A Note on Tacitus, "Germania" X 3

Author(s): G. J. D. Aalders
Source: Mnemosyne, Fourth Series, Vol. 20, Fasc. 2 (1967), pp. 175-178
Published by: Brill
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4429398
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 A NOTE ON TACITUS, GERMANIA ? 3 175

A NOTE ON TACITUS, GERMANIA X 3

In chapter X of his Germania Tacitus enumerates the various

methods of divination in use among the Germanic peoples. At the

end of the chapter he says: est et alia observatio auspiciorum, qua

gravium bellorum eventus explorant, eius gentis, cum qua bellum est,

captivum quoquo modo interceptum cum electo popularium suorum,

patriis quemque armis, committunt: victoria huius vel illius pro prae-

iudicio accipitur. Some of the commentaries I consulted are silent

about this usage *). In the commentary of Fehrle and H?nnerkopf 2)

we read: "Der Zweikampf vor der Schlacht soll in erster Reihe

die Zuversicht wecken: so wie der Zweikampf ausfiel, so soll die

bevorstehende Schlacht verlaufen. Aus solcher Erwartung entstand

?fters der Glaube an eine geheimnisvolle Bindung der beiden

Ereignisse : der Zweikampf soll ein Vorbild des zuk?nftigen Kampfes

werden und einen guten Ausgang herbeif?hren", but no parallels

are offered. Fehrle continues: "Oder aber, und dies ist vielfach

die sp?tere Entwicklung, der Zweikampf soll in viel allgemeinerem

Sinne eine Aufmunterung zur Schlacht sein", referring to Hannibal,

who, according to Livy 21,43,2 3), after having arranged, before the

battle on the Ticinus, a fierce combat between captives, said to his

soldiers: ncque enim spectaculum modo illud, sed quaedam veluti

imago vestrae condicionis erat. But here we are rather far from the

Germanic custom described by Tacitus; according to Livy and to

Polybius 3, 62, 3 ff., no doubt Livy's source, Hannibal had the

contest 4) arranged in order to stimulate the fighting spirit and

the contempt of death of his soldiers. It is possible that Hannibal

for his purpose made use of an ancient native custom; but even

then it is very doubtful if he knew anything about its (original)

meaning.

Whereas Fehrle for his explanation offers no satisfying parallels,

J. G. C. Anderson, in his excellent commentary on the Germania 5),

remarks: "No parallel to this is elsewhere recorded. Contests

between selected champions occur among the early Greeks and

Romans and among the later Germans, but they were decisive of

the main issue, not a presage of it. Victory might hearten the tribe

?) ?. Schweizer-Sidler-E. Schwyzer (7Halle/S. 1912); W. Reeb-H. Klenk

(Leipzig/Berlin 1930); cp. also the edition of J. Perret (Paris 1949).

2) 5Heidelberg 1959, 92.

3 ) According to F. W. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybins, I

(Oxford 1957), 397? the story is "probably apocryphal".

4) Polybius speaks of a monomachy, Livy of several single combats,

Cassius Dio fr. 57, 4 (and Zon. 8, 23) of all captives fighting.

5) Oxford 1938, 82.

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 I76 A NOTE ON TACITUS, GERMANIA ? 3

that staged the duel, but what would result from defeat? There

may be some misconception here". Similarly, R. Much and

R. Kienast in their copious commentary remark *) : "Vielleicht

liegt bei Tacitus doch ein Missverst?ndnis vor. Belege f?r das hier

geschilderte Verfahren stehen uns n?mlich aus Geschichte und Sage

keine zur Verf?gung".

Now, in spite of these statements by Anderson and Much-

Kienast, a few parallels are in fact to be found in classical literature.

Plutarch tells us, in his vita Alexandri (31): ?a? t?? a?tf f???e?

t?? eta???? (on the eve of Gaugamela), ??d? ????t?? ????? p????a,

t??? a????????? pa????ta? e?? d?? ???? d???????a? sf?? a?t???, ??

??at???? st?at???? e??a? ?a? ??e???a, t?? ??? ????a?d???, t?? d?

?a?e??? ?p' a?t?? p??sa???e???e??? ? ???a?????? d? ?????? ????????-

?es?a? p??? a???????, e?ta p???a??, t???? ???e?a?s?a? t? f????e???a

?a? ????? ????? ?a? ?????, p?????? ?a? d?s?atapa?st??? ?e????ta?.

