Early German Society

Tacitus in his Germania gives a vivid if condensed picture of Teutonic
life in the latter part of the first century:

“The face of the country, though in some parts varied, presents a
cheerless scene, covered with the gloom of forests, or deformed with
wide-extended marshes; toward the boundaries of Gaul, moist and swampy;
on the side of Noricum and Pannonia, more exposed to the fury of the
winds. Vegetation thrives with sufficient vigour. The soil produces
grain, but is unkind to fruit-trees; well stocked with cattle, but of an
under-size, and deprived by nature of the usual growth and ornament of
the head. The pride of a German consists in the number of his flocks
and herds; they are his only riches, and in these he places his chief
delight. Gold and silver are withheld from them: is it by the favour or
the wrath of Heaven? I do not, however, mean to assert that in Germany
there are no veins of precious ore; for who has been a miner in these
regions? Certain it is they do not enjoy the possession and use of those
metals with our sensibility. There are, indeed, silver vessels to be
seen among them, but they were presents to their chiefs or ambassadors;
the Germans regard them in no better light than common earthenware.
It is, however, observable that near the borders of the empire the
inhabitants set a value upon gold and silver, finding them subservient
to the purposes of commerce. The Roman coin is known in those parts, and
some of our specie is not only current, but in request. In places more
remote the simplicity of ancient manners still prevails: commutation of
property is their only traffic. Where money passes in the way of barter
our old coin is the most acceptable, particularly that which is indented
at the edge, or stamped with the impression of a chariot and two horses,
called the Serrati and Bigati. Silver is preferred to gold, not from