Tacitus' Germania and the Description of a Warrior Culture
... . While the historian may have intended his work to be a warning to Roman officials, there is also a note respect for what Tacitus sees as a noble and honourable race that he may have wanted to show in order to point out some of the ignoble qualities of Roman society. Whatever the historians intent, his ethnography is a valuable source in the study of the warrior culture of a peoples that settled throughout Europe in the early medieval period. ... ability to fight comes allegiance to the tribe. When the time comes, the "chiefs or his father or his relatives equip the young man with shield and spear." After this ceremony, the youth is now considered and adult. In Roman society, one has to join the army in order to become a warrior whereas in Germanic society, to be part of the society means that you are a warrior. The assembly where the youth receives these articles of war is the youth's first public distinction: before that he was a mere member of the household, now he becomes a member of the ...
Tags: germanic peoples | warrior culture | tacitus mentions | germanic tribes | roman army | roman writer tacitus |
Tags: germanic peoples | warrior culture | tacitus mentions | germanic tribes | roman army | roman writer tacitus |