382

THE DECLINE AND FALL

CHAP.

IX.

Distincti-on of theGermantribes.

tirely dissipated* without leaving any traces be-„ hind in Germany .

In the course of this introductory chapter, wehave confined ourselves to the general outlinesof the manners of Germany , without attemptingto describe or to distinguish the various tribeswhich filled that great country in the time ofCaesar, of Tacitus, or of Ptolemy . As the an-cient, or as new tribes successively presentthemselves in the series of this history, we shallconcisely mention their origin, their situation,and their particular character. Modern na-tions are fixed and permanent societies, con-nected among themselves by laws and govern-ment, bound to their native soil by arts andagriculture. The German tribes were voluntaryand fluctuating associations of soldiers, almostof savages. The same territory often changedits inhabitants in the tide of conquest and emi-gration. The same communities, uniting in aplan of defence or invasion, bestowed a newtitle on their new confederacy. The dissolu-tion of an ancient confederacy, restored to theindependent tribes their peculiar but long for-gotten appellation. A victorious state oftencommunicated its own name to a vanquishedpeople. Sometimes crowds of volunteers flock-ed from all parts to the standard of a favouriteleader; his camp became their co untry, and somecircumstance of the enterprise soon gave a com-mon denomination to the mixed multitude. Thedistinctions of the ferocious invaders were per-petually varied by themselves, and confound-