?a?ta ????sa? ????e?se? a?t??? ?????a??sa? t??? ??e???a?? ?a? t??

??? '????a?d??? a?t?? ?p??se, t?? d? ?a?e??? F???ta?. ??e?t? d? ?

st?at?? ?? ????? t??? t?? ??????t?? t????e??? t? ??????e???. ?s?????

d? t?? ????? ?e??????? ?????se? ? ?a????e??? '????a?d???, ?a? d??e??

??a?e d?de?a ???a? ?a? st??? ?e?s??? ???s?a?. ?a?ta ??? ?d? ??a-

t?s????? ?st????e. There is, in my opinion, no sufficient reason to

doubt the historicity of this story; but even if one should do so 2),

the story implies that the idea of a preliminary fight in order to

establish beforehand the outcome of a major battle was not al-

together unknown in the ancient world.

Another example of an augural meaning attributed to a prelimin-

ary fight is to be found in Livy 40, 6, in connection with the lustratio

of the Macedonian army 3) in 182 B.C.: Mos er at lustrationis sacro

peracto decurrere exercitum et divisas bifariam duas acies concurrere

ad simulacrum pugnae. Regii iuvenes duces ei l?dicro certamini dati.

Ceterum non imago fuit pugnae, sed, tamquam de regno dimicaretur,

ita concurrerunt, multaque vulnera sudibus jacta ; nee praeter ferrum

quicquam defuit ad iustam belli speciem. Pars ea, quae sub Demetrio

erat, longe superior fuit. Id aegre patiente Perseo laetari prudentes

amici eius, eamque rem dicere ipsam praebituram causam criminandi

iuvenis 4). The important fact is here the importance attached to

i) 2Heidelberg i960, 138.

2) Like R. Andreotti, Per una critica dell'ideologia di Alessandro Magno,

Hist. 5 (1956), 278.

3) Cp. H. Usener, Heilige Handlung, Archiv f?r Religionswissenschaft 7

(1904), 301 ff.; M. P. Nilsson, Griechische Feste religi?ser Bedeutung mit

Ausschluss der attischen (Leipzig 1906), 404 ff.

4) It should be noted that here too the battle is said to have taken place

among Macedonians. The fight between the groups of "Alexander" and

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 A NOTE ON TACITUS, GERMANIA X 3 I77

the result of the rather fiery mock combat by the defeated crown-

prince Perseus and his friends. The inevitable conclusion, that the

idea that the outcome of a small or mock combat may be a forecast

of the result of a big battle or contest, was not altogether unknown

in the ancient world, is corroborated by what Pausanias (3, 14, 10)

tells us about the boar fight the day before the annual contest of

the youths in Sparta: ep? d? t? ??s?a ??p???? ???da? ?? ?f????

s????????s? ?a????????? ? ?p?t???? d' ?? ? ??p??? t??? ?????, ?? t?

??ata??sta ??at?sa? t??t??? ?? ta p?e?? s???a??e?, and also by the

following story told by Plutarch in his vita Antonii (33, 2-5; cp.

de fort. Rom. 319 f ) : a? d? pe?? t?? pa?d??? ?????a? t?? ??t?????

???p???, ?e? t?? ?a?sa??? ??att?? fe???e???. ?? ??? t?? ???? s??

a?t? ?a?t???? ?p' ????pt?? t?? t?? ?e??se?? ?p?s??p???t??, d? e?te

??e?p?t?a ?a?????e??? e?te ????e??? ????e?a p??? t?? ??t?????

?pa???s???et?, ????? t?? t???? a?t?? ?a?p??t?t?? ?dsa? ?a? ?e??st??

?p? t?? ?a?sa??? ??a????s?a?, ?a? s??e????e?e p????t?t? t??

?ea??s??? p??e?? ea?t??, "? ?a? s??" ?f? "da???? t?? t??t?? f??e?ta??

?a? ?a???? ?? ?a? ?????? dta? ? ?a?' ea?t??, ?p' e?e???? ???eta?

tape???te??? ????sa?t?? ?a? ??e???ste???". ?a? ???t?? ta ?????e?a tf

????pt?? ?a?t??e?? ?d??e?. ???eta? ?a? dt? ??????????? ?et? pa?d?a?

ef' dt? t????e? e??st?te ?a? ???e???t?? ?'?att?? ???? ? '??t?????

?p?e?. p??????? d? s???a???t?? ??e?t????a?, p??????? d? ????????

d?t??a?, ?????? ?? ?a?sa???, ef' ??? ?????e??? ad???? ? '??t????? ?a?

