Instead of formal conceptions of lofty ideals, the sense of the actual reality of man's life became both the motive for action and the source of inspiration. Antiquity having accomplished everything that was possible to man's immediate and unaided powers, and the narrow domain of ration alism being exhausted, fresh forces of life were set in motion, to which at the outset was assigned the difficult part of proving their value in the moral sphere, but which in this way accomplished soonest the highest task of humanity, the attainment of individual consciousness.
Such considerations as the foregoing furnish the key to the after-his tory of the Teutonic people, the events of which, as we unfold them, will elucidate what we briefly assert. As an example we may call attention to one peculiarity of Old German life which remained essentially unchanged in later times, although it received further development. We refer to the position, among the social institutions of our remote ancestors, of matri mony, which, founded upon the recognition of personal worth, regarded the welfare of the home as the final aim of its establishment and honor as the basis of its maintenance.
Domestic Lifr.—The wife was the mistress as really as the husband was the master of their joint possessions. The Roman of later times may have found a friend in his consort, but the Teutonic wife was from the beginning the participant of all the interests and aspirations of her hus band. Tried affection bound them both in indissoluble bonds. While he was occupied with the common weal or engaged in agriculture, in the chase, or in war, she was absolute mistress of the house. As much respect was shown to her as to the husband. The sense of liberty was perhaps even stronger in the women than in the men. The women of the Cimbri and Teutons, as is well known, took up the battle after the men had been defeated by the superior munitions and discipline of the Romans, and after fighting in vain they slew both their children and themselves. The advantage accorded to woman in every uncorrupted generation, that of deference on the part of man to her superior emotional nature, gave her a unique position among the Teutons; a sort of prophetic instinct was attrib uted to her, and some exceptional women—Velleda, for example—were ac knowledged as prophetesses.
According to Tacitus, early marriages were not customary. The strict chastity of the women sometimes impressed their conduct with an appear ance of harshness. Whoever besides her husband cast a look upon the young queen Hygcl incurred the penalty of death.
Fidelity determined the intercourse of the Teutons with one another, and this was especially the case as regarded the chief whom they had voluntarily chosen. Their attitude toward strangers indicated a proud appreciation of their own merits, for which they received recognition from friends and foes. Their general demeanor was characterized by a bold frankness which corresponded to their unrestrained sincerity, but which often put them at a disadvantage. The Romans soon discovered their chief failings—a proclivity to drunkenness, and a foolhardy reliance upon fortune, which often led them to stake even their personal liberty on the cast of the dice.
simple political constitution rarely extended beyond the district or "mark" (community) in which neighbors were united for common benefit and protection. Consciousness of unity of race and identity of language and customs united them, indeed, into one people, but they acted as such only in great historical enterprises. On such occasions princes, dukes, and kings were the leaders, but other wise the free man acknowledged no lord. There was no nobility but that of merit, so far as the latter was recognized by a people not usually ungrateful. The community passed judgment upon offences against the public welfare, but it belonged to each man to avenge his private griev ances; relatives were permitted either to take revenge or to accept com pensation for a murder.
Physical external appearance of the peoples of whom we now treat, especially that of the Teutons, so powerfully attracted the attention of the Romans that they have bequeathed to us an accurate description of them. On one occasion, as the city prefect, afterward Pope Gregory I., chanced to pass through the slave-market in Rome, two boys of Teutonic origin exposed for sale net his eye. Struck by their bright faces, fair skin, and blond hair, lie asked whence they had come. On being told that they were Angles, he exclaimed, " Non Angli, sed angeli " (" Not Angles, but angels "). The full-grown Teutons appeared to the Romans to belong to a race of giants. But the exploration of ancient tombs has shown that lofty statures were no more frequent the ancient Teutons than they are among their modern descendants. It may be, however, readily conceived that the majority of the members of the various tribes were strong and healthy. The fair complexion, " fiercely blue eyes," and blond hair which are characteristic of the Teutonic races produced, remarkably enough, a sensation of fear in foreigners.