Tacitus In Germania

Tacitus is a Roman historian who has written several, important historical documents. Included with the plethora of historical documents he has written is Germania. Tacitus lived from 56 CE to 120 CE, and he completed Germania ¬around the year 98 CE. Germania serves as a study to the lives of the Germanic Tribes that had lived outside the rule of the Romans during the time. However, it can also serve another purpose. The introductory paragraph of this text described Tacitus’s distaste of the Roman society present during his time; the paragraph also categorized his previous texts often contrasting the superior lives of foreigners. Germania can also serve as a medium to address the citizens of Rome—whom of which he referred to as degenerate—and …show more content…
He detailed that king were decided upon based on their birth, and that generals were chosen upon the derivation of their worth. Generals displayed themselves on what they could do rather than how they used their authority; and Kings did not hold absolute power. He states that they are truly admired based on whether they are energetic, prominent, and if they fight in the front with others. They also had councils that would discuss matters, where they met up on certain decided days. Tacitus wrote, “Then the king or the chief, according to age, birth, distinction in war, or eloquence, is heard, more because he has influence to persuade than because he has power to command. If his sentiments displease them, they reject them with murmurs; if they are satisfied, they brandish their spears.” As already stated, the king did not hold absolute power, and as Tacitus wrote, they had to be persuasive or else the council would disregard what they said. The excerpt stated that Tacitus had a severe distaste for imperial rule, and by including this information, Tacitus could be informing of a needed change. Seldom were successors to the throne sons of the emperor. The throne in Rome could be bought, or if one had a strong enough army to support them they had the ability to take the throne. With Tacitus’s distaste for imperial rule, Rome could have learned from the Germanic values of government, where …show more content…
With Tacitus’s dissatisfaction with the Roman society of his time, it is possible that the audience is the citizens of Rome. While it states that Tacitus may have stretched the truth, it could be to make the Germanic society seem all that more impressive. Tacitus may have written it to want readers to compare the values of Germanic society and their own, and tried to show Roman society their faults. The tribes were not tainted by other races; the kings within their society did not have an imperial rule that Tacitus despised; the women in the society were appreciated; and Tacitus admires their brave, warrior-like culture, but it is not without its faults. Germania served as a way for Tacitus to record and present the daily and private lives of Germanic society, while also used it as a way to show his distaste for the Roman