?????? t? t? ????pt?? p??se???, ?p??e? ?? t?? '?ta??a?.

There is, therefore, no reason to doubt that Tacitus Germ. 10, 3

means a forecast of the outcome of a battle, and we need not think

of any misconception in this respect. Another question is, whether

the Germanic peoples, especially the West-Germanic tribes of the

time of Tacitus or of Pliny the Elder, who is probably Tacitus'

main authority, may be credited with staging before a battle a

single combat in order to know the outcome of the battle beforehand.

One is tempted to think that the result of such a single combat

might have been pre-arranged in the way that Alexander the Great

had certainly pre-arranged the victory of the alleged Alexander on

the eve of the battle of Gaugamela. That, however, is no divination,

but a clever psychological device, and the background of it may

be sympathetic magicx) : victory in battle is conjured up

by victory in the preliminary single combat. No doubt there are

parallels for this in the ritual contests between the parties of (e.g.)

" Darius' ' probably was inspired by the sham fight during the lustratio of

the army, "eine von den Soldaten aus eigenem Antrieb aufgef?hrte Nachah-

mung" (Nilsson, o.e., 405).

1) A possibility suggested by Much-Kienast, o.e., 139.

Mnemosyne, XX 12

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 178 A NOTE ON TACITUS, GERMANIA X 3

summer and winter x) mentioned in connection with our text by

Fehrle2): "Damit der Kampf zwischen den g?ttlichen Gewalten,

die Sommer und Winter bringen, zugunsten des Sommers ausfalle,

veranstalten die Knaben der D?rfer und St?dten an vielen Orten

K?mpfe, wobei einer den Sommer, der andere den Winter darstellt.

Der Sommer muss immer siegen, damit es in der Natur auch so

gehe". Such contests, in some parts of Europe customary till modern

times, were not altogether unknown in the ancient mediterranean

world either 3).

Yet there is no trace in the text of Tacitus either of a pre-

arranged victory or of magic. Tacitus clearly regarded the Germanic

custom he described as a form of divination. This he will have found

in his source or sources, and there is no reason to doubt the veracity

of this piece of information4). Divination before a major battle

was a well-known Germanic custom; cp. Germ. 3, 1 sunt Ulis haec

quoque carmina, quorum relatu, quern barditum vocant, accendunt

?nimos, futur aeque pugnae fortunam ipso cantu augur antur ; terrent

enim trepidantve, prout sonuit actes, and Caesar, B.G. 1, 50, 4-5.

Of course, the result of the preliminary fight might be unfavourable

to the tribe that arranged it ; Anderson and Much 5) have asked:

"What then?". But in that case the leaders of the tribe probably

will have avoided or postponed a decisive battle, as Ariovistus

avoided battle on account of the warnings of the wise women

(Caes.B.G. 1, 50, 4-5).

Badhoevedorp, Parkietstraat 28 G. J. D. Aalders H. Wzn.

? ) See Usener, o.e., 297 ff. ; cp. also Nilsson, o.e., 403, who remarks

"dass ganz ?hnliche rituelle Scheink?mpfe in der ganzen Welt vorkommen,

auch wo das Fehlen eines Winters jene Deutung verbietet".

2) O.e., 92.

3) See Usener, I.e.; Nilsson, o.e., 402 ff.; H. Micheli, Sparta (Cambridge

1952), 190 ff. ; W, B. Kristensen, Symbool en werkelijkheid (Zeist/Arnhem/

Antwerpen 1962), 204 ff.

4) In a passage which in reality seems to be a wilfully distorted account

of military manoeuvres of the emperor Gaius in Germany (cp. J. P. V. D.

Balsdon, The Emperor Gaius, Oxford 1934, 81 ; Aalders, Caligula, zoon van

Germanicus, Assen 1959, 13) Suetonius writes [Cal. 45, 2): Rursus obsides

quosdam abductos e litterario ludo clamque praemissos, deserto repente convivio

cum equitatu insecutus veluti pr?fugos ac reprehensos in catenis reduxit. Pro-

bably Gaius has embellished and enlivened his manoeuvres by using natives

as "adversaries" ; perhaps it is not too bold to suggest the possibility that

Caligula knew of the Germanic usage described by Tacitus to arrange a

preliminary combat with a member of the hostile tribe and took it over for

the mock battles of his manoeuvres.

5) O.e., 138

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