Tacitus On German Culture

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 figh

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