The Ancient Germans and their Strug

The Ancient Germans
and their Struggle with Rome




I

The name of Julius Caesar, warrior and conqueror, has been renowned through the ages, and its fame has suffered no eclipse to this day. In the earlier part of the century before the birth of Jesus Christ, Cesar reduced to submission a large part of Europe, securely established the foundations of the Roman Empire, and was penetrating into Asia and North Africa when he was struck down in the year 44 B.C. After his death his nephew, the Emperor Augustus, who succeeded him, sent governors to rule all those broad lands that had become subject to Rome.

Augustus was still Emperor when Jesus Christ was born. The country of the Jews formed part of his realm, and he it was who took that census of his people which caused Joseph and Mary to journey to Bethlehem. One of the governors whom Augustus sent to rule in Palestine was Pontius Pilate, the judge who delivered Christ to suffer death at the hands of the Jews.

Now the Romans were ever a warlike and ambitious race, and they sought to extend the empire won by Julius Caesar, never resting from their labour of conquest, never seeking content in the blessings of peace. And having subdued many tribes in Gaul, they found themselves confronted by the race to which they gave the name of Germans.

The territory of the Germans was large, extending from the frozen Baltic and the North Sea southward to the Danube, and from the Rhine to the Vistula and even beyond, into the land which we now call Russia.

Impenetrable forests covered the land; huge oak, pine, and beech trees formed giant barriers which were rendered the more mysterious by the dense fog and mist peculiar to that damp, cold country. And through the gloomy forests, underneath the giant trees, flowed great rivers, with here and there waterfalls and torrents which gave sound and life to the vast wilderness. But in the desolate tracts that lay far remote from these large rivers, and from the cultivated lands, the country was mainly swamp where black mid oozed from moss and rushes, and silence brooded over the misty scene.

Imagination could conceive no land more desolate than the grey, cold forests of ancient Germany. Wolves and big brown bears lurked in the shadows, huge wild oxen emerged to drink at the rivers, fierce boars multiplied undisturbed under the cover, and in the air eagle and falcon wheeled and screamed above their nests among the rocks.

The Germans who inhabited this land were tall and very powerfully built, they had bright blue eyes, fair complexions and flaxen hair, which the freemen wore uncut and flowing loosely on the shoulders.

The clothing of both sexes was very simple, consisting of a sleeveless woollen tunic which covered only the body, leaving arms and legs entirely unprotected. In the winter they also wore a cloak of wool, fastened with a brooch, or, more simply, with a sharp spike of thorn. In some parts of the country, in place of the woollen garments, the men wore skins of animals, so arranged that the grinning tusks of the boar or the horns of the wild ox rested on the head and enhanced the fierceness of the gleaming eyes beneath.

The Germans did not dwell in numbers, side by side in towns and villages, but each chose a lonely stream and meadow, and built a single farm; sometimes a tiny hamlet of two or three such dwellings would appear.

Their houses were primitive huts of mud and timber, thatched with straw or rushes, and surrounded by a palisade of tree trunks or a hedge of thorn, protection alike from beast and than.

Over the doorway and at the gates hung antlers of deer, horses' skulls or ox-horns, trophies of the forest hunting, supposed to ward off from the dwelling evil spirits who might send disease on, man or beast, blight on crops, or defeat in war and council.

The interior of the dwelling of one large room, at the, further end of which a fire burned under the large cauldron hanging from a chain. Chimney or window there was none. The smoke found a way through a small hole in the roof, or wound in lazy clouds around the blackened timbers of the ceiling. Seats for the master and his guests were placed beside the, hearth, and rough benches round the walls served for the family and slaves.

Here they lived, eating the wild berries, roots, and herbs of the forest, the flesh of wild animals and the products of their fields. For they cultivated oats and barley, and their wealth consisted of large flocks of sheep, small, stunted cattle, and swift, shaggy ponies, small in size but hardy and strong.

War was the ancient Germans' joy. They knew no fear, and in the heat of battle they would fling aside their shields, rushing unprotected on the foe. They fought with sword and lance, and happy was the youth who, perfected in the use of weapons, received publicly the arms of a full-grown man, and henceforth took his place beside his father in the fight. Even the women would not be left at home in time of war, but accompanied their husbands, shouting encouragement to the valiant, urging on the lingerer with taunts and screaming defiance at the foe.

