Cornelius Tacitus, De origine et situ Germanorum [On the Origin and Geographical Situation of the Germani]

Rhiannon Menai Evans (University of Melbourne)

Ed. by William John Dominik, University of Otago, Jula Wildberger, American University of Paris
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication 98

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Historical representation

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Dated to 98 (

Ger

. 37.2) and describing the origins, religion and customs of the Germani, an ethnic group said to inhabit northern central Europe, Tacitus’s

Germania

is the only entirely ethnographic ancient text extant (ancient ethnographies tend to be a subsection of primarily historical or geographical texts). The work, however, does begin with a brief description of the geographical parameters of “All of Germania” (

Germania omnis

, a verbal reference to Julius Caesar’s

Gallic Wars

, which begin

Gallia est omnis

). The

Germania

is also strongly influenced by Caesar’s comparative ethnography of both Gauls and Germans (

Gallic Wars

6.11-28). Tacitus quickly moves on to the Germani’s origins, the first of many occasions on which the Germani are made the antithesis of Romans, as he…

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Citation: Evans, Rhiannon Menai. "De origine et situ Germanorum". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 28 December 2009 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13475, accessed 26 April 2024.]

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