. _Cuneum_, infantry,
but sometimes both. _Conglobatio_ is found only in writers after the
Augustan age and rarely in them. It occurs in Sen. Qu. Nat. 1, 15, cf.
Freund.

_Familiae_ is less comprehensive than _propinquitates. Audiri_, sc.
solent. Cf. A. 34 _ruere_. Wr. calls it histor. inf., and Rit. pronounces
it a gloss.

_Pignora_. Whatever is most dear, particularly mothers, wives, and
children.--_Unde_, adv. of place, referring to _in proximo_.

_Vulnera ferunt_, i.e. on their return from battle.

_Exigere. Examine_, and compare, to see who has the most and the most
honorable, or perhaps to soothe and dress them.--_Cibos et hortamina_.
Observe the singular juxtaposition of things so unlike. So 1: _metu aut
montibus_; A. 25: _copiis et laetitia_; 37: _nox et satietas_; 38:
_gaudio praedaque_.

VIII. _Constantia precum==importunate entreaties_.

_Objectu pectorum. By opposing their breasts_, not to the enemy but to
their retreating husbands, praying for death in preference to captivity.

_Monstrata--captivitate_. _Cominus_ limits _captivitate_, pointing to
captivity as just before them.--_Impatientius_. _Impatienter_ and
_impatientia_ (the adv. and the subst.) are post-Augustan words. The adj.
(impatiens) is found earlier. Cf. Freund.

_Feminarum--nomine_, i.e. propter feminas suas. Guen. So Cic.: tuo nomine
et reipublicae==on your account and for the sake of the republic. But it
means perhaps more than that here, viz. in the person of. They dreaded
captivity more for their women than for themselves. _Adeo==insomuch
that_.

_Inesse_, sc. feminis. _They think, there is in their women something
sacred and prophetic_. Cf. Caes. B.G. 1, 50, where Caesar is informed by
the prisoners, that Ariovistus had declined an engagement because the
_women_ had declared against coming to action before the new moon.--
_Consilia, advice_ in general; _responsa, inspired answers_, when
consulted.

_Vidimus_, i.e. she lived in our day--under the reign of Vespasian.--
_Veledam_. Cf. H. 4, 61. 65.

_Auriniam_. Aurinia seems to have been a common name in Germany for
prophetess or wise woman. Perhaps==Al-runas, women knowing all things. So
_Veleda_==wise woman. Cf. Wr. in loc.

_Non adulatione_, etc. "Not through adulation, nor as if they were
raising mortals to the rank of goddesses." Ky. This is one of those
oblique censures on Roman customs in which the treatise abounds. The
Romans in the excess of their adulation to the imperial family _made_
ordinary women goddesses, as Drusilla, sister of Caligula, the infant
daughter of Poppaea (Ann. 15, 23), and Poppaea herself (Dio 63, 29). The
Germans, on the other hand, really thought some of their wise women to be
divine. Cf. His. 4, 62, and my note ibid. Reverence and affection for
woman was characteristic of the German Tribes, and from them has diffused
itself throughout European society.

IX. _Deorum_. T. here, as elsewhere, applies Roman names, and puts a
Roman construction (Romana interpretatione, Sec. 43), upon the gods of other
nations, cf. Sec. 3.

_Mercurium_. So Caes. B.G. 6, 17: Deum maxime Mercurium colunt. Probably
the German _Woden_, whose name is preserved in our Wednesday, as that of
Mercury is in the French name of the same day, and who with a name
slightly modified (Woden, Wuotan, Odin), was a prominent object of
worship among all the nations of Northern Europe. _Mars_ is perhaps the
German god of war (Tiw, Tiu, Tuisco) whence Tuesday, French Mardi, cf.
Tur. His. Ang. Sax. App. to B. 2. chap. 3. _Herculem_ is omitted by
Ritter on evidence (partly external and partly internal) which is
entitled to not a little consideration. Hercules is the god of strength,
perhaps Thor.

_Certis diebus_. Statis diebus. Guen.

_Humanis--hostiis_. Even _facere_ in the sense of _sacrifice_ is
construed with abl. Virg. Ec. 3, 77. _Quoque_==even. For its position in
the sentence, cf. note, 3.

_Concessis animalibus_. Such as the Romans and other civilized nations
offer, in contradistinction to _human_ sacrifices, which the author
regards as _in_-concessa. The attempt has been made to remove from the
Germans the stain of human sacrifices. But it rests on incontrovertible
evidence (cf. Tur. His. Ang. Sax., App. to B. 2. cap. 3), and indeed
attaches to them only in common with nearly all uncivilized nations. The
Gauls and Britons, and the Celtic nations generally, carried the practice
to great lengths, cf. Caes. B.G. 6, 15. The neighbors of the Hebrews
offered human victims in great numbers to their gods, as we learn from
the Scriptures. Nay, the reproach rests also upon the Greeks and Romans
in their early history. Pliny informs us, that men were sacrificed as
late as the year of Rome 657.

_Isidi_. The Egyptian Isis in Germany! This shows, how far the Romans
went in comparing the gods of different nations. Gr. Ritter identifies
this goddess with the Nertha of chap. 40, the Egyptian Isis and Nertha
being both equivalent to Mother Earth, the Terra or Tellus of the Romans.

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