In times of peace the men and boys were occupied in hunting bear and boar, wolf and deer. These furnished them with skins for clothes and bedding, horns which they bound with silver and used as drinking-vessels, and flesh to eat.

The care of the household and children, together with the cultivation of crops, was left in the hands of the women, who also superintended the work of the slaves; the latter farmed the land for their lords, retaining a small proportion of the products for their own use.

The Germans were brave in war, faithful to their lords and kinsmen, to their wife and family, honest in dealing, and so truthful that even their enemies declared of them that their word was as good as an oath. Their love of freedom was intense and their hospitality unbounded. To no guest was shelter ever refused, and if the father of the family found himself unable to offer what his guest desired, he would speed him on his way with parting gifts, or lead him in safety to another farm, where he would be gladly received and furnished with the best that the household could afford.

The defects of the German character were great laziness and a passion for gambling and strong drink.

wine was unknown except to the few who lived near the navigable rivers and could exchange their goods for the precious casks that came from sunnier lands, for the German climate, generally speaking, was too raw and cold for the cultivation of the vine.

Ancient German Family
AN ANCIENT GERMAN FAMILY.


But from their own grain and heather-honey they brewed strong beer and heady mead. It was thought no shame for warriors and huntsmen, when their tasks were done, to throw themselves upon the bearskins and spend days and nights in one long riot of excess. Then it was that tongues were loosened, voices rose hoarse and angry in quarrel, old feuds broke forth once more, and only too often blood was shed.

At their banquets, when these did not degenerate into orgies of drunkenness, the Germans deliberated questions of war and government, or reconciled foes and adjusted differences. All matters of importance were discussed twice, first over the drinking-horn, when the warriors met in the evening, and once more in the morning, when, after a night's sleep, sober reason and judgment crept forth from their hiding-places into the light of day. Horse-racing and dice-throwing the Germans loved so dearly that nothing was too sacred to be staked upon them. In the heat of excitement, cattle and horses, field and house, stores and weapons were heedlessly wagered. When these were gone, the gambler staked his slaves, his children and his wife, and, when nothing else remained, would even pledge his own personal freedom. Many a mighty warrior shore off the golden locks, the glory of the freeman, and became the chattel of a weaker man as the result of one night's drinking and one hour with the dice-box. His very fatherland was sacrificed, for slaves were frequently sold away into foreign lands.

The majority of the slaves who served the German freemen were, however, prisoners taken in battle or children of such prisoners. They were chattels that could be bought or sold at will, but, as they were treated with kindness, their state was not one of misery. They were not permitted to bear arms or serve in war, but followed the despised pursuit of agriculture, under the superintendence of the mistress of the house. The German women were treated with respect. They were believed to possess something of divinity within their natures, and to be endowed by the gods with wondrous gifts of prophecy and second sight.

Men seldom married before thirty or women before twenty years of age, and the bride brought no dowry to her husband, but, on the contrary, was purchased from her relatives by gifts of cattle or land. The bridegroom then presented to her for her own use a fully equipped charger, a shield and a spear, the signs of her future companionship in war and in the chase.

Not only did she rule in house and field, superintending the work of slaves, the bringing up of children, and the care of the sick, but the German wife was welcomed to the council, and her advice on public matters listened to with respect. Even to the fiercest fight she followed, mounted on her charger, joining in the wild battle-songs which struck such dismay into the hearts of foes, encouraging her husband and her sons to deeds of valour and tending their wounds.

Every freeman capable of bearing arms was summoned to the fight, and the bravest and most experienced warrior was selected as leader. Warlike youths gathered round him to form his household guard, and, placing their hands between his, would swear to be his men come weal come woe. They marched to war behind him, singing a rousing battle-chant, their shields held up before their lips to render the sound more terrible, then w

