The Romans and Germany

By Herbert W. Benario

The volume contains passages from seven Roman authors which illuminate the linked history of these two important European people over a period of more than two centuries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Aug 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9781477240656

Herbert W. Benario

Herbert W. Benario is Professor Emeritus of Classics at Emory University. He has published widely on matters Roman, particularly on the historian Tacitus. His army service some sixty years ago was in Germany, and he visited many of the sites crucial to the relationship of Rome and the Germans. He was Fulbright Professor at the University of Passau in 1990 and has remained active in the field of Roman studies since retirement in 1987. He lives in Atlanta.

Book preview

© 2012 Herbert W. Benario. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 8/10/2012

ISBN: 978-1-4772-4065-6 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4772-4066-3 (sc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2012912253

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

I.      Tacitus, Germania 1-2

II.      Pomponius Mela, De Chorographia 3.26-32

III.      Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 1.48.5-7

IV.      Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 4.1

V.      Suetonius, Divus Julius 25

VI.      Livy, Periochae 63, 67, 68, 105

VII.      Suetonius, Divus Augustus 23

VIII.      Velleius Paterculus, Historia Romana 2,95,1; 2,97

IX.      Tacitus, Annales 1.60-62

X.      Tacitus, Annales 11.19.3-20

XI.      Tacitus, Germania 33

XII.      Frontinus, Strategemata 1.3.10

XIII.      Vocabulary

Preface

This reader is based upon ECCE ROMANI, Books 1-4. Vocabulary from those texts which appears in the present selections is presented at the back. Further vocabulary is presented in the notes to the passages in this volume, on the facing page. Words which appear in more than one passage are construed for each, but they are not repeated for subsequent uses in the same passage. The reasons for this practice are two: the student should be spared the waste of time and labor in seeking help with particular words and the hope that repetition will lead more readily to memorization and understanding.

The texts are presented without macrons, so that students may become accustomed to plain texts. Words in the vocabulary and notes do display macrons.

Introduction

The following are brief sketches of the authors who are herein represented and their works.

GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR (100-44 BC). Consul 59, 48, 46, 45, 44, Dictator from 49, Pontifex Maximus from 63, Proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul, Transalpine Gaul, and Illyricum 58-49, defeated Pompey in civil war in 48. Assassinated on the Ides of March 44. Author of Bellum Gallicum and Bellum Civile.

TITUS LIVIUS (64 BC-AD 17). Remained a private citizen throughout his life, holding no public offices. He was on good terms with the Emperor Augustus. His life work, Ab urbe condita, was a history of Rome from the beginnings to the death of the younger brother of the later emperor Tiberius, Drusus, in 9 BC. It was a massive enterprise, comprising 142 books, of which only 35 survive, although summaries, Periochae, exist for almost all others.

VELLEIUS PATERCULUS (c.20 BC-AD c.30). He authored a history which