Germ. 18.1Quamquam sevēra illīc mātrimōnia, nec ūllam mōrum partem magis laudāverīs.Even so, marriages there are strict, nor would you praise any part of their customs more. Germ. 18.1Nam prope sōlī barbarōrum singulīs uxōribus contentī sunt, exceptīs admodum paucīs, quī nōn libīdine sed ob nōbilitātem plūrimīs nūptiīs ambiuntur.For almost alone among barbarians they are content with one wife each, apart from a very few, who are courted with many marriages not from lust but on account of their nobility. Germ. 18.2Dōtem nōn uxor marītō, sed uxōrī marītus offert.The dowry is offered not by the wife to the husband but by the husband to the wife. Germ. 18.2Intersunt parentēs et propinquī ac mūnera probant, mūnera nōn ad dēliciās muliebrēs quaesīta nec quibus nova nūpta cōmātur, sed bovēs et frēnātum equum et scūtum cum frameā gladiōque.Parents and relatives are present and approve the gifts, gifts not sought out for feminine delights nor for the new bride to adorn herself with, but oxen and a bridled horse and a shield with a framea and a sword. Germ. 18.3In haec mūnera uxor accipitur, atque in vicem ipsa armōrum aliquid virō adfert: hoc maximum vinculum, haec arcāna sacra, hōs coniugālēs deōs arbitrantur.For these gifts the wife is received, and she in turn brings some weapon to her husband: this they consider the strongest bond, these the mysterious rites, these the gods of wedlock.
Germ. 18.4Nē sē mulier extrā virtūtum cōgitātiōnēs extrāque bellōrum cāsūs putet, ipsīs incipientis mātrimōniī auspiciīs admonētur venīre sē labōrum perīculōrumque sociam, idem in pāce, idem in proeliō passūram ausūramque: hoc iūnctī bovēs, hoc parātus equus, hoc data arma dēnūntiant.Lest the woman should think herself outside thoughts of valour and outside the hazards of war, she is reminded by the very auspices of her marriage's beginning that she comes as a partner in toils and dangers, to suffer the same and dare the same in peace and in battle: this the yoked oxen, this the harnessed horse, this the gift of arms declare. Germ. 18.4Sīc vīvendum, sīc pariendum: accipere sē quae līberīs inviolāta ac digna reddat, quae nurūs accipiant rūrsusque ad nepōtēs referantur.So she must live, so she must bear children: she is receiving, she is told, what she must hand on to her children unprofaned and worthy, what her daughters-in-law may receive and pass on again to her grandchildren.