Tacitus’s Germania, written around 98 AD, is the most detailed description of the Germanic peoples left by any ancient writer. Tacitus describes their customs, religion, government, family structure, and way of war — partly in admiration of their martial virtue and uncorrupted simplicity, implicitly contrasted with Roman decadence. The text had enormous influence on later European ideas about Germanic origins and national identity.
This free EPUB edition of Tacitus on Germany is formatted for e-readers. As a primary ethnographic source, it is essential reading for historians of Rome, the Germanic migrations, and the long-term history of European peoples and their self-understanding.