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

Người Đức cổ đại và cuộc đấu tranh với RomeTôiTên của Julius Caesar, chiến binh và chinh phục, đã được nổi tiếng qua các lứa tuổi, và danh tiếng của nó đã bị không có eclipse đến ngày nay. Ở phía trước của thế kỷ trước khi sự ra đời của Chúa Giêsu Kitô, Cesar giảm để gửi một phần lớn của châu Âu, một cách an toàn thành lập các cơ sở của Đế quốc La Mã, và thâm nhập vào Châu á và Bắc Phi khi ông được rút vào năm 44 trước công nguyên Sau khi ông mất cháu trai của ông, hoàng đế Augustus vừa, người kế vị ông, gửi các thống đốc để loại trừ tất cả những vùng đất rộng đã trở thành tùy thuộc vào Rome.Augustus vẫn là hoàng đế khi Chúa Giêsu Kitô được sinh ra. Quốc gia của người Do Thái trong thành phần của lãnh thổ của mình, và ông là người đã cho rằng điều tra dân số của người dân của mình mà gây ra Joseph và Mary cho cuộc hành trình để Bethlehem. Một trong các thống đốc người mà Augustus gửi để cai trị ở Palestine là Bôn-xơ Phi-lát, vị thẩm phán người gửi Chúa Kitô để bị chết ở tay của người Do Thái.Bây giờ những người La Mã đã bao giờ một cuộc đua hiếu chiến và đầy tham vọng, và họ đã tìm cách mở rộng đế chiến thắng của Julius Caesar, không bao giờ nghỉ ngơi từ của lao động của cuộc chinh phục, không bao giờ tìm kiếm nội dung trong các phước lành của hòa bình. Và họ đã chinh phục các bộ lạc nhiều ở Gaul, tìm thấy chính mình phải đối mặt với cuộc đua mà họ đã cung cấp tên của người Đức.Lãnh thổ Đức là lớn, kéo dài từ tỉnh đông lạnh Baltic và biển Bắc, về phía nam sông Danube, và từ sông Rhine để sông Vistula và thậm chí vượt ra ngoài, vào vùng đất mà chúng ta gọi là liên bang Nga.Impenetrable forests covered the land; huge oak, pine, and beech trees formed giant barriers which were rendered the more mysterious by the dense fog and mist peculiar to that damp, cold country. And through the gloomy forests, underneath the giant trees, flowed great rivers, with here and there waterfalls and torrents which gave sound and life to the vast wilderness. But in the desolate tracts that lay far remote from these large rivers, and from the cultivated lands, the country was mainly swamp where black mid oozed from moss and rushes, and silence brooded over the misty scene.Imagination could conceive no land more desolate than the grey, cold forests of ancient Germany. Wolves and big brown bears lurked in the shadows, huge wild oxen emerged to drink at the rivers, fierce boars multiplied undisturbed under the cover, and in the air eagle and falcon wheeled and screamed above their nests among the rocks.The Germans who inhabited this land were tall and very powerfully built, they had bright blue eyes, fair complexions and flaxen hair, which the freemen wore uncut and flowing loosely on the shoulders.The clothing of both sexes was very simple, consisting of a sleeveless woollen tunic which covered only the body, leaving arms and legs entirely unprotected. In the winter they also wore a cloak of wool, fastened with a brooch, or, more simply, with a sharp spike of thorn. In some parts of the country, in place of the woollen garments, the men wore skins of animals, so arranged that the grinning tusks of the boar or the horns of the wild ox rested on the head and enhanced the fierceness of the gleaming eyes beneath.The Germans did not dwell in numbers, side by side in towns and villages, but each chose a lonely stream and meadow, and built a single farm; sometimes a tiny hamlet of two or three such dwellings would appear.Their houses were primitive huts of mud and timber, thatched with straw or rushes, and surrounded by a palisade of tree trunks or a hedge of thorn, protection alike from beast and than.Over the doorway and at the gates hung antlers of deer, horses' skulls or ox-horns, trophies of the forest hunting, supposed to ward off from the dwelling evil spirits who might send disease on, man or beast, blight on crops, or defeat in war and council.The interior of the dwelling of one large room, at the, further end of which a fire burned under the large cauldron hanging from a chain. Chimney or window there was none. The smoke found a way through a small hole in the roof, or wound in lazy clouds around the blackened timbers of the ceiling. Seats for the master and his guests were placed beside the, hearth, and rough benches round the walls served for the family and slaves.
Here they lived, eating the wild berries, roots, and herbs of the forest, the flesh of wild animals and the products of their fields. For they cultivated oats and barley, and their wealth consisted of large flocks of sheep, small, stunted cattle, and swift, shaggy ponies, small in size but hardy and strong.

