Teutonic Peoples

There is no doubt that the marriages of heathen times were often of a kind which could not be permitted after the adoption of Christianity. Among these may be mentioned marriages with brothers' widows and stepmothers, the latter especially in Eng land. Polygamy was known, but limited, both in early and late times, to persons of exceptionally high position, while of polyandry there is hardly any trace. Indeed, the sanctity attached to mar riage seems to have struck the Romans as remarkable.

State of Civilization.

It is disputed whether the Teutonic peoples were really settled agricultural communities at the time when they first came into contact with the Romans, shortly before the beginning of our era. That agriculture of some kind was practised is clear from Caesar's account, and Strabo's state ment to the contrary must be attributed to ignorance or exag geration. But Caesar himself regarded the Germani as essentially pastoral peoples and their agriculture as secondary, while Tacitus shows that in his time it was of a primitive character. The husbandry was co-operative, as in later times, and apparently the ploughlands were changed from year to year without any recognition of a two-course or three-course system. Caesar, more over, says that the clans or kindreds to whom the lands were allotted changed their abodes also from year to year—a state ment which gives a certain amount of colour to Strabo's descrip tion of the Germani as quasi-nomadic. Yet this representation of early Teutonic life was by no means universally true. Evidence, both archaeological and linguistic proves that the cultivation of cereals in Teutonic lands goes back to a very remote period, while the antiquity even of the ox-plough is attested by the rock-carvings at Tegneby in Bohuslan (Sweden), which date from early in the bronze age. Further, that the tribes were not normally of a migratory character, as Strabo seems to imply, is shown by the existence of sanctuaries of immemorial age and by frontier ramparts like those of the Angrivarii against the Cherusci.

It would seem that Julius Caesar encountered the Germani under somewhat abnormal conditions. Several of the tribes with which he came into collision had been expelled from their own territories by other tribes, and we are expressly told that Ario vistus's troops had not entered a house for fourteen years. In deed Caesar himself regarded the prevalence of the military spirit as the chief hindrance to the development of agriculture. From

this time onwards it was from the west mainly that Roman civil ization made its way into Germany; but in earlier ages there are more abundant traces of civilization in the basin of the Elbe than in the districts farther to the west.

All ancient writers emphasize the essentially warlike character of the Germani. Yet Tacitus represents their military equip ment as being of a somewhat primitive type. Swords, helmets and coats of mail, he says, were seldom to be seen ; in general they were armed only with huge shields, unwieldy spears and darts. Here again he appears to be thinking of the western tribes; for elsewhere he states that some of the eastern peoples were armed with short swords and round shields—which probably were of comparatively small size, like those used in later times. This latter type of equipment prevailed also in the North, as may be seen, e.g. from the figures of warriors on the inscribed golden horn found at Gallehus (Jutland) in 1734. The favourite method of attack was by a wedge formation (known later in the North as svinfylking), the point being formed by a chosen band of young warriors. Certain tribes, such as the Tencteri, were famous for their horsemen, but the Germani in general preferred to fight on foot. Sometimes also we hear of specially trained forces in which the two arms were combined. Naval warfare is seldom mentioned. The art of sailing seems to have been unknown, and it is probable that down to the 3rd century the only seafaring peoples were those of the Baltic and the Cattegat.

Roman influence brought about a considerable advance in civilization during the early centuries of our era. The cultivation of vegetables and fruit trees seems to have been practically un known before this period, and almost all their names testify to the source from which they were derived. The mill was intro duced in place of the quern hitherto in universal use. Great im provements took place likewise in armour and weapons ; the equipment of the warriors whose relics have been found in the Schleswig bog-deposits, dating from the 4th and 5th centuries, appears to have been vastly superior to that which Tacitus represents as normal among the Germani of his day. Yet the types, both in armour and dress, remained essentially Teutonic— or rather Celtic-Teutonic.