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Name: Tacitus
Date: 56 – 117 CE
Region: [modern Italy]
Citation: Germania 18
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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.
[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.
Tacitus [Publius Cornelius Tacitus; 56 – 117 CE, modern Italy] is considered one
of the best Roman historians of the 1st century CE. He wrote numerous works,
including the Annals [Roman history beginning with the death of the
Emperor Augustus and the rise of Tiberius], the Histories [about the
Year of the Four Emperors], and a biography of his father-in,-law, the
Agricola.
Gender Roles in Germanic Marriage Rites
Quamquam
severa illic matrimonia, nec ullam morum partem magis laudaveris. Nam prope soi
barbarorum singulis uxoribus contenti sunt, exceptis admodum paucis, qui non
libidine, sed ob nobilitatem plurimis nuptiis ambiuntur. Dotem non uxor marito,
sed uxori maritus offert. Intersunt parentes et propinqui ac munera probant,
munera non ad delicias muliebres quaesita nec quibus nova nupta comatur, sed
boves et frenatum equum et scutum cum framea gladioque. In haec munera uxor accipitur, atque in vicem ipsa armorum aliquid viro
adfert: hoc maximum vinculum, haec arcana sacra, hos coniugales deos
arbitrantur. Ne se mulier extra virtutem cogitations extraque bellorum casus
putet, ipsis incipientis matrimonii auspiciis admonetur venire se laborum
periculorumque sociam, idem in pace, idem in proelio passuram ausuramque. Hoc
iuncti boves, hoc paratus equus, hoc data arma denuntiant. Sic vivendum, sic
pereundum: accipere se, quae liberis inviolate ac Digna reddat, quae nurus
accipiant, rursusque ad nepotes referantur.