War was the ancient Germans' joy. They knew no fear, and in the heat of battle they would fling aside their shields, rushing unprotected on the foe. They fought with sword and lance, and happy was the youth who, perfected in the use of weapons, received publicly the arms of a full-grown man, and henceforth took his place beside his father in the fight. Even the women would not be left at home in time of war, but accompanied their husbands, shouting encouragement to the valiant, urging on the lingerer with taunts and screaming defiance at the foe.

In times of peace the men and boys were occupied in hunting bear and boar, wolf and deer. These furnished them with skins for clothes and bedding, horns which they bound with silver and used as drinking-vessels, and flesh to eat.

The care of the household and children, together with the cultivation of crops, was left in the hands of the women, who also superintended the work of the slaves; the latter farmed the land for their lords, retaining a small proportion of the products for their own use.

The Germans were brave in war, faithful to their lords and kinsmen, to their wife and family, honest in dealing, and so truthful that even their enemies declared of them that their word was as good as an oath. Their love of freedom was intense and their hospitality unbounded. To no guest was shelter ever refused, and if the father of the family found himself unable to offer what his guest desired, he would speed him on his way with parting gifts, or lead him in safety to another farm, where he would be gladly received and furnished with the best that the household could afford.

The defects of the German character were great laziness and a passion for gambling and strong drink.

wine was unknown except to the few who lived near the navigable rivers and could exchange their goods for the precious casks that came from sunnier lands, for the German climate, generally speaking, was too raw and cold for the cultivation of the vine.

Ancient German Family
AN ANCIENT GERMAN FAMILY.


But from their own grain and heather-honey they brewed strong beer and heady mead. It was thought no shame for warriors and huntsmen, when their tasks were done, to throw themselves upon the bearskins and spend days and nights in one long riot of excess. Then it was that tongues were loosened, voices rose hoarse and angry in quarrel, old feuds broke forth once more, and only too often blood was shed.

At their banquets, when these did not degenerate into orgies of drunkenness, the Germans deliberated questions of war and government, or reconciled foes and adjusted differences. All matters of importance were discussed twice, first over the drinking-horn, when the warriors met in the evening, and once more in the morning, when, after a night's sleep, sober reason and judgment crept forth from their hiding-places into the light of day. Horse-racing and dice-throwing the Germans loved so dearly that nothing was too sacred to be staked upon them. In the heat of excitement, cattle and horses, field and house, stores and weapons were heedlessly wagered. When these were gone, the gambler staked his slaves, his children and his wife, and, when nothing else remained, would even pledge his own personal freedom. Many a mighty warrior shore off the golden locks, the glory of the freeman, and became the chattel of a weaker man as the result of one night's drinking and one hour with the dice-box. His very fatherland was sacrificed, for slaves were frequently sold away into foreign lands.

The majority of the slaves who served the German freemen were, however, prisoners taken in battle or children of such prisoners. They were chattels that could be bought or sold at will, but, as they were treated with kindness, their state was not one of misery. They were not permitted to bear arms or serve in war, but followed the despised pursuit of agriculture, under the superintendence of the mistress of the house. The German women were treated with respect. They were believed to possess something of divinity within their natures, and to be endowed by the gods with wondrous gifts of prophecy and second sight.

Men seldom married before thirty or women before twenty years of age, and the bride brought no dowry to her husband, but, on the contrary, was purchased from her relatives by gifts of cattle or land. The bridegroom then presented to her for her own use a fully equipped charger, a shield and a spear, the signs of her future companionship in war and in the chase.

Not only did she rule in house and field, superintending the work of slaves, the bringing up of children, and the care of the sick, but the German wife was welcomed to the council, and her advice on public matters listened to with respect. Even to the fiercest fight she followed, mounted on her charger, joining in the wild battle-songs which struck such dismay into the hearts of foes, encouraging her husband and her sons to deeds of valour and tending their wounds.

Every freeman capable of bearing arms was summoned to the fight, and the bravest and most experienced warrior was selected as leader. Warlike youths gathered round him to form his household guard, and, placing their hands between his, would swear to be his men come weal come woe. They marched to war behind him, singing a rousing battle-chant, their shields held up before their lips to render the sound more terrible, then w