Germania and Agricola
Tacitus, Caius Cornelius, 56-120
Latin
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Below is a summary of Germania and Agricola
The GERMANIA and AGRICOLA
Of
Caius Cornelius Tacitus
With Notes for Colleges
By W. S. Tyler
Professor of the Greek and Latin Languages in Amherst College
PREFACE.
This edition of the Germania and Agricola of Tacitus is designed to meet
the following wants, which, it is believed, have been generally felt by
teachers and pupils in American Colleges.
1. A Latin text, approved and established by the essential concurrence of
all the more recent editors. The editions of Tacitus now in use in this
country abound in readings purely conjectural, adopted without due regard
to the peculiarities of the author, and in direct contravention of the
critical canon, that, other things being equal, the more difficult
reading is the more likely to be genuine. The recent German editions
labor to exhibit and explain, so far as possible, the reading of the best
MSS.
2. A more copious illustration of the grammatical constructions, also of
the rhetorical and poetical usages peculiar to Tacitus, without
translating, however, to such an extent as to supersede the proper
exertions of the student. Few books require so much illustration of this
kind, as the Germania and Agricola of Tacitus; few have received more in
Germany, yet few so little here. In a writer so concise and abrupt as
Tacitus, it has been deemed necessary to pay particular regard to the
connexion of thought, and to the particles, as the hinges of that
connexion.
3. A comparison of the writer and his cotemporaries with authors of the
Augustan age, so as to mark concisely the changes which had been already
wrought in the language and taste of the Roman people. It is chiefly with
a view to aid such a comparison, that it has been thought advisable to
prefix a Life of Tacitus, which is barren indeed of personal incidents,
but which it is hoped may serve to exhibit the author in his relation to
the history, and especially to the literature, of his age.
4. The department in which less remained to be done than any other, for
the elucidation of Tacitus, was that of Geography, History, and
Archaeology. The copious notes of Gordon and Murphy left little to be
desired in this line; and these notes are not only accessible to American
scholars in their original forms, but have been incorporated, more or
less, into all the college editions. If any peculiar merit attaches to
this edition, in this department, it will be found in the frequent
references to such classic authors as furnish collateral information, and
in the illustration of the private life of the Romans, by the help of
such recent works as Becker's Gallus. The editor has also been able to
avail himself of Sharon Turner's History of the Anglo Saxons, which sheds
not a little light on the manners of the Germans.
5. Many of the ablest commentaries on the Germania and Agricola have
appeared within a comparatively recent period, some of them remarkable
examples of critical acumen and exegetical tact, and others, models of
school and college editions. It has been the endeavor of the editor to
bring down the literature pertaining to Tacitus to the present time, and
to embody in small compass the most valuable results of the labors of
such recent German editors as Grimm, Guenther, Gruber, Kiessling, Dronke,
Roth, Ruperti, and Walther.
The text is, in the main, that of Walther, though the other editors just
named have been consulted; and in such minor differences as exist between
them, I have not hesitated to adopt the reading which seemed best to
accord with the usage and genius of Tacitus, especially when sanctioned
by a decided preponderance of critical suffrage. Other readings have been
referred to in the Notes, so far as they are of any considerable
importance, or supported by respectable authority. Partly for
convenience, but chiefly as a matter of taste, I have ventured to follow
the German editions in dispensing entirely with diacritical marks, and in
some peculiarities of less importance, which if not viewed with favor, it
is hoped, will not be judged with severity. The punctuation is the result
of a diligent comparison of the best editions, together with a careful
study of the connexion of language and of thought.
The German editions above mentioned, together with several French,
English, and American works, have not only been constantly before me, but
have been used with great freedom, and credit awarded to them
accordingly. Some may think their names should have appeared less
frequently; others that they should have received credit to a still
greater extent. Suffice it to say, I have never intended to quote the
language, or borrow the thoughts of an author, without giving his name;
and in matters of fact or opinion, I have cited authorities not only when
I have been indebted to them for the suggestion, but whenever, in a case
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