The dynasty of Theodosius, or, eighty years' struggle with the barbarians

Note 27 — LECTURE II. The Roman and the Teuton. Comparison of the Political and Social Condition of the Empire and its German Neighbours.

Reading edition

This paragraph is an attempt to explain the following passage of Tacitus (Germania xxvi) which has been almost as much fought over by commentators as if it had been a text of Scripture:—

‘Agri pro numero cultorum ab universis in vices occupantur, quos mox inter se secundum dignationem partiuntur. Facilitatem partiendi camporum spatia praestant. Arva per annos mutant; et superest ager.’

I follow in some points the interpretation given by Waitz (Deutsche Verfassungsgeschichte i. 109-113 and 140-148), and Dahn (Geschichte der deutschen Urzeit i. 171-174); but on the whole the criticism of Fustel de Coulanges (Problèmes d’Histoire, 263-294) seems to me to penetrate most deeply into the author’s meaning.

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