Germania

…origine et situ Germanorum (the Germania), both reflecting his personal interests. The Agricola is a biographical account of his father-in-law’s career, with special reference to the governorship of Britain (78–84) and the later years under Domitian. It is laudatory yet circumstantial in its description, and it gives a balanced political…

…century, Tacitus had published the Germania, a study of the German tribes to the north of Rome. It is the first, and most comprehensive, ethnographic study compiled in the ancient world and remains today a good description of a people seen at that time as barbarians.

…book now known as the Germania, he had reliable sources of information on which to draw. The book is one of the most valuable ethnographic works in existence; archaeology has in many ways supplemented the information Tacitus gives, but in general it has tended only to confirm his accuracy and…

…historian Tacitus relates in the Germania that in ad 59 the Hermunduri, in fulfillment of their vows, sacrificed defeated Chatti to one of these gods. This elite was also the basis of political organization. The Germanic peoples comprised numerous tribes that were also united in leagues centred on the worship…

…continental Germanic tribes in his Germania, written circa 98 ce. He describes some of their rituals and occasionally names a god or goddess. While Tacitus presumably never visited Germany, his information was partly based on direct sources; he also used older works, now lost.

The Germania (written 98 ce) of Tacitus gives the first description of the Svear, or Suiones (Swedes), stated to be powerful in men, weapons, and fleets. Other ancient writers who mention Scandinavia are Ptolemy, Jordanes, and Procopius.