Page:The Natural History of Pliny.djvu/379

 Chap. 28.] ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, ETC. 345 soldiers, from their amber ; but by the barbarians they are kuown as Austeravia and Actania. CHAP. 28. — GEEMANT. The whole of the shores of this sea as far as the Scaldis a river of G-ermany, is inhabited by nations, the dimensions of whose respective territories it is quite impossible to state, so immensely do the authors differ who have touched upon this subject. The Greek Titers and some of our own countrymen have stated the coast of Germany to be 2500 miles in extent, while Agrippa, comprising Ehaetia and Nori- cum in his estimate, makes the length to be 686' miles, and the breadth 148 ^ (14.) The breadth of Ehaetia alone how- ever very nearly exceeds that number of miles, and indeed we ought to state that it was only subjugated at about the period of the death of that general ; while as for Germany, the whole of it was not thoroughly known to us for many years after his time. If I may be allowed to form a conjec- ture, the margin of the coast will be found to be not far short of the estimate of the Greek writers, while the distance in a straight line wiU nearly correspond with that mentioned by Agrippa. There are five German races ; the Vandili^, parts of whom figuratively " amber." Probably (Eland and Gotliland. They will be found again mentioned ia the Thirtieth Chapter of the present Book. See p. 351. ^ Now the Scheldt. 2 In a straight line, of course. Parisot is of opinion that in forming this estimate Agrippa began at the angle formed by the river Piave in lat. 46° 4', measuring thence to Cape Rubeas (now Rutt) in lat. 54° 25'. This would give 8° 21', to which, if we add some twenty leagues for obU- qviity or diti'erence of longitude, the total would make exactly the distance here mentioned. 3 As Parisot remarks, it is totally impossible to conceive the source of such an erroneous conclusion as this. Some readings make the amount 248, others 268. ^ As already mentioned, Zeuss has satisfactorily 8ho^vn that the Van- diU or VindUi properly belonged to the llermiones. Tacitus mentions but three groups of the German nations ; the Inga;vones on the ocean, the Henniones in the interior, and the Istpcvones in the east and south of Germany. The VandiU, a Gothic race, dwelt originally on the northern coast of Germany, but afterwards settled north of the Marcomanni on the