1. Plato, Laws, None (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, criticizes contemporary greek historians Found in books: Isaac (2004) 397| 695a. αὐτοὺς δὲ οἷς ταῦτα παραδώσειν ἔμελλεν ἠγνόει τὴν πατρῴαν οὐ παιδευομένους τέχνην, οὖσαν Περσικήν—ποιμένων ὄντων Περσῶν, τραχείας χώρας ἐκγόνων—σκληρὰν καὶ ἱκανὴν ποιμένας ἀπεργάζεσθαι μάλα ἰσχυροὺς καὶ δυναμένους θυραυλεῖν καὶ ἀγρυπνεῖν καὶ εἰ στρατεύεσθαι δέοι στρατεύεσθαι· διεφθαρμένην δὲ παιδείαν ὑπὸ τῆς λεγομένης εὐδαιμονίας τὴν Μηδικὴν περιεῖδεν ὑπὸ γυναικῶν τε καὶ εὐνούχων παιδευθέντας | 695a. yet knew not that the children to whom he should bequeath them were without training in their father’s craft, which was a hard one, fit to turn out shepherds of great strength, able to camp out in the open and to keep watch and, if need be, to go campaigning. He overlooked the fact that his sons were trained by women and eunuchs and that the indulgence shown them as Heaven’s darlings had ruined their training, whereby they became |
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2. Herodotus, Histories, 3.23.1, 9.82 (5th cent. BCE - 5th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, criticizes jewish proselytes Found in books: Isaac (2004) 453 | 3.23.1. The Fish-eaters then in turn asking of the Ethiopian length of life and diet, he said that most of them attained to a hundred and twenty years, and some even to more; their food was boiled meat and their drink milk. 9.82. This other story is also told. When Xerxes fled from Hellas, he left to Mardonius his own establishment. Pausanias, seeing Mardonius' establishment with its display of gold and silver and gaily colored tapestry, ordered the bakers and the cooks to prepare a dinner such as they were accustomed to do for Mardonius. ,They did his bidding, but Pausanias, when he saw golden and silver couches richly covered, and tables of gold and silver, and all the magnificent service of the banquet, was amazed at the splendor before him, and for a joke commanded his own servants to prepare a dinner in Laconian fashion. When that meal, so different from the other, was ready, Pausanias burst out laughing and sent for the generals of the Greeks. ,When these had assembled, Pausanias pointed to the manner in which each dinner was served and said: “Men of Hellas, I have brought you here because I desired to show you the foolishness of the leader of the Medes who, with such provisions for life as you see, came here to take away from us our possessions which are so pitiful.” In this way, it is said, Pausanias spoke to the generals of the Greeks. |
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3. Xenophon, The Persian Expedition, 7.2.22 (5th cent. BCE - 4th cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans Found in books: Isaac (2004) 435| 7.2.22. ἐλέγετο γὰρ καὶ πρόσθεν Τήρης ὁ τούτου πρόγονος ἐν ταύτῃ τῇ χώρᾳ πολὺ ἔχων στράτευμα ὑπὸ τούτων τῶν ἀνδρῶν πολλοὺς ἀπολέσαι καὶ τὰ σκευοφόρα ἀφαιρεθῆναι· ἦσαν δʼ οὗτοι Θυνοί, πάντων λεγόμενοι εἶναι μάλιστα νυκτὸς πολεμικώτατοι. | 7.2.22. For there was a story that in time gone by Teres, an ancestor of Seuthes, being in this region with a large army, lost many of his troops and was robbed of his baggage train at the hands of the people of this neighbourhood; they were the Thynians, and were said to be the most warlike of all men, especially by night. |
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| 4. Livy, History, 23.5.12, 39.13.11 (1st cent. BCE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, his descriptions of large-scale killings •tacitus, on the britons, criticizes jewish proselytes Found in books: Isaac (2004) 220, 453 |
| 5. Julius Caesar, De Bello Gallico, 6.24.2-6.24.5, 7.77 (1st cent. BCE - 1st cent. BCE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons •tacitus, on the britons, gauls •tacitus, on the britons, on environmental determinism •tacitus, on the britons, on the debilitating effects of peace, wealth, and imperial rule •tacitus, on the britons, regards britons as superior to gauls •tacitus, on the britons, his descriptions of large-scale killings Found in books: Isaac (2004) 96, 190, 220 |
| 6. Seneca The Younger, On Anger, 2.15.1 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on environmental determinism Found in books: Isaac (2004) 95 |
| 7. Pliny The Elder, Natural History, 16.2 (1st cent. CE - 1st cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans Found in books: Isaac (2004) 434 |
| 8. Juvenal, Satires, 7.147, 8.116, 14.100-14.104 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on the discussion about integration in lyons •tacitus, on the britons, criticizes jewish proselytes Found in books: Isaac (2004) 420, 453 |
9. Dio Chrysostom, Orations, 39.1 (1st cent. CE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans Found in books: Isaac (2004) 144 | 39.1. I am delighted at being honoured by you, as indeed it is to be expected that a man of sound judgement would be when honoured by a city which is noble and worthy of renown, as is the case with your city in regard to both power and grandeur, for it is inferior to no city of distinction anywhere, whether in nobility of lineage or in composition of population, comprising, as it does, the most illustrious families, not small groups of sorry specimens who came together from this place and from that, but the leaders among both Greeks and Macedonians, and, what is most significant, having had as founders both heroes and gods. |
