Germania

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those times, the name "Germany" was believed to inspire terror when heard.
Tacitus makes mention of the fact that within sections of their mythological and religious structure, Hercules and Ulysses carry significant influence and this contributes to his theory (along with their distinctive looks) that the Germans developed their particular cultural/racial niche from intermarriage with foreigners.
Tacitus further comments on the German culture, as being one that is less able to bear laborious work and endure heat and thirst. But without delving too much into a diatribe on the German's laziness, Tacitus moves into describing the forested and swampy German landscape. He mentions that precious metals are low in quantity and as a result they use the iron they have available to make spears as opposed to swords. Their battle formation resembles that of a wedge and (like Roman culture) it is of the utmost shame to throw down one's shield during battle in order to run away.
But ...

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Germans don't believe in confining their gods within walls or likening them to any human form. Instead, they consecrate woods and groves and apply the names of deities to the abstraction, which they see only during worship.
As for German augury and divination, Tacitus describes a process by which a bough is chopped off a fruit-bearing tree, cut into small pieces and examined after being tossed "carelessly" onto a white garment after which they are examined. Tacitus adds that the Germans also adhere to the following of bird flight paths just as the Romans do, but tend to have a peculiar interest in the horse as an object of divination. The horse to the Germans is the most trusted ...

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