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Tacitus On German Culture

            Cultural Analysis of German Society Selections.
             These selections, written by Tacitus, give an in-depth look at the construction of German society of that time from a Roman point of view. These selections can be classified as the cultural construct sozialform, describing societies organization.
             The first section describes German society's rights of passage and how it led to a hierarchy. By some of the young men becoming citizens, it separated them from others who were not, and the citizens were more important; this was the basis of the societal hierarchy. Becoming a citizen meant you were qualified to bear arms. This is an example of the surface culture association. The society was grouped into those who could bear arms and those who could not. These citizens would join older, more experienced men in the retinue of a chief. This led to the chief and his retinue being a major hierarchical structure in German culture.
             The second section discusses the chief and retinue's battlefield etiquette and the importance of war. These are also examples of the deep cultural concept of hierarchy. In this hierarchy the leader must be at the front of the fight and the warrior must stay with him. The men are not supposed to surpass the leader so that he may be protected. But if the leader is struck down in battle the men are disgraced if they leave the field of battle alive. Both the leader and the retinue must fight equally as valiantly and courageous but within the fighting all the retinue must be prepared to defend the chief. There is a small egalitarian idea within this setup as the chief must fight along side the men as opposed to being safe at the back but the hierarchical ideas come in when the men must do whatever they have to protect the leader or suffer the lifetime of shame of letting him die. The chiefs get all the credit for the acts of the men. The men's heroism is chalked up to the chief's greatness.


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