Germ. 29.1Omnium hārum gentium virtūte praecipuī Batāvī nōn multum ex rīpā, sed īnsulam Rhēnī amnis colunt, Chattōrum quondam populus et sēditiōne domesticā in eās sēdēs trānsgressus in quibus pars Rōmānī imperiī fierent.Of all these peoples the foremost in valour, the Batavi, inhabit not much of the riverbank but an island in the river Rhine; they were once a people of the Chatti, and through civil strife crossed into these homes, in which they were to become part of the Roman empire. Germ. 29.2Manet honōs et antīquae societātis īnsigne;The honour remains, and the mark of an ancient alliance; Germ. 29.2nam nec tribūtīs contemnuntur nec pūblicānus atterit;for they are not humiliated by tributes, nor does the tax-collector grind them down; Germ. 29.2exēmptī oneribus et collātiōnibus et tantum in ūsum proeliōrum sēpositī, velut tēla atque arma, bellīs reservantur.exempt from burdens and levies and set aside only for use in battles, they are reserved for wars, like weapons and armour. Germ. 29.3Est in eōdem obsequiō et Mattiacōrum gēns;In the same allegiance is also the people of the Mattiaci; Germ. 29.3prōtulit enim magnitūdō populī Rōmānī ultrā Rhēnum ultrāque veterēs terminōs imperiī reverentiam.for the greatness of the Roman people has carried respect for our empire beyond the Rhine and beyond the old boundaries.
Germ. 29.3Ita sēde fīnibusque in suā rīpā, mente animōque nōbīscum agunt, cētera similēs Batāvīs, nisi quod ipsō adhūc terrae suae solō et caelō ācrius animantur.So in their home and territory they live on their own bank, in mind and spirit with us, in other respects like the Batavi, except that they are still invigorated by the very soil and climate of their own land to a keener spirit. Germ. 29.4Nōn numerāverim inter Germāniae populōs, quamquam trāns Rhēnum Dānubiumque cōnsēderint, eōs quī Decumātēs agrōs exercent: levissimus quisque Gallōrum et inopiā audāx dubiae possessiōnis sōlum occupāvēre;I would not count among the peoples of Germany, although they have settled across the Rhine and Danube, those who cultivate the Decumate lands: all the most fickle of the Gauls, made bold by poverty, occupied that land of doubtful ownership; Germ. 29.4mox līmite āctō prōmōtīsque praesidiīs sinus imperiī et pars prōvinciae habentur.soon, when the frontier had been drawn and the garrisons moved forward, they came to be regarded as an outlying corner of the empire and part of a province.