Germany
by Tacitus · De origine et situ Germanorum
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 98
- Era
- Roman Empire
- Form
- History
- Language
- Latin
- Length
- Short · 40 ppunder 120 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendAgricola and Germany, translated by Anthony BirleyOxford World's Classics, 2009Both short works together with good notes; the Harvard Classics uses the older Church and Brodribb translation.
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A short ethnographic essay on the peoples beyond the Rhine and Danube, written the same year as the Agricola. The first half describes the Germans in general, their land, warfare, kings and assemblies, religion, marriage customs and love of drinking and gambling; the second surveys the individual tribes from the Rhine to the Baltic. Tacitus uses German simplicity and chastity as a mirror for Roman decadence, and the work has had a long and troubling afterlife in German nationalism.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Germany are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.
