Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/252

 GERHANIA. from whom the Gauls tnmalerred the name to the whde Genmui oation; for these Alemamii made fre- quent iiutNids into the Boman dominion in Gaol. They are first mentioned by Dion Cassias (zzriL 14: 'AXafi/icafPoC) on the ooeasion of a war which Caracalla had to cany on against them. Some modem inquirers deriTo the name Germani from the Persian, referring to the Persian tribe called Ger- man! (Herod, i. 125), and to the Persian Kemum (Garamania), that is, hospitality; their view is sup- ported by ihe xesemblaiice existing between the manners and customs of the ancioit Germans and those of the Persians. But if it were true that the Ger- mans brought the name with them from Asia,it would hare been indigenous among than; but down to the prssent day, neither any German tribe, nor the whole nation, ever called itself German, but always Deutachor 7eti«MA(Gothic TkiudUkdf old High German i>t«liM;, and Anglo-Saxon TAeoduc). The same remark applies to the derivation of the name from the Ger- man Ger^ Gwer, Heer^ or TFeAr, which has been proposed by some. Surely the Bomans would not bave called the nation by a name derived from a German root that was unknown to them, seeing that the Germans themselves did not use that name. The probabili^ is that the name Germani is of Celtic cmgin, and that it had come into general use among the Celts in Gaul before the time of Caesar, who there heard it applied to the whole nation dwelling m the Gaelic ffoir or gair (to cry out), and gmre^ gainnj gaiv' meem (a ciy); so that Germanus would signify oomething lilre the Homeric Miw iya$6Sf a fierce, terrible warrior. Thus much, then, is certain, that GermtuU was the name given to the people by th«T neighbours, and for a time the Germans them- aelves may have used it in their interoourse with Celta and Bomans; but it never was adopted by the CSennaas so as to supersede their own name. Tav- tOHea, the name of the German hosts invading the south of Europe in the time of Marius, contains in- deed the same root as J}eutiek or JeutecA, but it does not folknr that this was originally the common name fbr tbe whole German nation; it is, on the oon- tiary, almost certain that, in the earliest times, the Germans had no name comprising all their difiierent tribes. Our view of the Celtic origin of the name Germani is confirmed by the fact that the Belgae ^Celts) applied it even to the inhabitants of ML Ar- duenna, and that the Celtiberians in Spain designated by it the Oretanl in Spain (Gaes.^. G. ii. 3, 4, 6; Piin. ilL 4), neither of which belonged to the German stock. II. Boundarietj Extent, and i>»mnoK«.— The ancients are pretty well agrsed in fixing the boun« daries of Germany. Li tlra west, it was bounded by the Bhine ; in the north-east, by the Vistula ( Weich • eel) and the Sarmatian mountains, or the Carpsr thians; in the south, by the river Danubius; and in the north, by the ocean (Mare Germanicum, Oceanus Septentrionidis) and the Baltic (Blare Suevicttm)^ Tacitus (^Gert^ 1 ) and others are of opinion that the eastern frontiv towards Sarmatia and Dada cannot be accurately fixed. In the north, ancient Germany extended much further than at present, ss it com* prised the countries now called Denmark, Sweden, jtnd Norway. In the south, the frontier was not the VOL. I. GEBMANIA. 998 same at all times; for, according to Pliny (iii. 23; compb Plin. Paneg, 14), Germania extended as far as the foot of the Alps, which separated it from Italy; but it is well known that in Caesar's time the countiy from the Alps to the Danube, and even fur- ther north, was still inhabited by Celts, who must afterwards have been subdued or expelled by the Germans. On the west, the Bhine is distinctly said by Caesar to form the boundary between Gaul and Germany; but from his own account, it is clear that this is only a very loose statement. The Beigae in the north of Gaul (Belgium and HolUmd) were a mixed race of Cymri (not Gauls, as Caesar states) and Germans; but the frontier between the Belgae and Germans is extremely uncertain, and in regard to some tribes, such as the Menapii, it is even doubt- ful as to whether they were Germans or Cymri. The Treviri, moreover, were ambitious to be regarded as Germans, and modem Alsatia was occupied by Ger- mans. Hence we are probably justified in assuming that, about the time of Augustus, the western bank of the Bhine was as much occupied by Germans as it is at present. This view is idso confirmed by the fiict that the Bomans applied the name Germania to the western banks of the Bhine, calling the south- ern part Germania Superior, and the northern Ger- mania Inferior, Hence Tacitus divides Gaul into six provinces, two of which are formed by the two Ger- manias just mentioned. [Gallia, p. 967.] This part of Germany, which was conquered by the Bomans during the reigns of Augustus and Tiberius, was distinguished fhim Germany on the east of the Bhine, which bore the name of Gtarmania Magna (TfptutvLa il fayd y PtoL il II. § 6), and Germania Trans- rhettimay or Barbara (Caes. B, G* iv. 1 6, v. 1 1 ; Tac. Hitt. ii. 76; CapitoL Maadmin. 12; Eutrop. vu. 5; Vopisc. Prob. TS; Am. Marc xviii. 4). Begarding the extent and magnitude of ancient Germany, we have the following statements, which,however,greatIy diffier from one ainother, and cannot be accepted with- out caution. According to Strabo (iv. p. 193^ the breadth of the country akmg the Bhine amounted to 3000 stadia; according to Agrippa (ap. Plin. iv. 25), the distance from the Danube to the coast of the ocean was 1200 Boman miles; while, according to another statement in Pliny (xxxvii. II), the dis- tance from Camuntum on the Danube to the sea- coast amounted only to 600 Boman miles; and the length along the southern frontier (including Bhae- tia and Noricum) was computed at 696 miles (Plin. iv* 28). Along the northern frontier, the dis- tance from Asciburgium to the mouth of the Vistula was ebtimated at 1350 stadia (Mardan. HeracL p. 99); while, according to the same authority, the coast from the mouth of the Bhine to that of the VistuU amounted to from 10,000 to 13,000 stadia. Ptolemy, the principal authority on the topograpliy of Germany, jdaces the countnr between 26^ and 44^ of longitude, and between 47^ and 59° of northern latitude, and enumerates within this extent 68 tribes, 94 towns, 7 chams of mountains, and 14 rivers. III. Physical Aspect of the Coun<9^. — Al- though at a very early time Phoenician merchants sailed through the German ocean into the Baltic fur the purpose of obtaining amber, still no information about the country was communicated to the inha- bitants of Southern Europe, all the useful geo- graphical disooveries made by the Phoenicians being kept secret, from commercial jealousy. The voyage of Pytheas of Marseilles (about n. a 330), who like- wise yisitsd the Baltic, yielded little information 3 B