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10. Ptolemy, Astrological Influences, 2.2.8 (1st cent. CE - missingth cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on the parthians as nomads Found in books: Isaac (2004) 319| 2.2.8. τούτων δὲ οἱ πρὸς νότον ὡς ἐπίπαν ἀγχινούστεροι καὶ εὐμήχανοι μᾶλλον καὶ περὶ τὴν τῶν θείων ἱστορίαν ἱκανώτεροι διὰ τὸ συνεγγίζειν αὐτῶν τὸν κατὰ κορυφὴν τόπον τοῦ ξῳδιακοῦ καὶ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν πλανωμένων ἀστέρων, οἷς οἰκείως καὶ αὐτοὶ τὰς ψυχικὰς κινήσεις εὐεπιβόλους ἔχουσι καὶ διερευνητικὰς καὶ τῶν ἰδίως καλουμένων μαθημάτων περιοδευτικάς. | |
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11. Tacitus, Histories, 4.17, 4.64.3, 4.76.9, 5.4.1, 5.5.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on the debilitating effects of peace, wealth, and imperial rule •tacitus, on the britons, on the pure lineage of the germans •tacitus, on the britons, regards germans as superior to gauls •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans •tacitus, on the britons, on german family life •tacitus, on the britons, criticizes jewish proselytes Found in books: Isaac (2004) 141, 191, 432, 453 | 4.17. This victory was glorious for the enemy at the moment and useful for the future. They gained arms and boats which they needed, and were greatly extolled as liberators throughout the German and Gallic provinces. The Germans at once sent delegations offering assistance; the Gallic provinces Civilis tried to win to an alliance by craft and gifts, sending back the captured prefects to their own states and giving the soldiers of the cohorts permission to go or stay as they pleased. Those who stayed were given honourable service in the army, those who left were offered spoils taken from the Romans. At the same time in private conversation he reminded them of the miseries that they had endured so many years while they falsely called their wretched servitude a peace. "The Batavians," he said, "although free from tribute, have taken up arms against our common masters. In the very first engagement the Romans have been routed and defeated. What if the Gallic provinces should throw off the yoke? What forces are there left in Italy? It is by the blood of the provinces that provinces are won. Do not think of Vindex's battle. It was the Batavian cavalry that crushed the Aedui and Averni; among the auxiliary forces of Verginius were Belgians, and if you consider the matter aright you will see that Gaul owed its fall to its own forces. Now all belong to the same party, and we have gained besides all the strength that military training in Roman camps can give; I have with me veteran cohorts before which Otho's legions lately succumbed. Let Syria, Asia, and the East, which is accustomed to kings, play the slave; there are many still alive in Gaul who were born before tribute was known. Surely it was not long ago that slavery was driven from Germany by the killing of Quintilius Varus, and the emperor whom the Germans then challenged was not a Vitellius but a Caesar Augustus. Liberty is a gift which nature has granted even to dumb animals, but courage is the peculiar blessing of man. The gods favour the braver: on, therefore, carefree against the distressed, fresh against the weary. While some favour Vespasian and others Vitellius, the field is open against both." In this way Civilis, turning his attention eagerly toward the Germanies and the Gauls, was preparing, should his plans prove successful, to gain the kingship over the strongest and richest nations. But Hordeonius Flaccus furthered his enterprises at first by affecting to be unaware of them; when, however, terrified messengers brought word of the capture of camps, the destruction of cohorts, and the expulsion of the Roman name from the island of the Batavians, he ordered Munius Lupercus, who commanded the two legions in winter quarters, to take the field against the foe. Lupercus quickly transported to the island all the legionaries that he had, as well as the Ubii from the auxiliaries quartered close by and a body of Treviran cavalry which was not far away. He joined to these forces a squadron of Batavian cavalry, which, although already won over to the other side, still pretended to be faithful, that by betraying the Romans on the very field itself it might win a greater reward for its desertion. Civilis had the standards of the captured cohorts ranged about him that his own troops might have the evidence of their newly-won glory before their eyes and that the enemy might be terrified by the memory of their defeat; he ordered his own mother and his sisters, likewise the wives and little children of all his men, to take their stand behind his troops to encourage them to victory or to shame them if defeated. When the enemy's line re-echoed with the men's singing and the women's cries, the shout with which the legions and cohorts answered was far from equal. Our left had already been exposed by the desertion of the Batavian horse, which at once turned against us. Yet the legionary troops kept their arms and maintained their ranks in spite of the alarming situation. The auxiliary forces made up of the Ubii and Treveri fled disgracefully and wandered in disorder over the country. The Germans made them the object of their attack, and so the legions meanwhile were able to escape to the camp called Vetera. Claudius Labeo, who was in command of the Batavian horse, had been a rival of Civilis in some local matter, and was consequently now removed to the Frisii, that he might not, if killed, excite his fellow-tribesmen to anger, or, if kept with the forces, sow seeds of discord. |
