Often, authors will use depictions of other nations as a mirror for their own society. Here Tacitus is glamorizing his depiction of Germanic marriages to criticize Roman women and marriages.
Name: Tacitus [Publius Cornelius Tacitus] Date: 56 –
117 CE Region: [modern Italy] Citation: Germania 18 |
[Germanic
tribes] treat marriage very seriously, and it’s the best part of their value
system. Of all the other barbaric tribes out there, the Germans are the only
ones who practice monogamy. Of course, there are a handful of exceptions, but
the noblemen who have multiple wives do so out of political gain, and
definitely not out of lust. The wife doesn’t provide a dowry to her husband;
instead, the husband gives a dowry to his wife. Their parents and kin
evaluate what he has to offer in the relationship—and these aren’t trifles
that women nag for, or other things that new brides have. No, these are a
yoke of bulls, a bridled horse, and a shield, spear, and sword. The wife
accepts these gifts, and in turn, gives the same to her husband. This is seen
as the highest bond, the holy rite of marriage that their religion dictates. To
keep the woman from thinking that she is immune from hard work or military
valor, she is warned at the start of the marriage that she is entering the
relationship as a partner to her husband’s exploits and dangers, in both war
and peace. This is what the team of bulls, the bridled horse, and the set of
armor represents. They live together as one, and they die together as one.
She is to accept this union, which she will in turn pass down untouched and
pure to her children, her daughters-in-law, and her descendants. |
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