Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume I Part 2.djvu/253

 9M GEBMANIA. aboat Germanj; and it was not till the time of CaesaTf when the Romans commenced their military operations against the Germans, that the nature of thar countiy became better known. The Romans de- scribe Germany as a wild and inhospitable country, covered with forests and marshes, and of a melan- choly aspect (Tac Oerm. 2; Mela, liL 3); cold winds are said to blow constantiy, and the barren soil to be covered daring the greater part of the year with snow and ice (Senec. de Prov, 4; Herodian, vL 7).' The country was reported to produce little com and luxuriant grass (Plin. xvii. 3), but no fruit- trees. The immense forests were the abodes of a great variety of wild beasts, some of which appear to have since become extinct (Gaes. B, G. n. 25.) There can be no doubt that these statements contain much that b true; but it seems equally certain that they are in many points a little exaggerated, the Romans being anxious to account in some honour- able way ibr their repeated failures in attempting to make themselves masters of the countiy. At present, the draining of marshes, the clearing away of ex- tensive forests, and the improved cultivation of the land, have produced changes in the climate which have led some modem writers unjustly to charge the ancients with monstrous exaggeration. The north of Germany, as Tacitus correcdy remarks, is flat and marshy, and mountains exist only in the south. {Germ, 5, 30.) Almost all the mountains are called by the name Silvaej showing that they must have been thickly wooded. The most celebrated of these mountains, which are discussed in separate articles, are the HsRcnoA Silva, Abxoba, Alph Montbb, Bacbmis Silva, Mbubocus Mons, Gabreta SiLVA, AsciuuROius MoNs, Tauxus, Sevo,Luco8 Baduhenmax, Kaharvalorum Silva, Skmro- NUH Silva. The principal rivers *ef Germany are the Rhenus, Damubius (Ister), Vistula, Am uia, VisURGis, Albis, ViADua Among the kkes, the most remarkable is the BiuoAirmrus Lacus; be- sides which, many lakes are mentioned near the mouth of the Rhine, between this river and the Amisia, and several extensive marshes are noticed by Pomponius Mela (iiL 3). IV. iVodtic(fOf».*- Among the wild beasts in- habiting the forests, none appeared so formidable to the Romans as the aleet and uri ; but beades them, we hear of bears, wolves, lynxes, wild cats, wild boars, stags, and deers: the oxen were of small size, and had small horns, but the cows, espedally in the south, yielded great quantities of milk. The horses also were small, and not handsome, but strong, and capable of undei^oing great hardships. The dogs, especially those of the Sigambri, were thought weU suited fat the chase. Pigs were bred in great quantities, and hams formed a considerable article of commerce for exportation. (Strab. iv. p. 301.) Sheep and goats were bred for food and clothing. The most common of the feathered tribes were eagles and geese; bees and fishes abounded in the forests and rivers. The ex- tensive forests furnished plenty of wood, especially oak and beach- wood ; but notwitiistanding this, the inhabitants also used peat as ftxel. Many of the trees were of gigantic size; fruit-trees existed, in- deed, but had not yet been improved by cultivation, whidi seems to be the meaning of poma agrettia in Tacitus {Germ, 23; comp. with 10). Although the country is described as, on the whole, not fnlile, still we are informed that it produced wheat, barley, oats, flax, tumips, large radbhes, asparagus, and beans Oatmeal, prepared, as in Scotland, Into a sort of GEBMANIA. porridge, was an article of food vcfj extniwiy used; and Tacitus {Germ, 23) infionns us tint t beverage (beer) was prepared firom wheat and baikf. Among the metals, we hear of silver, iron, eopper, and calamine; ciystals, onyxes, tnrquoises^opaKnd even diamonds, were found in the monntains of Ger- many. The north coast was rich in salt; bntim of the products of the nortk was so cefebnted ia a&> tiquity as tiie amber (efecfnm), and it nas tka substance which first drew tiie attentioD tf tia Greeks and Romans to the coasts of the Baltic Tbe cultivation of the vine is said to have been inbo* dooed into Germany by the Franks during the $tk century of our era; but on the left bank tf tk Rhine, oo the Moselle, and in Rhaetia, the rme bid been cultivated at a much earlier period. (Vopac Prob. 18 ; Aur. Vict Caes. 37 ; Suet Aug. 77; Strab. iv. p. 206.) V. PqgmlaiumandlnhabUanU. — AlthoQgbG«r. many was covered with extensive marshes and fcrati, still there is good evidence that the ooantiy wu thickly peopled ; though, owing to the consttot mis and migrations, the population was in numy pDti very fluctuating. The tribe of the Snevi seot emj year into the field an araiy of 100,000 nwn (Cm B. G. i. 37, iv. 1), and Ariovistos, their ki^g, cnmed the Rhine with an army of 120^000 men (Cm. B, G. iv. 2). The Usipetes and Tencteri tog«lKr amounted to 430,000. (lb. iv. 15.) Marobodiai kept an army of 74,000 men (VelL L 109); iatbdr war with the Sigambri, the Bomans canicd off 40,000 men (Suet TVft. 9); and in the wv of tk Chamavi and Angrivarii against the Bmcteri, 60^ men are said to btve been shun. (Tac Germ. 9k) But all these focts do not enable ns to fbnn eieau approximate idea of the exact population of Gtmaj in ancient times. It would seem, however, dist ii consequence of the monntains and forasti in tte south, the popnktion of that part was less lamam than in the north and east. The Gemums considered themselves as aatocb- thones, that is, as the offspring of the land tbegr in- habited (Tac Genn, 2, 4) ; bat then can be m doubt that they, like all the nations of Europe, bad immigrated from Asia, though neither histoiy dot tbs national legends of the Germans OMitain the ili^at allusion to such an immigration. But what lustaj conceals from ns is revealed in the hmgnage of the people, which bears tiie strongest oigamc rBsemUaaee to the languages spoken in India luid Persia. Tbi German language belongs to what is noir geoanllf termed the Indo-European family of laagoips- Hence we mnst infiBr that at some remote and as- known period the Germans issued fitra a an* tiy of Upper Asia, and passed by Mount Gancaaa, and through the countries in the north of the EozIm and the Caspian sea, into Europe. They acoordiii|):F bdonged to the same great stock of nations is tbe Greeks, Romans, and C^ts, to the last of wfaicb tbcv are said to have borne a very marked lesemblaace in stature, character, and manners. (Strab. iv. p. 990.) The Germans are universally described as vay tsB and handsome men, of a white complexion, vith Uu eyes, and fair or red hair, which they took great ens of, and the colour of which they rendered still nMR bright by a peculiar kind of soap. The red bair tf the Germans formed a considerable article d con* merce with the R<»nans during the imperial peiiod, for it was a fiishion with the Roman laidies to vetf peraques or curls of red hair. Men as well 9S vonoa wore long hair; but they shaved their beards, tfaoqgb