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| 12. Tacitus, Germania (De Origine Et Situ Germanorum), 2.1, 23.2, 29.3, 30.3, 33.2, 37.3, 37.6, 43.4 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Isaac (2004) 96, 137, 140, 191, 432, 433, 434, 435, 453 |
| 13. Tacitus, Dialogus De Oratoribus, 29.1 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, criticizes contemporary greek historians •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans •tacitus, on the britons, on german family life Found in books: Isaac (2004) 397, 432 |
14. Tacitus, Annals, 2.2.3;6, 2.55, 3.54.6, 11.23, 11.24, 11.25, 12.43.4, 14.31, 14.37 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Isaac (2004) 397| 2.55. At Cn. Piso quo properantius destinata inciperet civitatem Atheniensium turbido incessu exterritam oratione saeva increpat, oblique Germanicum perstringens quod contra decus Romani nominis non Atheniensis tot cladibus extinctos, sed conluviem illam nationum comitate nimia coluisset: hos enim esse Mithridatis adversus Sullam, Antonii adversus divum Augustum socios. etiam vetera obiectabat, quae in Macedones inprospere, violenter in suos fecissent, offensus urbi propria quoque ira quia Theophilum quendam Areo iudicio falsi damnatum precibus suis non concederent. exim navigatione celeri per Cycladas et compendia maris adsequitur Germanicum apud insulam Rhodum, haud nescium quibus insectationibus petitus foret: sed tanta mansuetudine agebat ut, cum orta tempestas raperet in abrupta possetque interitus inimici ad casum referri, miserit triremis quarum subsidio discrimini eximeretur. neque tamen mitigatus Piso, et vix diei moram perpessus linquit Germanicum praevenitque. et postquam Syriam ac legiones attigit, largitione, ambitu, infimos manipularium iuvando, cum veteres centuriones, severos tribunos demoveret locaque eorum clientibus suis vel deterrimo cuique attribueret, desidiam in castris, licentiam in urbibus, vagum ac lascivientem per agros militem sineret, eo usque corruptionis provectus est ut sermone vulgi parens legionum haberetur. nec Plancina se intra decora feminis tenebat, sed exercitio equitum, decursibus cohortium interesse, in Agrippinam, in Germanicum contumelias iacere, quibusdam etiam bonorum militum ad mala obsequia promptis, quod haud invito imperatore ea fieri occultus rumor incedebat. nota haec Germanico, sed praeverti ad Armenios instantior cura fuit. | 2.55. Meanwhile Gnaeus Piso, in haste to embark upon his schemes, first alarmed the community of Athens by a tempestuous entry, then assailed them in a virulent speech, which included an indirect attack on Germanicus for "compromising the dignity of the Roman name by his exaggerated civilities, not to the Athenians (whose repeated disasters had extinguished the breed) but to the present cosmopolitan rabble. For these were the men who had leagued themselves with Mithridates against Sulla, with Antony against the deified Augustus!" He upbraided them even with their ancient history; their ill-starred outbreaks against Macedon and their violence towards their own countrymen. Private resentment, also, embittered him against the town, as the authorities refused to give up at his request a certain Theophilus, whom the verdict of the Areopagus had declared guilty of forgery. After this, quick sailing by a short route through the Cyclades brought him up with Germanicus at Rhodes. The prince was aware of the invectives with which he had been assailed; yet he behaved with such mildness that, when a rising storm swept Piso toward the rock-bound coast, and the destruction of his foe could have been referred to misadventure, he sent warships to help in extricating him from his predicament. Even so, Piso was not mollified; and, after reluctantly submitting to the loss of a single day, he left Germanicus and completed the journey first. Then, the moment he reached Syria and the legions, by bounties and by bribery, by attentions to the humblest private, by dismissals of the veteran centurions and the stricter commanding officers, whom he replaced by dependants of his own or by men of the worst character, by permitting indolence in the camp, licence in the towns, and in the country a vagrant and riotous soldiery, he carried corruption to such a pitch that in the language of the rabble he was known as the Father of the Legions. Nor could Plancina contain herself within the limits of female decorum: she attended cavalry exercises and infantry manoeuvres; she flung her gibes at Agrippina or Germanicus; some even of the loyal troops being ready to yield her a disloyal obedience; for a whispered rumour was gaining ground that these doings were not unacceptable to the emperor. The state of affairs was known to Germanicus, but his more immediate anxiety was to reach Armenia first. |
