Note 197 — Chapter V · PERSONAL RANK. THE FREEMAN. THE NOBLE.
Reading edition
The Cherusci feeling the want of a king sent to Rome for a descendant of Arminius. Tac. An. xi. 17. The Heruli in Illyria having slain their king, sent to their brethren in Thule (Scandinavia) for a descendant of the blood royal. During his journey however they accepted another king from the hands of Justinian. This person and their alliance with the emperor they renounced upon the arrival of the prince from the North. Procop. Bell. Got. ii. 15. “Reges ex nobilitate, duces ex virtute summit.” Tac. Germ. vii. “Magna patrum merita principis dignationem etiam adolescentulis assignant.” Ibid. xiii. Although mere boys might be kings, they could hardly be duces, in the old Teutonic sense.