Of their other slaves they make not such use as we do of ours. “The most wealthy are distinguished with a vest, not one large and flowing like those of Sarmatians and Parthians, but girt close about them and expressing the proportion of every limb.”7 The slaves in this society were treated with dignity and respect, which was different than any other nation of its time and Tacitus makes an account of this. The rich dressed themselves differently than anyone else in the society. Some parts they besmear with an earth so pure and resplendent, that it resembles painting and colors.6 The social classes of Germany consisted of rich, poor, and slaves. In all their structures they employ material quite gross and unhewn, void of fashion and comeliness. Every man has a vacant space quite round his own. They raise their villages in opposite rows, but not in our manner with the houses joined one to another. That none of the several people in German live together in cities, is abundantly known. Tacitus viewed the Germanic people as very simple and straightforward. “They judge it altogether unsuitable to hold the gods enclosed within walls…they consecrated whole woods and groves, and by the names of the gods.”5 Their approach to the gods reflects how they approach their society. They believed it wrong to have temples and confine the gods in closed walls and believe that the wildlife and open nature is where they belong. “Of all the gods, Mercury is he whom they worship most…Some of the Suevians make likewise immolations to Isis.”4 The Germanic people were influenced by other nations, but they approached it differently. Although the society seems pure, their religion was similar to the romans and even other distant regions. ”3 Greek mythology influenced their culture, but the society of Germania was vastly unchanged by outside influence.
0 kommentar(er)