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| 15. Tacitus, Agricola, 11.2, 11.5 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •nan Found in books: Isaac (2004) 95, 190 |
| 16. Plutarch, Pyrrhus, 26.6 (1st cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on the discussion about integration in lyons Found in books: Isaac (2004) 419 |
| 17. Gellius, Attic Nights, 12.1.17 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans •tacitus, on the britons, on german family life •tacitus, on the britons, on the debilitating effects of peace, wealth, and imperial rule Found in books: Isaac (2004) 192, 432 |
| 18. Pliny The Younger, Panegyric, 31.2 (2nd cent. CE - 2nd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on egypt •tacitus, on the britons, on the import of grain Found in books: Isaac (2004) 361 |
19. Cassius Dio, Roman History, 62.4.3 (2nd cent. CE - 3rd cent. CE) Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on the debilitating effects of peace, wealth, and imperial rule Found in books: Isaac (2004) 192 | 62.4.3. However, even at this late day, though we have not done so before, let us, my countrymen and friends and kinsmen, â for I consider you all kinsmen, seeing that you inhabit a single island and are called by one common name, â let us, I say, do our duty while we still remember what freedom is, that we may leave to our children not only its appellation but also its reality. For, if we utterly forget the happy state in which we were born and bred, what, pray, will they do, reared in bondage? "All this I say, not with the purpose of inspiring you with a hatred of present conditions, â that hatred you already have, â nor with fear for the future, â that fear you already have, â but of commending you because you now of our own accord choose the requisite course of action, and of thanking you for so readily co-operating with me and with each other. 62.4.3. Indeed, we enjoy such a surplus of bravery, that we regard our tents as safer than their walls and our shields as affording greater protection than their whole suits of mail. As a consequence, we when victorious capture them, and when overpowered elude them; and if we ever choose to retreat anywhere, we conceal ourselves in swamps and mountains so inaccessible that we can be neither discovered or taken. |
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20. Strabo, Geography, 4.4.2, 7.1.3, 7.2.3 Tagged with subjects: •tacitus, on the britons, on the discussion about integration in lyons •tacitus, on the britons, his views on the germans •tacitus, on the britons, on the pure lineage of the germans •tacitus, on the britons, regards germans as superior to gauls •tacitus, on the britons, regards germans as superior to sarmatae Found in books: Isaac (2004) 139, 142, 418 | 4.4.2. The entire race which now goes by the name of Gallic, or Galatic, is warlike, passionate, and always ready for fighting, but otherwise simple and not malicious. If irritated, they rush in crowds to the conflict, openly and without any circumspection; and thus are easily vanquished by those who employ stratagem. For any one may exasperate them when, where, and under whatever pretext he pleases; he will always find them ready for danger, with nothing to support them except their violence and daring. Nevertheless they may be easily persuaded to devote themselves to any thing useful, and have thus engaged both in science and letters. Their power consists both in the size of their bodies and also in their numbers. Their frankness and simplicity lead then easily to assemble in masses, each one feeling indigt at what appears injustice to his neighbour. At the present time indeed they are all at peace, being in subjection and living under the command of the Romans, who have subdued them; but we have described their customs as we understand they existed in former times, and as they still exist amongst the Germans. These two nations, both by nature and in their form of government, are similar and related to each other. Their countries border on each other, being separated by the river Rhine, and are for the most part similar. Germany, however, is more to the north, if we compare together the southern and northern parts of the two countries respectively. Thus it is that they can so easily change their abode. They march in crowds in one collected army, or rather remove with all their families, whenever they are ejected by a more powerful force. They were subdued by the Romans much more easily than the Iberians; for they began to wage war with these latter first, and ceased last, having in the mean time conquered the whole of the nations situated between the Rhine and the mountains of the Pyrenees. For these fighting in crowds and vast numbers, were overthrown in crowds, whereas the Iberians kept themselves in reserve, and broke up the war into a series of petty engagements, showing themselves in different bands, sometimes here, sometimes there, like banditti. All the Gauls are warriors by nature, but they fight better on horseback than on foot, and the flower of the Roman cavalry is drawn from their number. The most valiant of them dwell towards the north and next the ocean. 7.1.3. The first parts of this country are those that are next to the Rhenus, beginning at its source and extending a far as its outlet; and this stretch of river-land taken as a whole is approximately the breadth of the country on its western side. Some of the tribes of this river-land were transferred by the Romans to Celtica, whereas the others anticipated the Romans by migrating deep into the country, for instance, the Marsi; and only a few people, including a part of the Sugambri, are left. After the people who live along the river come the other tribes that live between the Rhenus and the River Albis, and traverses no less territory than the former. Between the two are other navigable rivers also (among them the Amasias, on which Drusus won a naval victory over the Bructeri), which likewise flow from the south towards the north and the ocean; for the country is elevated towards the south and forms a mountain chain that connects with the Alps and extends towards the east as though it were a part of the Alps; and in truth some declare that they actually are a part of the Alps, both because of their aforesaid position and of the fact that they produce the same timber; however, the country in this region does not rise to a sufficient height for that. Here, too, is the Hercynian Forest, and also the tribes of the Suevi, some of which dwell inside the forest, as, for instance, the tribes of the Coldui, in whose territory is Boihaemum, the domain of Marabodus, the place whither he caused to migrate, not only several other peoples, but in particular the Marcomanni, his fellow-tribesmen; for after his return from Rome this man, who before had been only a private citizen, was placed in charge of the affairs of state, for, as a youth he had been at Rome and had enjoyed the favor of Augustus, and on his return he took the rulership and acquired, in addition to the peoples aforementioned, the Lugii (a large tribe), the Zumi, the Butones, the Mugilones, the Sibini, and also the Semnones, a large tribe of the Suevi themselves. However, while some of the tribes of the Suevi dwell inside the forest, as I was saying, others dwell outside of it, and have a common boundary with the Getae. Now as for the tribe of the Suevi, it is the largest, for it extends from the Rhenus to the Albis; and a part of them even dwell on the far side of the Albis, as, for instance, the Hermondori and the Langobardi; and at the present time these latter, at least, have, to the last man, been driven in flight out of their country into the land on the far side of the river. It is a common characteristic of all the peoples in this part of the world that they migrate with ease, because of the meagerness of their livelihood and because they do not till the soil or even store up food, but live in small huts that are merely temporary structures; and they live for the most part off their flocks, as the Nomads do, so that, in imitation of the Nomads, they load their household belongings on their wagons and with their beasts turn whithersoever they think best. But other German tribes are still more indigent. I mean the Cherusci, the Chatti, the Gamabrivii and the Chattuarii, and also, near the ocean, the Sugambri, the Chaubi, the Bructeri, and the Cimbri, and also the Cauci, the Caulci, the Campsiani, and several others. Both the Visurgis and the Lupias Rivers run in the same direction as the Amasias, the Lupias being about six hundred stadia distant from the Rhenus and flowing through the country of the Lesser Bructeri. Germany has also the Salas River; and it was between the Salas and the Rhenus that Drusus Germanicus, while he was successfully carrying on the war, came to his end. He had subjugated, not only most of the tribes, but also the islands along the coast, among which is Burchanis, which he took by siege. 7.2.3. Writers report a custom of the Cimbri to this effect: Their wives, who would accompany them on their expeditions, were attended by priestesses who were seers; these were grey-haired, clad in white, with flaxen cloaks fastened on with clasps, girt with girdles of bronze, and bare-footed; now sword in hand these priestesses would meet with the prisoners of war throughout the camp, and having first crowned them with wreaths would lead them to a brazen vessel of about twenty amphorae; and they had a raised platform which the priestess would mount, and then, bending over the kettle, would cut the throat of each prisoner after he had been lifted up; and from the blood that poured forth into the vessel some of the priestesses would draw a prophecy, while still others would split open the body and from an inspection of the entrails would utter a prophecy of victory for their own people; and during the battles they would beat on the hides that were stretched over the wicker-bodies of the wagons and in this way produce an unearthly noise. |
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